As if to balance the darkness surrounding the pandemic, the world has been graced by shining lights, those which may have remain dampened were in not for the necessity of innovation during this trying time.
From within the studios of American Repertory Ballet (ARB) in New Brunswick, New Jersey and reaching beyond, Haley Wright and Ryoko Tanaka have been granted an opportunity to show their faces and talents thanks to a commission awarded to them by leadership in the company.
Merge the gifts of an accomplished pianist and former ARB2 dancer (Haley) with a current company dancer and budding choreographer (Ryoko) and the result is Saudade which premiered at the launch of the company’s 2021 Digital Spring Season.
Julie Diana Hench, Executive Director of both the company and its training ground, Princeton Ballet School, explains how this partnership came about:
“As we planned to step back into the studio and onstage, the idea of creating a new work that reflected on shared experiences over the past year seemed like an interesting and relevant way to launch our 2021 Spring season. And given the work they created and shared during quarantine… a collaboration between Ryoko and Haley seemed like the perfect fit!
ARB is very interested in giving a platform to new and emerging artists, a commitment that will continue to grow in many ways under the leadership of Ethan Stiefel, ARB’s Artistic Director Designate.”
The excitement and responsibility that comes with the challenges of creating something new are what encourage dancers, choreographers, and composers down a previously undiscovered path of their journey, both artistically and personally.
Read on to hear from Haley and Ryoko about what this milestone moment in their careers has been like.
Interview with Haley Wright & Ryoko Tanaka
‣ A commissioned piece by a professional ballet company – that’s exciting! What was your reaction when ARB announced it?
Ryoko: On December 21st in 2020, I was asked if I wanted to choreograph for the company. I remember that I responded to the email right away saying, “This is the most exciting thing to happen in 2020!” Of course I said yes, as creating a piece has always been my dream.
Haley: I was absolutely thrilled to be commissioned by ARB. Getting the email from Julie was definitely a shock because I hadn’t composed professionally before, but the excitement was overwhelming, and I knew I had to jump on the opportunity.
I have been dancing since I was four years old and writing music since I was ten years old, so for quite some time I have had the dream to combine these interests and compose for dance. I never imagined that I would actually get the opportunity to do that, so it has been a very exciting and emotional project for me.
‣ Is this the first time you two have worked together as composer and choreographer?
Ryoko: Yes and no? When ARB created the video Repeat, Haley and I both were members of the production team for organizing the process. She shared her work with us when we had our first production meeting which involved some of the company members. That was how I got to know about her work.
I remember that when I listened to her music for the first time, it was so inspiring that I just wanted to get up and dance! I had a lot of fun self-choreographing and dancing to her music in Repeat. I never imagined that I would get to create a piece for the company using her music.
Haley: For Repeat, Ryoko was one of the creative directors and helped organize the filming in many ways, so technically we have worked together previously as composer and choreographer. But for that project I had written the music much earlier and Ryoko only choreographed for her 2-eights solo in the project.
Saudade is the first time that we have worked together on a large scale project where we both were creating something entirely new.
‣ How has this collaboration affected your relationship with each other, both personally and professionally?
Haley: I think this collaboration has definitely had an impact on our relationship!
I have looked up to Ryoko as a dancer since I was a student at Princeton Ballet School and she was a trainee with the company; however, from that point in time up until she was in the company and I was in ARB’s second company, I was incredibly shy and honestly didn’t talk very much.
So I am really glad that through both Repeat and Saudade I have been able to build more of a relationship with Ryoko. She is just a wonderful person, artist, and collaborator, so it has been amazing to create a work together, and I hope we have more opportunities to collaborate in the future!
Ryoko: I think we worked very well together. Haley was very flexible about tempos and style, but she knew what she wanted. When we would speak to each other, I always felt that we had similar ideas and visions.
It was nice getting to know her even more through this piece. I feel that now I have a deeper connection between her and myself as friends and also artists. I hope to get to work with her again in the future.
‣ Haley, you mentioned previously that Saudade was created to “reconnect to Repeat“, a work that the company created during the early stages of the pandemic. Can you explain the relationship between the two pieces?
Yes! So this past spring when the quarantine started, ARB created a video project to one of my compositions, Repeat, in which we all danced together from our locations around the world.
I wrote the final words that accompany the piece:
“Though we may be physically separated, we are still together at heart. Nothing connects us more in this world than sharing our art.”
