Sure, Nicole Kidman in corset and fishnets for Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film adaptation of “Moulin Rouge” was hot.
But you’ve never really seen the cancan until you’ve seen a dozen classically trained ballerinas take on those leggy steps.
That’s part of the draw during Ballet Nouveau Colorado’s production of “Moulin Rouge,” making its premiere Tuesday at the Paramount Theatre before moving on to a three-day run next weekend at the DL Parsons Theatre in Northglenn.
Ballet Nouveau artistic director Robert Mills said one of many challenges to mounting a story as familiar as this one was reining in his dancers’ ultra-disciplined technique. He wanted the movement for this show to fall in line with the raw, sassy energy captured by Paris’ “Red Windmill” nightclub, the epicenter of fin de siècle bohemian culture.
“The cancan was an actual dance back then,” said Mills, now in his second season as the ballet’s artistic director.
“My girls couldn’t look like ballerinas doing this because the (Moulin Rouge entertainers) were not trained dancers. They were just girls that could kick high,” he said. “I had to layer away all of that refinement.”
The choreographer looked to numerous “Moulin Rouge” movies for inspiration, along with digging up an old “Moulin Rouge” ballet first staged in Paris and New York in the 1930s.
Most professional dance companies steer clear of attempts to adapt that dated production, Mills said. “It’s a lot of work to take something where the music and the idea exist, and then have to make it fit for 2006.”
The choreographer was up for the challenge in part because he loves “Moulin Rouge,” the first professional ballet he ever danced in during a Tulsa Ballet production. He also deemed this show as ideal for the natural, youthful exuberance exhibited by Ballet Nouveau’s current company of dancers. And doing “Moulin Rouge” on Valentine’s Day in a storied theater like the Paramount was a coup Mills could not deny.
His aesthetic reflects the fusion of classical ballet and modern dance he was exposed to during a 15-year career that began in Chicago and included time with such companies as the Pennsylvania Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Kansas City Ballet and Ballet Oklahoma.
“Mine is going to be much more colorful” than earlier “Moulin Rouge” ballets, Mills said. “There are going to be more characters. Each character is more layered. And there is a more developed story line.”
Mills diligently selected each of the show’s costumes, aiming to create “a very vibrant picture” for the audience.
There’s more to this show than joie de vivre. Mills appealed to longtime colleague Jacob Sparso to create a second piece for the production. “Timeless,” featuring custom costuming inspired by an impressionist painting, is set to classic Ray Charles songs. “I wanted to sneak in this really great abstract dance that people wouldn’t expect,” Mills said.
Sparso trained with the Danish Royal Ballet and has worked with companies around the world. He’s known for bold, athletic, engaging movement.
“(Mills) gave me carte blanche to do anything I wanted,” Sparso said earlier this week from his home in Oklahoma. Sparso thought it timely to create a ballet around the late Ray Charles, given the recent biopic that was a critical and commercial sensation.
Another reason for Ballet Nouveau Colorado to take on the work: The Broomfield company has a mission that includes bringing professional dance to the often forgotten suburbs, and making that dance palatable to audiences that aren’t dance-savvy.
“This music happened to be something I really cared about,” Sparso said. “It’s another way for people to watch ballet.”
Staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-820-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
Moulin Rouge
Ballet Nouveau Colorado, the ambitious, fast-growing contemporary ballet company based in Broomfield, makes its downtown Denver debut with this adaptation of stories from Paris’ infamous nightclub. DENVER OPENING|8 p.m. Tuesday; Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place|$34-$40|303-466-5685 or balletnouveaucolorado.org NORTHGLENN|8 p.m. Feb. 17-19 |$34-$40| 303-466-5685 or balletnouveaucolorado.org
