Over a decade ago, I watched in wide-eyed fascination narrated by the familiar lilt of The Nutcracker score, tucked into a ballet studio corner transfixed--the moment that stirs inspiration. I could not imagine anything more fascinating than watching Alexei Kremnev rehearse the "older ones."
Cut to now: I found myself reminiscent of ten-year-old me, studying every movement with equal intrigue as Kremnev, now the founding Artistic Director of the Joffrey Academy of Dance and the Joffrey Studio Company, rehearsed the Joffrey Trainees, with every bit of zeal, heart, and exceptional attention to detail that have come to define his work as a choreographer--not to mention, make the smallest nuances of his pieces explosions of musicality, electricity, and vigor.
If this is what the future of ballet looks like, it will never be better.
In between the start of his career at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and his current position at Joffrey, Kremnev found the secret to success in an unlikely area: "If we can sell the Russian Imperial Bolshoi training in the cornfield of Indiana, it will work everywhere," he noted, elaborating that "every place, every community is very different, but you have to set your goals [to] what would make this particular place a better one."
Kremnev has certainly made the Joffrey Ballet a better place--he has choreographed a staggering fifteen original works here--but just as interesting is how Kremnev is making ballet choreography as a whole better. He doesn't push limits; he works beyond them. His ideas aren't adapted; he invents new ones. When talking about how he crafts a new piece, Kremnev said: "Before going to the studio I have to imagine the piece entirely in my mind, invent all the steps and write them down completely. It's like writing a book."
To put it simply, that's what Kremnev is: A story-teller; a master of rewriting the modern masterpiece--the lost pinnacle of true artistry that gets abandoned too often in today's too-many-pirouettes-to-count world.
But Kremnev's work isn't simple: It is complex and thoughtful, as is his teaching. Sitting up close in the studio as he rehearses is a crash-course in what we should be looking for in choreography. And according to Kremnev, what is paramount to the creative process? Instinct: "I'm searching for my own instinct and where it can lead me. I think it's a very natural and the only process for me. Creativity makes our profession very unique."
When asked to describe his style, Kremnev reflects that it is eclectic, comprised of his "own signature things," but according to him, "I can be flexible with my stylistic approach depending on characters I'm creating. But, I think musicality and structure are two of the most important features in my works. Also, humor and emotionalism."
Really, that's what this art form is all about: Emotion. How something makes us feel, and why we feel that way. Kremnev tackles that question audaciously, with a range of styles and different heartstrings they pull at. His Carnival of the Animals is, delightfully, equal parts comedic and captivating, with a forceful wit and choreography bursting with nuanced athleticism. In Kremnev's pieces--this one, in particular, dancers don't move with the music; his choreography provides them the opportunity to move as the music, divine musicality that is illustrative of every note and subtlety.
In keeping with his pronounced musicality, but serving a different side of the emotional spectrum, Windy Sand is introspective, filled with pas de deuxs and groups that shift like a kaleidoscope slide. As dancers waft through elaborate lifts, you're enchanted--but equally so when a pair stand facing each other, holding hands, or sitting back to back on the floor. Windy Sand ricochets from movement inquisitively physical to profoundly intimate...and altogether, creates moment after moment where you can practically hear the audience catching their breath. Pieces like this remind us why we watch ballet to begin with.
With the majority of his works set on the Joffrey's future generation, Kremnev has a youthful eye in more ways than one: Not only does the electricity of his work echo with audiences of all ages, he is (alongside co-Artistic Director of the Academy, Anna Reznik) a master at working with ballet's next generation: "Working with young dancers has its pluses and minuses, but we love their energy, enthusiasm and readiness to try new things with open mind."
Does ballet exist to open our minds? Kremnev's does. His 2012 Le Roi s'amuse: Dances in Ancient style is bold and refuses to conform to confines of traditional beauty. It is wonderfully eccentric, a blend of classicism and new power, shape-shifting in its lyricism and strength. Kremnev excels in prowess of partnering: Never before have couples danced together with such force and tenderness.
When I ask about the future of ballet, Kremnev says that in addition to following his own creative path, he hopes "technology will still remain secondary in our art. True talent, skills and education can't be replaced by any visual effects."
So what's next? Kremnev is only just beginning: He has a variety of premieres coming up, including a new work, Coco & Igor, premiering in March, Windy Sand debuting in Portgual in 2017, and Carnival of the Animals taking the stage this summer at the Zurich Opera House in Switzerland.
As I watch, I find it impossible to find one word that summarizes Kremnev's choreography: It is everything, encompassing the best and brilliance of what movement can be, while breaking boundaries of what we know.
Perhaps this is fitting: Kremnev isn't one thing, either. He is a rarity. Choreographer, yes--but also a soulful transcendentalist and pioneer of physicality, musicality, and emotion in dance. He is a revolutionary.
All the world is a stage, they say--and to Kremnev, they will belong.