Humble choreographer gives credit to dancers

By Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 22, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Terry Shapiro

Colorado Ballet's Emily Bromberg and Alexei Tyukov perform . . . smile with my heart by choreographer Lar Lubovitch.

Lar Lubovitch is hardly the flamboyant, self-involved artiste most would associate with the profession of choreographer.

This internationally respected dance-maker came across as rather shy as he quietly greeted a visitor recently in the lobby of his downtown hotel.

Lubovitch was here to polish up Colorado Ballet's upcoming performances of his affectionate take on the songs of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, . . . smile with my heart. It's part of a triple bill that concludes this weekend at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

Mindful that his piece would share a bill with a classic by his mentor, Antony Tudor, and with a new cutting-edge work by Dwight Rhoden, Lubovitch praised the leadership of Colorado Ballet for bringing this daring mix of styles to the audience and dancers.

"The best dancers today are linguists," he said, comparing the ability to perform various genres with the knowledge of several spoken languages. "It's wonderful that Sandy and Gil are trying to bring more styles to the company," a reference to the company's leadership team of Sandra Brown and Gil Boggs.

It was Brown, he noted, who invited Lubovitch to set . . . smile with my heart on the company, explaining that she had danced in American Ballet Theatre's premiere in 2002.

In his absence, he relied on Brown, one of the company's two ballet mistresses, to keep his intricate choreography on track.

Yes, he admitted during this visit a few days before opening night, he still gets nervous when his work is performed. "I have to remind myself to relax. But you have to trust the dancers. It's never perfect - there's always something wrong."

That understanding has served him well in the studio, Lubovitch remarked. The creative process involves endless trial and error.

"I'm very specific - I have a clear idea, but I understand that dancers bring a fresh element to the work. It's their gestalt, what they represent as human beings."

That approach helped shape his humble approach. "It's a blessing that I have, a gift. You can't be self-centered. If you are, you can get trapped in narcissism. I can't entertain any grandiose thoughts."

Ah, but the last century's great choreographers were hardly bashful wallflowers. George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Tudor, Jose Limon and others had enormous egos. No argument from Lubovitch, who worked with Limon and Tudor.

"Limon was, for so many, an inspiration. He operated from a moral high ground. A powerful man. I learned so much from him, and from Mr. Tudor, my first teacher. Those iconic figures don't exist today."

While most dance-makers devote their lives to the art, Lubovitch came into the field relatively late, which may explain his refreshing approach.

"I was a gymnast. But the more I saw of dance, the more I wanted to make dances. I was a good dancer, even before I began my training.

"I always intended to choreograph. I had a voice right away, but I had to find the courage to put it out there. Back then, I didn't fully know what I knew. The trick is to be true to your own voice, and take the knocks as they come.

"In the early days, I was uninformed enough not to be afraid. Yes, you need a certain arrogance in this field, but I was very naive."

He formed his first company to perform his works in 1968, at age 24. Much to his surprise, he quickly got a round of bookings. Success came so fast and so effortlessly that, three years later when the troupe folded, Lubovitch found himself "taking stock" for a year.

"It was a fun ride, but I felt that I wasn't evolving as an artist. I had to really examine what I'd done and wanted to do. After a year, I decided that this is what I wanted."

He's still in shape, still young-looking (a graying at the temples aside) and still impressed that dancers want to perform his work.

"It startles me. I'm very flattered, but I don't regard (praise) at all. Most of us in this business aren't happy with what we've done."

That, he added, applies to one of his masterpieces, Othello, created in 1997.

"It's one of my richest - and most flawed - works. In a way, its flaws add to its richness. I would like to have done it better. In fact, I made some revisions on it last year. That definitely improved it."

Now in his mid-60s, Lubovitch views dance, and life, with the wisdom of age. "I remember the joy I felt at the beginning. But that joy does go away. To be honest, it's not a thrill I'm trying to retain."

shulgoldm@RockyMountainNews or 303-954-5296

Dancing feet

* What: Colorado Ballet will perform Lar Lubovitch's . . . smile with my heart, along with Antony Tudor's Leaves Are Fading and Dwight Rhoden's Straight Line to Never.

* When and where: 2 and 7:30 p.m. today, 2 p.m. Sunday, Ellie Caulkins Opera House

* Information: 303-837-8888

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