Stamping Ground, Kylián

Jiří Kylián as acclaimed Czech choreographer and Artistic Director of The Netherlands Dance Theater from 1975-1999 is known for the research and dedication he puts into the development of each of his dance choreographic works. This is especially evident in the creative process of Stamping Ground, a work that was inspired by the traditional tribal dances of the native Australian Aboriginal people. Aboriginal culture is the only Stone Age culture that has been preserved until present times because these people live only on the island of Australia, which has been reclusive from developing civilization until just 200 years ago.

Unfortunately now the Aboriginal traditional way of living is highly disrupted by the forever growing western civilization in Australia. This fact increases the importance of works such as Stamping Ground, that help to raise public awareness of this dying culture and the need to preserve their traditional way of living through the art form of dance. Dance is integrated into every part of traditional Aboriginal life, for these people dance is not only an expressive art form but is an integral part of their daily activities. Aboriginal dances are focused around “image dances” where the person is possessed by the role they play whether is be the imitation of an animal, a spirit or a god. The image dances also explain how they reproduce events through dance in order to have control over their outcome, such as enacting the victorious battle, the successful hunt or the coming of rain. They believe in their power to cause the metaphysical to become physical. Traditional Aboriginal dance’s are passed down from generation to generation and vary in style and meaning for all the individual tribes living in different regions of Australia. Their dance traditions are a part of their identity and connect them to their ancestors, other members of their tribe, the ground they live on, the animals they eat and the air that they breathe.

Kylián said that he always had a “particular admiration for Aboriginal dance, because of its beauty, reality, expressiveness and importance in life and society.” This interest lead Kylián to delve further into his research of Aboriginal dance and he was privileged enough to travel to Australia in 1980 and attend a gathering of the remaining Northern Australian Aboriginal tribes. At this event Kylián was allowed to be involved in the Aboriginal dance experience and to witness first hand the power of a tribe Corroboree.

After this one-of-a-kind experience Kylián decided to create the work Stamping Ground in which he aimed not to directly reproduce the traditional dance form but to use the technique and essence of the Aboriginal’s special way of moving to develop his new dance creation. These techniques included the way the Aboriginal dancers worked with complete connection to the ground and how they repetitively stamp, walk and jump in unison as a united tribe whilst each of them also own a unique spirit or personality that becomes visible through each individual’s movement style. Aboriginal dancing also involves the imitation of the nature and animals they share their habitat with.

Kylián worked very closely with each of the dancers involved in this piece so they would be able to “discover and materialize, the animal within themselves”. This key concept is evident in the first half of Stamping Ground where there is the absence of music and each dancer comes out and performs a short solo sequence of characteristic animal movements infused with contemporary technique. The music was specifically left out to draw the audiences attention to dancer’s movements, the physicality of the human body, breathing, running, jumping, movements of the limbs, working the muscles that are the same in all animals on earth. The silence also highlights the moments when the performers create sound with their own body which includes a range of clapping, slapping and stomping, this is a direct connection to the Aboriginal style which involves a lot of percussive sounds created by their own bodies.

The second half of the piece is performed to Toccata for percussion instruments by Mexican conductor and composer Carlos Chavez which, while isn’t traditional score, is successful in reproducing the essence of Aboriginal tribal music. Chavez is known for how he combines different musical elements and in particular how he uses modern compositional techniques with tradition folk songs. In this score Chavez does not use the percussion to maintain a driving beat or make a large amount of noise but rather explores the possibility of percussion at moderate tempos, keeping a more pure, classical feeling about the piece. The music is a very important part of the over all effect of the work because it is tied so closely to the movement. Each beat is matched with a movement or a step and in many cases when that particular sound is repeated in a series so is the corresponding movement. This is another element that marries Kylián’s work to traditional Aboriginal dance forms.

Another feature that separates the first silent section of the work from the second half is that tin he second section Kylián uses small groups of performers dancing together but hardly ever everyone on stage at once. This is a key aspect that shows how Kylián only took inspiration from and used the essence of Aboriginal dance forms where large groups of people dance all together, this could be the whole tribe or only one particular gender. Kylián utilizes his broader repertoire in this work and incorporates modern forms including partnering, trio work, counter-balance and lifts; these may not be used by the Aboriginal people but they are common features in contemporary dance techniques.

It is also worth mentioning the stage design by Roslyn Anderson, who executed a simple and functional setting for Kylián’s intricate choreography. The space was set up with a black backdrop made up of strips hanging from roof to floor. This allowed the dancers to enter the performance space from three sides instead of the normal limit of only side wing entrances. This design was pared with Joop Caboort’s lighting that involved mainly warm yellow, orange and red hues. Imitating the light created by the hot Australian sun provided a more natural and real surrounding for Kylián’s work within the boundaries of a theatre.

On a whole Kylián’s ballet Stamping Ground is an exceptional example of how current choreographers are looking back to human’s origins as inspiration for new and exciting contemporary styles and performances. Stamping Ground is also a beautiful show of human physicality with NTD I dancers displaying impeccable modern technique, strength and flexibility as well as mastering the challenge of unique Aboriginal dance elements.

Kylián was successful in presenting to European audiences particular concepts and features of Australian Aboriginal dance without offending or directly replicating their sacred practices and dance traditions. Personally I thoroughly enjoyed viewing this work, the movement was original, interesting and engaging even in the silent sections and each individual dancer’s inner spirit or animal was given life through their movements. I believe that Kylián achieved a completely new style that used the grounded, naturally physical movements of indigenous dance forms in combination with cutting edge modern dance to create a spectacular work.