Half a dozen couples stand, stiff and silent as mannequins, on the hardwood floors of a large dance studio in Calgary. They seem to be embracing, their faces close to each other as if whispering a secret. The room is hushed as rollicking gin-house piano music fills the air.
There is a clap, and a sharp voice begins to count, yelling: "One! Two! Three!" in time with the music's beat. With each shout and clap, the dancers swiftly move into a tightly controlled pose of classical ballet: one woman is lifted high above her partner, another's leg rests above her partner's shoulder and another is angled away from her mate, tango-esque. There is something both beautiful and tragic in this sequence, like watching over and over the moment a carefree child is struck frozen by fear. And then, bizarrely, there is a man on roller skates weaving his way among the partners. The music is almost deafening - familiar but new as well. Behind the roller skater struts a sinister, bowler-capped fellow, clicking his heels.
Suddenly, the man on roller skates topples and splays face down on the floor, breaking the spell of the dance with a round of laughter. He adjusts his elbow pads and takes an offered hand to help him upright. This is a moment Jean Grand-Maître, artistic director of Alberta Ballet, hopes won't be repeated in May when his production opens. The dancers, in their sweat pants, leg warmers and bandanas, collapse into relaxed poses as the rehearsal is momentarily put on hold.
It is October 2009, seven months before audiences will fill Edmonton's Jubilee Auditorium to see the real thing: a ballet commissioned, and created in partnership with, the legendary Sir Elton John.
It is called Love Lies Bleeding, a slightly sappy title that was created well after the show's choreography and one that seems at odds with what Grand-Maître claims is an unsentimental look at Elton John's life. Long after the music had been chosen, the dances choreographed and the marketing campaign launched, the title was transformed from Elton, a collaborative work between Elton John and Alberta Ballet, to Love Lies Bleeding: A ballet inspired by and featuring the songs of Bernie Taupin and Sir Elton John.
It is more than a dancer on roller skates that has this production launching into the unfamiliar. First, there is the story. Written by Grand-Maître, the ballet's narrative was the product of months of research and a life-long admiration for the subject. Grand-Maître calls the work an "abstract biography," blending John's personal story (a rise from humble beginnings to stardom and all its trappings) with his musical evolution (the slow shift from glam-rock to pop ballads), and the course of history around him (most pivotally, the devastating sweep of AIDS through America in the mid-1980s). John has been an object of scrutiny and public imagination for decades, and Grand-Maître says John's portrayal here will be surprising - "unsentimental, melancholy, in-your-face" and surreal.
"I basically wanted to tell the story of a young child who was never meant to become a superstar and does become a superstar," says Grand-Maître. "He was a little pudgy guy from Middlesex, a neighbourhood outside of London which was lower-middle class. He didn't have the physique of George Michael, but he had the talent, and then was pushed so hard in his career.
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