74 Ballet Interview Choreographer Toer van Schayk on Requiem “The scales fell from our eyes,” says Toer van Schayk, recalling the moment in the late 1960s when the first findings of the Club of Rome were published. “Until then, we believed nature could withstand anything. That proved absolutely not to be the case.” In the ballets he created soon afterwards, he was already confronting the devastating human impact on the planet. The theme would become a constant thread throughout his oeuvre, nowhere more urgent or affecting than in Requiem of 1990. “Because,” Van Schayk says, “the one human sin that can never be forgiven is the destruction of creation itself: the earth, nature.” Today, the theme feels more pressing than ever. “Look at the most recent climate conference, in Belém, Brazil. Nothing comes of it. Economic interests always outweigh everything else. Yes, something is being done worldwide, but it is little more than a damp cloth on the forehead of someone who is dying. The dying simply continues.” Collective guilt When asked what emotion this provokes in him, he answers, “Name any emotion. They’re all there!” That sense of collective human guilt is therefore ever present in Requiem’s expressive solos and duets, and its imposing ensemble sections. This is intensified by the projected images of vivisection, elephant hunting and the destruction of rainforests. “I’m not so arrogant as to think I can change groups of people through this work, but if I manage to reach just one person, my mission has succeeded.” The idea of choreographing Mozart’s monumental Requiem had, in fact, been with him for many years. “It is music that moves me deeply and carries me away. But as a choreographer, I first had to become established, and develop myself further. Until the moment came when I thought: now I am ready.” Dancers who can do everything When Van Schayk first created the ballet, he worked with a group of dancers with whom he had built an intense relationship over many years. Yet he has complete confidence in today’s generation. “These young dancers are extraordinary. They can do everything. The standard of the company has never been so high. When I made Requiem, I wrote a long text for the dancers, and I will share it again with this new cast. While rehearsing my 7th Symphony last year, I already noticed how open they are to what is happening in the world today. I could truly reach them, and they wanted to be reached. In fact,” he says, after a brief pause, “I have never been as happy in my work for Dutch National Ballet as I am now.” Toer van Schayk during a rehearsal of Episodes van fragmenten (2016) with dancers Qian Liu and Young Gyu Choi “ The standard of the company has never been so high” Glowing press reviews and a ten-minute standing ovation: that was the reception given to Toer van Schayk’s Requiem in 1990. On the occasion of his ninetieth birthday, he is now rehearsing this powerful ballet – to Mozart’s composition of the same name – with a new generation of dancers.
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