1st Nov 2003
Peter Pan Forum

The forum started at 12:00pm with a light lunch where we all got to nibble and mingle a bit. We were joined by Gary Harris, Artistic Director who took the class, Nick Giles-Palmer, Music co-ordinator and the children who had attended the mornings special master class for advanced students.

After lunch we were able to watch the dancers practicing and fine-tuning their parts in the current production. This was another great opportunity to see the dancers up close and to meet some of them in person.

The forum itself was given by Russell Kerr, ONZM, the choreographer of Peter Pan after a warm introduction by Graham Atkinson, Chairperson of the Wellington Friends.

Russell persuaded four dancers to stay on after company class to demonstrate the choreography of the various parts. They were:

Russell said that in 1998 when Matz Skoog first approached him to do the choreography for Peter Pan, he was interested but needed to go and read the book again - it had been a long while since he last read the story (and we can only imagine how long!)

On reading the story again there were periods of enlightenment on his understanding of the story from years ago. He said a lot of the book was describing things that happened outside of the current scene - like motivations for how some of the main characters were acting. All this can't be conveyed in dance and had to be deleted. This then enabled him to see what scenes were fairly well stand alone and could be choreographed to convey the scene in it's entirety.

Russell was also keen to incorporate some pantomime into the ballet, hence some strange noises here and there as well as special musical moments that gave a auditory clue that something a little unusual was happening - like the raucous squawk of the Never bird! Add a brilliant tough of humour of the complete ensemble spontaneously breaking out into a synchronised Tango, for a few seconds, right in the middle of the brawl at the end and you realise that this is all a farce after all!

The bringing of Peter Pan to the stage obviously requires much more than just the choreography and Russell collaborated with composer Phillip Norman, Designer Kristian Fredrikson and Joe Hayes on lighting. Each part has to be in sync with the other. Russell then played us some of the music for the opening scene and asked us all to imagine what steps we would put to the music? Then we watched Shannon dance the part. Did we have any ideas or improvements - needless to say, we didn't have another better suggestions!

Russell then went on to explain how the designer of the costumes also helped him to visualise the various characters and how important that was to his creative process. Once he had in his mind how the characters looked, that then influenced how he thought they should move and interact. Also important is the set and timings for things to happen and be set-up and moved. There are a multitude of factors that all have to be carefully thought about and incorporated into the planning, into the music and into the choreography.

Technical problems were encountered ... and we could only imagine the scene when Russell recounted the use of dry ice to make a mist for the lake in Neverland, but somehow it actually made the stage as slippery as real ice. It was decided to change that to smoke, but some theatre's "breath" more than others and it all ended up on one side of the stage! There must be many more interesting stories in there.

It was a very interesting exposee into the complexity of putting together a ballet, amazing that something so complicated can be made to look so simple, but that is the creative genius of Russell Kerr.

by Peter Cowley

Friends of RNZ Ballet

Peter Pan Forum - Nov. 1, 2004

It would be hard to imagine a better way for a balletomane to spend two hours than at the Friends of RNZ Ballet Forum held recently at the Companyıs studios ­ when Russell Kerr discussed and demonstrated ideas and processes in his choreographing Peter Pan.

Everyone who knows him would acknowledge that Russell is one of the best communicators in the ballet world -  he stands on no ceremony, and his gentle and self-deprecatory wit immediately puts people at ease, making them feel as though they are just as interesting and special as he is.

So you would never guess that this Icon of New Zealand Art is the most prolific choreographer of the Southern Hemisphere, with a curriculum vitae that places him in the highest echelons of dance achievement in the 20th century

• as a performer, with renowned companies in Europe AND back in New Zealand ( recently located archival film shows him dancing as the Chief Warrior in Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor in the United season of NZ Ballet in Aucklandıs His Majestyıs Theatre, 1959 — believe me, you can now see why people raved about him in that role!)
• as a teacher, beloved by students across generations — always kind yet aspiring to the highest standards — always directing them to think musically about movement — always challenged to help the one who is finding the going tough
• as a choreographer, with a native instinct of what themes or ideas will submit to dance and what wonıt — and what every demi-semi-quaver is good for — with an unbelievable energy of spirit that fires prodigious amounts of work, always impeccably ready so as not to waste an hour of precious studio rehearsal time.

I once saw Russell downcast over a production that, through no fault of his own, did not meet his own exquisite standards. It was a terrible sight.

We heard about Russell trying out Peter Panıs steps in his study, or Tinker Bellıs in the hall, or Captain Hookıs in the bedroom of his and June’s little cottage in Sumner.   We learned of how many million moves there are that make up a ballet of this length and complexity.

We heard of the collaboration with composer Philip Norman and the telephoned updates on numbers of bars needed for The Nursery Fight, for Mr & Mrs Darling to waltz,  for The Flight, the Pirate Battle etc. etc. ad infinitum — (in a beguiling modern day version of the 19th centuryıs set-up between composer and choreographer, only they couldn't do it by phone)

We were invited to imagine the steps we might have made for the opening strains of music if we were the choreographer.  We then saw delightful excerpts of Russellıs version performed by Shannon Smith as Peter Pan and Megan Futcher in an impressive dual role as Wendy and Tinker Bell — with Rowan Cann  and James Brennan as the  two brothers.

An enchanted line of young dance students hung on Russellıs every word and gesture (as they have done for 50 years — his attention to the myriad of details makes everything seem alive, and characters the same as the people you know).

Only question — do Friends all know that for a small extra charge they can bring another "friend" along to a forum like this?  Lucky Wellingtonians.

Jennifer Shennan