We wanted to show that we could still create beautiful work as a group even if we couldn’t be in the studio together and complete the season of in-theater performances. Repeat was a nostalgic, yet optimistic piece, so I wanted the beginning of the new work to juxtapose that feeling a little bit.
I started Saudade with the ending notes of Repeat, just slowed-down and more somber/empty. I just feel like the pandemic has been a collective loss for everyone, whether it’s losing loved ones to the virus, losing a job and sense of security, or losing the routine and happiness of normal life, and I wanted to express that sadness and struggle a bit more in Saudade.
For me, the piece has four sections, the first of which represents that sadness and longing, whereas the second returns to the sense of hope and nostalgia reminiscent of Repeat.
However, this feeling wears off and there is an abrupt return to reality and loss in the third section, which uses the musical theme of section 1, only a little more dissonant and minor this time.
Finally, the piece ends in a section I envision as the clouds opening up and the sun pouring through. I wanted to end on a more peaceful, optimistic note and resolve the tension created throughout the piece.
‣ “Saudade” is a very profound word; how did this ultimately become the title of the work? Were there other candidates?
Haley: There were two main ideas that I wanted to capture with the title of the piece: the meaning behind Repeat and the range of pandemic-inspired feelings that went into the sections of the new work.
I wrote Repeat after my grandfather had passed away, and it was a way for me to express the bittersweet reminiscing I was going through. I chose the title Repeat because all of these memories with him were playing on repeat in my mind.
So that piece has a nostalgic tone to it, and I revisited that feeling with the new work, going into an even deeper sense of longing.
I wanted to find a word or brief title that captured this sense of loss and nostalgia, because I felt that it was something we all can relate to with the pandemic. For a while, I was trying so hard to think of something, and nothing was coming to me. I was honestly a bit frustrated.
Then, one day I serendipitously discovered the word “saudade” through TikTok (though part of me hates to admit it), and it just felt right. This beautiful Portuguese word captured both a sense of loss/nostalgia and a hint of positivity, which I found to be perfect for the composition.
I sent it to Ryoko, and she thought it was perfect!
‣ Was the score already composed or did the movement and musical creations develop together?
Haley: I composed the piece before Ryoko started choreographing, so we talked over the phone a few times both before and during Ryoko’s artistic process, discussing thoughts behind the piece and adjusting tempo.
‣ Ryoko, how has your development as a choreographer influenced you as a dancer and vice versa?
Being a leader in the room as a choreographer, I felt a tremendous increase in my responsibilities.
After work, I’d go home and listen to the music over and over to create imaginations and have a clear mind set. And the following day, I gave dancers what I had imagined as clearly as I could. During that process, it made me realize that dancing is our language. It helped me to create my own vocabulary in each step, even in our morning classes.
‣ Now that this project is coming to completion, looking back on the process, what lessons learned can you take with you as you continue your journeys as artists?
Ryoko: Continuously exploring yourself is very important to staying motivated. There are so many things that I didn’t know about myself, and the more I learned, the more I realized how fun it is “getting to know me”.
Haley: This project certainly taught me a lot.
First, I learned that everything you put out there as an artist just might open up doors for you down the road. I never thought that using my composition “Repeat” for a video project with ARB would lead to me being commissioned by the company less than a year later. It has reminded me to take every opportunity that comes my way and to enjoy every moment of the journey.
I’ve also gained more respect for composers; I learned how difficult it is to create an extended composition. Before this piece, the longest song I had written was probably about four minutes long, so it took a lot of patience and hard work to create an eight-and-a-half minute piece. I definitely found my own rhythm though, often experimenting at the piano in the morning and recording it all on my phone, then later re-listening and taking notes at night.
Next, I learned just how much thought and effort goes into a new work from many different angles. I was very fortunate to have such talented and generous friends, colleagues, and mentors help me along the way with this project. There is a long list of unsung heroes with this piece!
Most importantly, this piece taught me not to doubt myself so much and just chase what I am truly passionate about. I have always loved creating music, but also have always been both overly critical and a bit shy when it came to sharing my compositions with others. Moving forward, I feel more confident and excited to share my work.
Featured Image of Annie Johnson and Erikka Reenstiera-Cates in Ryoko Tanaka’s Saudade with music by Haley Wright © Eduardo Patino, NYC
