The other day at rehearsal, THE Ana Laguna walked into the ABT studios and watched for about three hours. Ana is Mats Eks wife and ‘muse’ (for lack of a better word). She has danced in many of his ballets and you can see a lot of them on DVD. She also performed at the Fall for Dance Festival last season, dancing a duet with Mats titled ‘Memory’. It brought the house down and was the highlight for me of that festival.
Describing her, a friend of mine put it best… ‘She is that rare artist who is able to focus on her
art at a very high level but yet very aware and sensitive to those around
her. It brings everything to another place….that intensity.’
She is here to dance a pas de deux choreographed by Mats for her and Baryshnikov. It is the Baryshnikov Arts Center’s annual spring gala and I snagged some tickets for the performance. I cannot wait..
Here she is dancing Mats Ek’s Carmen, you will be able to see her around 3 min 45 sec.
My ode to one of my favorite choreographers working today. Mats Ek primarily works in Europe, and has created ballets for almost every great dance company in the world…. Paris Opera, Royal Ballet, ABT.
His sense of theatricality and stage drama is what impresses me the most. His movement, beautiful and seamless at times. Having just seen him perform a duet with his wife, Ana Laguna at the Fall for Dance festival, I was inspired to research more of his work that I had not seen.
This piece he did for Sylvie Guillem and his brother, Niklas Ek, in 1995, and is done in three parts. One a solo for him, a duet for them, and then a solo for Guillem. Its the solo for Guillem is what affects me the most and what is shown here. You might recognize the music, used in Chris Wheeldon’s “After the Rain”. This is such a clear example of why I love this art form.
