James Kudelka crowned king of Canadian ballet - new artistic director of National Ballet of Canada

Dance Magazine, May, 1996 by Paula Citron

TORONTO--With the February announcement that forty-year-old James Kudelka will take over as artistic director of National Ballet of Canada on June 1, NBC becomes one of a handful of companies in the world with an internationally acclaimed choreographer at its helm.

This does not mean that NBC will become the James Kudelka Company. "We bought his vision because he laid our fears to rest," explains Lyman Henderson, who directed the search committee for a successor to Reid Anderson. "James talked about the three-fold responsibility of a director: preserving the classics' bringing in noteworthy existing pieces, and creating original works, thus ensuring that the very backbone of the National's repertoire would remain intact. And then there are the bonuses: that he is a Canadian and that the National will become the chief beneficiary of his superb choreography. This company is in an enviable and unique position heading into the twenty-first century because we will have works that people want to see. As someone said to me after the decision was announced, `He's your ticket.'"

Kudelka has a long association with NBC. After training at the National Ballet School, he joined the company at age sixteen and was promoted to soloist at age twenty. The interest in choreographing that he displayed as a student came to full flower, with several Kudelka pieces being taken into the company repertoire over the next few years. In 1980 NBC appointed the twenty-four-year-old its resident choreographer. He left to join Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1981, dancing with that company for nine years. Anderson brought him back to NBC as artist in residence in 1992. In this capacity, Kudelka has not only choreographed works, but, according to Anderson, has also played an important artistic role in NBC's overall administration. Kudelka says he views these past four years as an unofficial apprenticeship in administering a ballet company.

NBC's search for a new director was necessitated when Anderson announced last November that he was stepping down to take over Stuttgart Ballet in November 1996. The search took on more urgency when Anderson began spending longer periods away from Toronto and in Stuttgart. Kudelka found himself stepping into the breach. "James was acting like artistic director all through the new Nutcracker," said Henderson, referring to the Kudelka version of the holiday classic which had its premiere last winter. "He was the producer keeping all the balls in the air at the same time, so running a company was the next logical step."

As for Kudelka, the man previously known more as a dance creator than a company leader says that being in charge of all aspects of mounting Nutcracker convinced him he had the qualities needed to be a good administrator. "Nutcracker convinced was the biggest production in the history of the National," he says. "I had to deal with the company as a whole, which changed the way I see the dance world. People forget that a choreographer is also a manager, because you have to be organized, and I've always completed ballets on time. Being in charge of a company is really like creating a really big ballet."

Other factors also played a part in Kudelka's decision. Valerie Wilder, NBC's very able chief operating officer, will become general manager, providing him with an excellent administrative colleague. The life of a transient choreographer living in hotels was also becoming burdensome for Kudelka. Not that other companies who enjoyed his services should fret: NBC says it will allow him to undertake one outside project per year. To maintain his special relationships with San Francisco Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, Kudelka envisions coproductions between these companies and NBC, an arrangement which will also help offset financial cutbacks.

NBC's classical repertoire will be preserved, but retooled. Says Kudelka: "Several productions, particularly the Tchaikovsky canon, are ready for renewal. l don't mean a radical restaging, but i would like to take on a Swan Lake, bring it into the nineties, yet treat it with great respect, as I did Nutcracker."

At the moment, Kudelka has a more immediate concern than long-range repertoire planning: keeping his roster of dancers intact. Word among the ranks is that Anderson may try to woo some NBC dancers to join him in Stuttgart. Indeed, the decision to move up its announcement of a new director from an April 1 deadline to February 29 may have been motivated by a desire to head off any hemorrhaging of dancers from NBC. Henderson denies this, saying, "If you're at the station, why not get off the train? We had our man."

Soloist Robert Conn, one of the dancers considering joining Anderson, says the appointment of Kudelka has made such an action a tougher call. "I admit I'm on the fence about leaving," says Conn, who has created roles in four of Kudelka's ballets. "Do you follow an artistic director you respect, or do you stay because of the consistently great choreography being created on you?"