Choreographer Nacho Duato: biography and ballet activity

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

There are people whose work you want to watch continuously. They give themselves completely to her. However, not everything goes smoothly in their lives. Many of them often fall, rise and again strive to conquer the peaks. Fortitude and selflessness they do not hold. This is exactly what the wonderful choreographer, dancer and famous theater designer Nacho Duato is like.

Childhood and studies of young Juan

Little Juan Ignacio Duato Barcia was born in a large family in early January 1957 in Valencia. Since childhood, he loved music and could tirelessly dance to his favorite tunes. However, parents, to put it mildly, did not approve of little Duato's desire for ballet art, since both were conservatives.

In addition, the boy's father at that time held one of the important government posts and therefore saw the future of his son as a doctor, politician or lawyer, but not a dancer. Ignoring the opinion of his parents, young Juan went to study at a famous London school. It was there that the young and successful Nacho began to study ballet.

A little later, Nacho Duato went to Brussels, where he continued to hone his skills with the direct participation of one offamous French choreographers - Maurice Bejart. Still later, he left for America, where he practiced at the New York Alvin Ailey Ballet Dance Theater.

Spotlights and the beginning of a dancer's career

After graduating from specialized ballet schools and completing practice, the future choreographer and dancer chose to continue his collaboration with the Swedish ballet team. His artistic director at that time was the fragile and graceful Birgit Kulberg. It was in this group that Nacho first began performing on the big stage and took his basic steps towards a dizzying dance career.

A year later, representatives of the Kulberg Ballet drew attention to the talented Nacho Duato. As a result, in early 1980, he was offered what became his first professional contract.

Stockholm, new contract and role change

And then Stockholm and participation in the ballet troupe awaited him. True, the ambitious and full of ideas dancer worked there for no more than a year. It's all the fault of the new proposal that Jiri Kilian made to him. It was he who invited Nacho to the Dutch Dance Theater and offered to try himself as a choreographer. Duato agreed, although he was somewhat apprehensive about the unexpected new opportunities that opened up.

However, after some time, his work will be crowned with success, and he will release his first production. She became the ballet "Enclosed Garden" (Jardí Tancat). To the surprise of the master himself, this modest debutwas a grand triumph.

From now on, Nacho Duato is a choreographer who goes hand in hand with his teachers and mentors: Hans Van Manenn and Jiri Kilian. Later, the work of the maestro began to bear fruit. He was talked about as a new rising star of Italian choreography, and the skill of his production and the ability to correctly select dancers and music brought him worldwide fame.

Prospects of work as a choreographer

Feeling a surge of energy and a kind of creative upsurge, the Italian choreographer decided to stay and work at the Dutch Dance Theatre. In this truly "ballet cradle" he continued to hone his skills. At the same time, he not only improved the art of staging, but also did not forget about professional choreography. So, during the next rehearsal, he could easily demonstrate the pas required for the performance.

Continuing to work for the benefit of the Netherlands Dance Theatre, Nacho Duato's ballet often went on tour. In addition, the master himself was often invited to field work to train various teams. During such peculiar foreign tours, Duato organized and was directly involved in staging performances of various themes. His creations have been seen at the American Ballet Theatre, London's Royal Opera House, the Paris Opera, Milan's La Scala Opera House and more.

Somewhat later, Nacho led the dance group of the Italian National Ballet. However, he received a tempting offer from Russia, because of which he was forced to interrupt hisContract. This time, fate brought him to the St. Petersburg Mikhailovsky Theater, we will tell about the activities of the choreographer within the walls of this cult building a little later.

Awards, prizes and titles

During his dizzying career, Nacho Duato has repeatedly won various awards. He was awarded, rewarded and congratulated, glorifying his talent, strength and outstanding organizational skills. One of the very first awards, which was called the Golden Dance Prize, was presented to him in early 1987 at the Amsterdam City Theater in Schauburg.

At the end of 1987, Nacho took part in the competition of the International Choreographic Workshops, which took place in Cologne. There he managed to take an honorable first place. And exactly 8 years later, Duato was awarded the title of Chevalier of the French Order of Literature and Arts. Three years later, Nacho received a personal medal from representatives of the Italian government for his merits in the development of Russian ballet art.

In early 2000, Nacho Duato (the biography of this wonderful choreographer is in our article) was awarded the Benois de la Danse international ballet prize and was awarded the title of “best choreographer of the year” for his excellent staging of the play “Variety. Forms of silence and emptiness.”

In the middle of 2003, the maestro was nominated for the Spanish national dance award. And just seven years later, he was awarded the "Golden Mask" award from the Union of Art Critics of Chile for spectacularstaging of the ballet Na Floresta.

Nacho Duato: Mikhailovsky Theater

While at the peak of his ballet career, Nacho moves to St. Petersburg. Moreover, the acquaintance with this region, far from his native Spain, began with the famous choreographer during his performance at the Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater, where a year and a half before the events in St. Petersburg he came with the production of Na Floresta. Later he was invited to the post of artistic director of the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg, where he gladly hurried to come.

In January 2011, Duato took up his duties and became one of the first "legionnaires" who were lucky enough to lead the Russian ballet group. Without wasting a minute, the choreographer began to master the peculiarities of the region. Thanks to his innate communicative qualities, Nacho Duato in Mikhailovsky quickly found a common language with the members of the group and very soon staged the first series of one-act performances. It included the ballet Without Words, which has already become a classic of the genre, on which the master has been working since 1998 during his stay at the American Ballet Theatre, as well as two premieres of domestic production.

How successful was Duato at the Mikhailovsky Theatre?

During all three years of his stay at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, the choreographer achieved certain successes in the creative development of the team. He also supplemented the original composition of the troupe with new valuable personnel. Yes, to himmanaged to lure the famous prima ballerina Natalya Osipova from the Bolshoi Theater, as well as the popular dancer Ivan Vasiliev. It was for them that the choreographer choreographed special scenes from the classic play Romeo and Juliet.

In addition, it was at the Mikhailovsky Theater that the master himself discovered himself as a director of the classical ballet genre. With his direct participation, such famous performances as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and others were staged. In order to appreciate the work of the master, you must at least once visit the ballets of Nacho Duato. Reviews of his productions can be found below.

What do people say about the work of the choreographer?

The art of Nacho Duato can evoke a variety of emotions. For example, for some viewers this is an unprecedented delight, while others, on the contrary, are capable of being fed sad memories. However, both of them note a non-standard approach to well-known classical works, which the choreographer beats using certain techniques.