Of all the arts, dance, and ballet in particular, is the most like elite sport. There's something undeniably extreme and demanding about it; just ask a dancer's feet. In this light it's surprising there aren't more dance works that celebrate the athletic. Perhaps for this reason Twyla Tharp's 1986 ballet In The Upper Room enjoys a particular esteem.
Set to a typically pulsing score by Philip Glass, In The Upper Room takes the Boston Marathon as its subject matter. However, far from being a post-terror strike outcry, it's a rhythmic, sweaty, exhausting ode to the psychological and physical ordeal of the great race. With its red pointe shoes and sneakers it moves with the relentless cadence of the determined runner.
"My experience working with her was that we started off doing a lot of movement to The Chemical Brothers."
For Danilo (Danny) Radojevic the Australian Ballet's restaging of Tharp's classic, as part of their upcoming 20:21 triple bill of contemporary works, is both a fresh challenge and a re-run. Indeed, Radojevic has not only worked with the revered Indiana-born choreographer but also danced In The Upper Room with both American Ballet Theater and Australian Ballet. On returning to the work in 2015 as repetiteur, he's able to offer this year's cast the following advice: "You have to be considerably fit to do this. It's 40 minutes, there's nine movements, and fitness is the key to getting through and making it look graceful."
As the only Aussie ever to win gold at the ultra-prestigious International Ballet Competition in Moscow (let alone having worked with both Nureyev and Baryshnikov), Radojevic is much like the winner of a marathon; someone who's endured considerable pain to achieve extraordinary objectives. Now in his mid-50s, he looks at the 13 young performers he's coaching with a subtle mix of relief and nostalgia.
"It's a ballet all dancers want to do," he says of In The Upper Room. "It's like the score and the ballet were made for each other. You can see the music and see the ballet and how the two sit together. It's a pleasure to perform. I just loved it and everyone that's performed it just can't get enough of doing it."
In his role as repetiteur he's tasked with recreating Tharp's original choreography; no mean feat considering her idiosyncratic way of working. "When it was originally staged it was quite loosely done because that's how Twyla likes to work, so the hardest thing for me is having to re-teach it. Twyla never uses counts; she just goes off the music and moulds it to the dancers. That's all very well when you're creating a work with the original dancers but when you have to restage it you have to count it and find landmark moments."
While the programmatic music of Glass tends to lend itself to counting, Radojevic recalls how Tharp's particular style often usurped the normal ballet discipline. "My experience working with her was that we started off doing a lot of movement to The Chemical Brothers. So, y'know, we were doing all these incredible movements and there were beats and clearly metered music, and then after a few days she completely changed the score but kept the choreography."
However, audiences can be reassured that at least one of Tharp's original creative choices for In The Upper Room will more easily be adhered to. As Radojevic reveals, "She wants the music very loud."
