Stéphane Lambiel & Juichi KobayashiInterview Part 1 published on Dance Magazine November 2009 issueHere is a short making-of-interview movie clip:
www.shinshokan.com/figure/WFS39DM11/movie39.htmlLausanne, a beautiful and luxurious resort city located on the shores of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman), is well known among ballet fans as home of the Béjart Ballet and as venue for international ballet competitions. Two people with deep ties to this city have come together for a one-on-one conversation.
Juichi Kobayashi was for many years a lead dancer in the Béjart Ballet troupe, and is now active in theater and movies as an actor. Stéphane Lambiel is a Swiss figure skater and a two-time world champion. He is known not only for his high level techniques but also for his artistry which places among the top of his generation. He trains mainly in Lausanne. Lambiel, who visited Japan this summer to perform in an ice show, and Kobayashi met up to exchange their artistic views.
The Béjart Ballet CompanyLambiel: Nice to meet you. Actually, just about 3 weeks ago, I went to see Béjart Ballet’s "Le Concours" in Lausanne.
Kobayashi: Really? I heard from my friends in the troupe that it was very well received.
L: It was a lot of fun. I was especially blown away by the dancers' performances.
K: I heard you know some people in the troupe.
L: Yes, Julien Favreu and...
K: Ah, Julien! I am good friends with him too, and he is very popular in Japan as well.
L: He is a very nice person. He was very good as detective in "Le Concours." Also, Katya (Kateryna Shalkina) was very good too. I also have friends who went to Rudra (Béjart ballet school). We should all get together in Lausanne.
K: I want to go. Last time I visited was back in 2007.
L: The city has changed a bit. There is a new subway line.
K: Yes, I heard there is a new station called Maurice Béjart? I would love to see it.
L: Then you'd definitely need to come! (laughs)
Figure Skating and BalletK: I had wanted to ask you -- In figure skating, you do jumps in your program. When you come to the edge of the rink and take off for a jump, do you have a sense of space in your head?
L: Yes, rink size is set by standard. So there is a certain rhythm to jumps, so that you know approximately how much time is needed before you take off.
K: Does anyone ever bump into the wall?
L: Midori Ito once jumped over the wall (laughs). But in general, skaters can subconsciously feel the wall, even if their back is facing the wall. By training, one can learn the sense of space.
K: I have actually never skated before (laughs).
L: I have done ballet (laughs). Although as skaters we can't express delicate movements with the tips of our toes. Occasionally I take ballet lessons.
K: How do ballet lessons help you?
L: For things like posture and arm placements.
K: Do all choreographers have experiences in figure skating?
L: Not always. As for me, I want someone who respects what I want. I want as much freedom as possible, since I decide almost all the basis of the programs, such as what components to use. So I want them to help me in body expressions and breathing.
K: But it must be difficult to perform in competitions. You have to do difficult jumps on top of artistic expressions...
L: It's difficult to do both at the same time. So we must switch accurately between the artistic parts and the technical parts. For example, there is a rule that requires how many seconds must be maintained in one position in order to get the necessary points. By doing so, artistic aspect must be interrupted. There are also strict rules on the use of edges, such as inside edge and outside edge.
K: Audience can hardly tell the difference between the edges...
L: That's true (laughs). But in scoring for sports, decisions are made on a fraction of a millimeter. If one really wants to do it, one must keep trying to achieve it. When I watch ballet, I imagine how many hours of hard training the dancers must have endured. Then the performance seems more and more beautiful to me, because I understand how much self-sacrifice was made and how beautiful that makes this dance. Figure skaters do jumps, but we don't make detailed expressions with the tips of our fingers and toes. If I could have another life, I would like to try more ballet.
Breathing with MusicK: Learning non-dance movements, such as Pilates and yoga, have become trendy lately, but I think one should learn dance first. When I helped Miki Ando with her "Bolero" program, I didn’t know much about figure skating, but I thought to myself: Can the skater sing the song that she selected for her program? If she can sing it well, then it means she can breathe with the music. So I asked Miki, "Do you know how you are breathing when you are skating to this program?" This is because, for a dancer, it is critical to understand the music, to make music your own, and to breathe with the music. What do you think?
L: When I work on a new choreography, the most important thing is what the music is trying to say. In figure skating, often a skater constructs the program components, and then chooses the music that goes with it. Sometimes one even uses the same program components with different music. But for me, I think that the body needs to go inside the music. Therefore, one needs to be more sensitive to music. I would like to work on a program with someone in that direction.
K: You can be a dancer.
L: No, no, I couldn’t (laughs). But I am searching for something that you just described. Figure skating is also about sensitivity. If you breathe with the music, you don’t steer away from the music. When the rhythm changes, that is the important part. Everything starts to disappear --- and then pop, the music starts again. How to express that part, is very important to me.
--- Continued to Part 2