Australian choreographer Christopher Hill has lent his skills in classical ballet to young Indonesian dancers to create his latest, most complex piece.

The choreographed piece, titled One Together, was performed by young Indonesian dancers under the banner of the Indonesian Youth Ensemble. It was featured during “Historia: The Journey of Ballet in Indonesia”, an exhibition at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta playhouse in Central Jakarta, on July 6 and 7.

Ballet.id collaborated with the West Australian Ballet dance company for the event, which narrated the journey of Indonesian ballet – from its beginnings to its present day incarnation.

As a choreographer, Hill’s signature style of “#FutureBallet” takes the tradition of classical ballet and “pushes it into the future”.

“It’s really a mix of contemporary themes and traditional ballet positions but taken beyond the normal constraints and making them a bit more extreme: a bit bigger, moving more, interesting shapes and positions.”

With that in mind, Hill said the latest piece was the most complex he had ever created, owing to the fast-paced beats and frenzied movements.

With 16 dancers, it was also the biggest group he had ever worked with.

“There’s a lot of work with patterns, symmetry, canon, lots of movements around the stage,” he said.

“In the second half of the piece, the music is very energetic and there’s a lot of complicated choreography in there, with turns and jumps and changing directions. There’s sliding, people running in and out of the stage.”

Hill, West Australian Ballet’s former demi-soloist, has danced for The Australian Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet and Royal Ballet of Flanders.

He retired in 2018 after spending four years with West Australian Ballet to focus on his studies and choreographing.

The latest show marked his fourth time in Jakarta, having worked with Ballet.id since 2015.

“The first and second time I came as a dancer, the third time as a choreographer with Australian dancers, and now this time I get to come and choreograph the Indonesian dancers,” Hill told The Jakarta Post over coffee shortly before a practice session one evening.

“I’m trying to make something that brings the dancers all together, because they’re from different dance schools. Maybe they don’t normally work together, so I’m trying to create something that really shows them as a strong group.”

In bringing these youths from various backgrounds together, Hill emphasized the importance of unity and teamwork in an art form where synchronization is key.

He said his involvement in the program was to come in as a choreographer to create something new.

“I think the program really shows the history of dance, and my inclusion in the program really shows where we are at the moment, in present day dance and going into the future,” Hill said.

With a classical background, he wants to transition to the future utilizing classical ballet techniques as a way to showcase the evolution of dance.

Having danced professionally for 18 years, Hill started moving into choreography 15 years down the line, working with dancers in his studio as well as coaching them.

“Becoming the teacher and being able to hand over my experience and everything I’ve learned throughout my career – now it’s my turn to pass that on to the next generation. I love the process, I think it’s really rewarding, interesting and challenging for myself but also for the dancers,” he said.

“What I like the most about it is to see how the dancers respond to the information I’m giving them, to see them take the step up to the next level and really expand their experience and knowledge of dance.”

With the Indonesian dancers he is choreographing, Hill said his coaching system adapted with the group.

Many of the dancers, he said, had a background in traditional Indonesian dance as well as their main fare of ballet, jazz or contemporary dance.

“I think the beautiful thing about dance is that the more you do, the more the styles inform each other, and then it becomes a really personal and individual mix for the dancer,” he said.

“You really see that through the way they dance, the way they think about their movement and the way they execute their movement.”

Hill also praised the Indonesian dancers for their “natural artistry” and passion, finding they were fast to learn and, overall, had a good time at the studio as they handled the more complicated moves rather well.

“Initially, what I notice about Indonesian dancers is that there’s a lot of soul, artistry and natural passion that comes out even in simple things like standing still. I can see there’s a certain way the dancers hold themselves here that we don’t have so much in Australia,” Hill explained, adding that Indonesian dancers were very musical and responded to the music very well.

Hill is very confident in his dancers’ abilities, noting that four minutes of the seven-minute piece was choreographed in just two days of practice.

“All of it depends on the dancers’ abilities. It’s my job as choreographer to give the movement that makes them look good but is also interesting for them to dance and the audience watch,” Hill said.

Through Historia, Hill hoped the audience saw “a broad range of dance styles” from a number of Jakarta dance schools.

“There will probably be something for everyone in the audience, something that everyone responds to, especially in a program like this where it’s really diverse. I suppose it’s an opportunity for the audience to see the history of dance.” (ste)

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