Sir Richard Alston is jet-lagged when we speak, having just returned from New York. He is drinking coffee to stay awake, but you’d never know from his lively conversation and informed, thoughtful answers.
It is a seismic moment however, because after their current tour Final Edition, coming to the New Theatre on Wednesday, his beloved and revered dance company is being disbanded after decades of providing contemporary and cutting edge dance and choreography.
All of which he will be discussing tomorrow when he appears on stage for a ‘conversation with’ dance critic and author Stephanie Johnston, c/o DANSOX (Dance Scholarship Oxford) at the Jacqueline Du Pre Music Building in which he will look back at a truly remarkable career.
“I never dreamt I would be made a knight. I screamed in the hallway when I opened the envelope, out of sheer surprise and delight. And Prince Charles was very nice. I warmed to him immediately.”
“I’m there to answer their questions,” he smiles.
So how does he feel? “In the words of TS Eliot I wanted to go out with a bang, not a whimper. And that’s exactly what we are doing. I’m very, very proud of the pieces and the company as a whole. It’s as good as it’s ever been,” he tells me, “and that’s the right way to go.”
Which is why you must catch Richard Alston Dance Company’s Final Edition, its farewell tour across the UK, offering you the chance to see one of the world’s very best dance ensembles perform live before the company’s closure in April, the final performance being held at London’s Sadler’s Wells.
Determined to go out with colours flying, Sir Richard has put together a celebration of his company’s unflagging creativity, a richly diverse mix of dance and music bringing some brand-new dances along with key works revived from the company’s history.
“The dancers are at the top of their game. We gave them the option of moving on when we announced the closure of the company, but they all wanted to be included in this, our final season and to celebrate our 25 year anniversary. They wanted to say goodbye as well.
“So it’s a great atmosphere in the company at the moment. Everyone is very fired up which gives their performances that extra oomph.”
So looking back does he recognise the ambitious young choreographer of yesteryear? “He was certainly thinner,” Sir Richard laughs. “But I was never a star dancer. I hadn’t danced for long enough before I became a choreographer so I always knew the dancers would be better than me. I still find the teaching side very exciting. And perhaps one of the reasons there has always been so much interest in developing new work.
“But as a man, yes rather fierce and purist. I wanted to make dance about the dancers and I was stridently insistent about that.
“My origins were in folk dance as a child, so perhaps it’s about that communal joy of people dancing with each other that I wanted to replicate, that electrifying energy of moving together.
“I have never made literal or story-telling works, Instead I put all of my energy into the musicality and the story of movement, that’s the subject matter that really matters to me, even if it means my work is quite complicated and complex, to elucidate what’s important to me, something to be experienced.
“So it’s been interesting looking back and seeing how my work has developed over time. All artists have a twinge of insecurity when making new work but I’ve been watching footage of my early pieces and I find them so interesting because I can see the beginnings of what I wanted to do later on in my career.
“I’m very, very proud of the pieces and the company as a whole. It’s as good as it’s ever been,” he tells me, “and that’s the right way to go.”
“Certain principles were established then and those elements are still there even if you reinvent yourself over the years. I feel I have been consistent,” he says.
“My body might ache a bit now, but I’m still so excited about making movement.”
As for being made a knight, Sir Richard said: “I never dreamt that would ever happen. I screamed in the hallway when I opened the envelope, out of sheer surprise and delight. And Prince Charles was very nice. I warmed to him immediately.”
“But then not many mature choreographers have stuck to their guns and carried on with what they set out to do, so I’m proud of that. There are only two of us, me and Matthew Bourne, so yes, it’s such an honour.”
So how does he feel on the eve of his last farewell? “There is a part of me that is sad, so it will be emotional, but I’m confident that we are as good as ever
“We also understand that The Arts Council has new criteria and needs to encourage younger choreographers. And they have supported us for 25 years now. So I’m thinking of this as a new era even if it’s uncertain.”
“I still want to work, and there are enough people who want got commission me, so I see it as a positive, looking ahead to the future.
Art is so transitory, but I have been very lucky and it’s always a pleasure to dance in Oxford. I love the audiences there. They are terrifically loyal and have followed us here from The Playhouse over the road, which is encouraging.”
And then he pauses and smiles again: “What can I tell you. Life goes on.”
DANSOX (Dance Scholarship Oxford) presents Sir Richard Alston and Professor Stephanie Jordan, on Tuesday 21 January, 5.30pm at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building to demonstrate his work as he and Professor Jordan reflect on his life and career. http://www.sthildas.ox.ac.uk/content/dansox-sir-richard-alston-and-professor-stephanie-jordan
The farewell performance Final Edition comes to the New Theatre Oxford on Wednesday, January 22 and will include:
Voices and Light Footsteps is one of Alston’s new creations for the company. The dance was inspired by the sensuously expressive vocal madrigals and instrumental sinfonias of Claudio Monteverdi, genius of the Italian Baroque.
A Far Cry is associate choreographer Martin Lawrance’s newest creation, set to Edward Elgar’s impassioned Introduction and Allegro, with costumes by Jeffrey Rogador and lighting by Zeynep Kepekli.
Mazur is a duet for two friends to the music of Chopin, whose Mazurkas are an intense outpouring of longing for his beloved homeland. Created in 2014 for two former company dancers, Mazur was specially revived for the current cast.
Red Run from 1998 is a signature Alston classic set to a brooding atmospheric score by Heiner Goebbels. It holds the RADC record of over 90 performances all over the world.
Isthmus is an intricate and speedy dance to the music of Jo Kondo, first presented at The Place in 2012. Alston is known to consider it one of the best dances he has ever made.
Detour is a punchy and rapidly moving company piece by Martin Lawrance to two percussion works by Michael Gordon and Akira Miyoshi.
Brahms Hungarian, set to the hugely popular Brahms pieces played live by solo pianist Jason Ridgway, was created last year. This dance proved a favourite with audiences and returns to be enjoyed one last time.
Shine On is the last work Richard Alston has created for his company of 25 years. Danced to Benjamin Britten’s 1937 song cycle On This Island, set to five poems by WH Auden, it will be performed live by soprano Katherine McIndoe and pianist Jason Ridgway.
Tickets at http://atgtickets.com/shows/richard-alston-dance-company/new-theatre-oxford/
