Fascinating rhythm in tribute

BY STACEY WOOD

French choreographer Dominique Hervieu talks about her exuberant dance homage to composer George Gershwin.

It's dance, it's video. It's jazz, it's hip-hop, it's ballet and opera. It's a little bit of a lot of things that you might not expect to see thrown together - but it's all blended with expertise and a little magic.

Dominique Hervieu and Jose Montalvo - together Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu - have produced an eclectic, exhilarating homage to American composer George Gershwin.

Hervieu had been planning to come to Wellington for the performance, but her life has suddenly become a lot busier with the announcement she will be directing France's next major dance festival, Biennale de Lyon, in 2012.

Hervieu is still buzzing from the announcement, but is disappointed not to be able to visit New Zealand.

Good Morning, Mr Gershwin was first performed at the 2008 Biennale - the same festival she will be directing next time around.

The show is a tribute to the extraordinary variety of Gershwin's work, she says. "What is important is to give tribute to George Gershwin because we are very very fond of Gershwin and all his music.

"He did so many different styles of music in his life, Broadway, Hollywood, film music, but also very serious music. And at the end of his life he did his first and only opera, Porgy and Bess."

Gershwin, born Jacob Gershowitz in 1898, died of brain cancer when he was 38. He published his first song when he was 17 and earned the princely sum of $5.

He was strongly influenced by African-American jazz and blues, but took inspiration from all corners of the musical world.

Hervieu points to his collaboration with European composers such as Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky as examples of his more "serious" influences.

"For us it was a very important work, because we can mix all these different styles together with the opera."

Hervieu and Montalvo have spent 15 years working together, mixing multicultural styles in single performances.

"So now we are such specialists of this kind of work so for us it is not so complicated."

Even so, it can be a surprise to discover which combinations work well together and which ones don't.

"That's the mystery of art - from time to time we think it will work and finally at the end it doesn't."

What results is not just a blend of styles, but of humour, innovation and high energy.

Fans can expect a well-polished performance from the dance company.

They have performed Gershwin more than 150 times, "so it becomes more and more sophisticated and more and more precise. But for us, and even for the dancers, it is always the first time. Each new audience is a new encounter."

In creating Gershwin, Montalvo worked on the video portions while Hervieu worked on the dance, "so when we first join the two together, to have the good connection between images and dance - these moments are very stressful".

Sometimes the two jar, and they have to tinker at little longer. But sometimes "something very magic can happen". Hervieu struggles to find an English word to express what she means.

She uses the French word "hasard", meaning luck, or chance.

In fact, it's probably pretty close to what we anglophones would call a certain je ne sais quoi - a quality or attribute that is difficult to describe.

Hervieu has not yet been to New Zealand and is disappointed at having to cancel her visit, but planning the Biennale will keep her fully occupied almost straight away.

Good Morning, Mr Gershwin, St James Theatre tonight until Saturday, 8pm, and Sunday 6pm

- © Fairfax NZ News