The Cullberg Ballet has been an iconic institution in the world of dance since its foundation forty years ago. Swedish Bulletin met with creative leader Johan Inger between rehearsals.
Nineteen people are walking in a straight line on a shiny, black, slippery floor. The leader takes a sharp turn, the line follows. Another turn. After a minute or two, the human worm has created a complex fictive pattern on the floor. A pattern that dissolves as soon as the last person in line has taken another step forward. It's like the game "snake" that people used to play on the early Nokia cellphones.
– Okay guys, do it again, but this time, improvise some kind of meeting between you, in pairs.
The snake starts moving again, but this time the dancers - on cue from Johan Inger - are locating each other through the crowded web, displaying an improvised dance on the empty spaces, like sudden outbursts from the path of life. Then they hurry back in line, trying to fit in.
Progression on his own terms
We are at the Riksteatern premises in Hallunda/Norsborg, a well over thirty minute subway ride from the central parts of Stockholm, in the outskirts of the red line's mythologized suburbia. Johan Inger is the creative leader of classic Swedish dance group The Cullberg Ballet, and he is trying to tie the last remaining knots on the performance Point of Eclipse, opening within three weeks from our meeting. The ensemble of nineteen strong dancers between ages 23 and 40 don't look like you would picture a ballet group in founder Birgit Cullberg's days.
– Some people will always have opinions on my way of doing things, Johan Inger says. Some critics want the Cullberg Ballet to remain the same as always, while some think we should be even edgier, more modern than we are. It is a difficult task. Cullberg is like a national icon, and has a good reputation internationally.
A reputation that spells Birgit Cullberg, but perhaps more importantly Mats Ek, the world-famous choreographer who was the creative leader of Cullberg before Johan Inger.
– The Cullberg Ballet is different now from when Mats Ek was here, says Inger. I have developed the company according to my own needs, and most of the dancers in the group have been handpicked by me.
He wishes to develop the company further, widening the horizons with more collaborations both in Sweden and abroad.
– We want to spread our knowledge, and I am even thinking of setting up an academy for young dancers, where they can grow artistically.
Johan Inger is starting to get slightly nervous over the upcoming premier. He has never worked with the whole ensemble before, but this time they all fit in. Point of Eclipse has no stars, no main roles, no concrete messages. It is an abstract flow promoting individualism within the boundaries of the group, and the underlying sentiment is the "now", the present. Layers of existentialism, energy, time and space.
– It is like a universe – an inner and an outer universe. I want portray different ways of seeing humans, that we are very big or very small depending on the context.
The Cullberg Ballet was founded forty years ago by said Birgit Cullberg. The anniversary included a successful eclectic collage performance at Dansens Hus in early 2007. An anniversary shared by Mr Inger. How does that feel?
– Turning forty is not so dramatic for me, but of course you start to realise that you have lived the majority of your life. It calls for some mental reflection.
Split personality
Reflection seems to be a critical ingredient for Johan Inger. He takes time to really look at his dancers, he speaks in a modest, quiet manner, and he admits still having trouble adjusting to the leader role at the Cullberg Ballet. Therefore, he now has divided the responsibilities between himself and his more administrative colleague Anna Grip. Which means that Inger increasingly can focus on what he likes best – choreography.
– I had never been any one's boss before, so it was very difficult to adjust to the responsibilities. The role as a boss often collided with the role as a choreographer, so I'm much happier this way.
Do you miss working as a dancer?
– Well, that life was so easy! You knew exactly what to do and had no responsibilities.
Johan Inger received his education from the Royal Ballet Academy in Stockholm and National Ballet School in Canada. He started working at the Royal Opera in Stockholm in 1985 at an age of eighteen. In 1990 he became a member of the Nederlands Dans Theater in Holland, where he worked as both a dancer and choreographer up until 2003, when he was appointed creative leader of the Cullberg Ballet. He is now pulling the strings for some of the best international dancers, hailing from Sweden, USA, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Israel, France and Spain. But naming any stars in the group is not anything Inger is interested in.
– Everyone in the group is incredibly talented, and it has taken some time to get the group homogenic. It is a true luxury to have an own group to work with as a choreographer – I know exactly how they work together.
How would you describe your choreographic style?
– Quite fast and complex, with much floor contact. But I hope the viewer can see the human behind the movements. Dance is not like a painting – the moment it is created it disappears. And that's also what I am into at the moment. An attempt to capture the present.
This article was published in Swedish Bulletin, winter 2007.
