Extensive Interview with Christopher Marney, AD of London City Ballet

[Sim]

Interview with Christopher Marney, Artistic Director, London City Ballet

 

Christopher Marney has had an illustrious and varied career, including dancing with Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and running the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company in Chicago.  However, he is about to embark on the most challenging, and potentially rewarding, endeavour of his professional life.  He is resurrecting the London City Ballet, a company founded by Harold King, that had Princess Diana as its very active patron, but was sadly disbanded mainly due to financial issues.  That was 28 years ago. Looking much younger than his 44 years, and impressively calm and unruffled less than a month before their inaugural tour begins, we chatted at LCB’s base at The Angel in London.

 

Ayca Anil and Mischa Goodman (Photo by ASH)

 

Chris, can we start please with an explanation of why and how the rejuvenation of the company began?

Well, LCB was the very first company I ever saw.  It was in Hornchurch when I was 10 or 11 years old, and I have never forgotten it.  I was already involved in local theatre.  I was smitten, and always remembered the company as it was my introduction to ballet.  So, it was my idea to start it up again.  I acquired the rights myself and worked for a year in my kitchen to get it off the ground.  So, although we launched at Sadler’s Wells last October, it was probably a year of work before that.  Previous to that, I had worked on reviving a few of Kenneth MacMillan’s works with Deborah MacMillan, and I began to think about a vehicle to tour these works.  I thought of LCB as I loved their ethos of engagement, touring and relationship with their audience.  They always had a great following.  The company would be 16 dancers, and before I started, I spoke to some regional venues to see if they would present the company.  I spoke to five, and they were all enthusiastic and supportive.  To my amazement, some of the directors were in place since the 90s, and Danny at Bath’s Theatre Royal said to me that they hardly get any British dance companies touring to their venue.  Part of the reason is that it’s so difficult to tour large companies.  So, another advantage to having a small company.  Alastair Spalding at Sadler’s Wells was also very supportive, especially in view of the historical relationship the company had with the venue. 

 

How did you choose your dancers?

I think there is often a preconception that a new company must mean a start-up company for newly graduated dancers.  That was never my intention.  Because of the repertoire I intend to present (MacMillan and other prolific choreographers), I knew I needed a company of dancers with varying degrees of experience.  I need those who can be different in character, I need those who are technically great.  I also want them to feed off each other, and I can already see that happening. It's very reciprocal.  So, of the 16 dancers, I invited eight that I had already worked with (including one from Central and one from Joffrey), who I knew I could work well with and who would work well with each other.  The dancers are all on a freelance basis and are currently contracted for the upcoming tour, so six months.  We will do the same every year for the next three years.  A couple are on leave of absence from their own companies. The other eight were chosen by audition. We had 930 applicants! Three of us watched all the submissions, and then invited 200 to the live auditions.  We did it over a weekend. Kevin O’Hare very kindly lent us the large studio at the Opera House for the whole weekend, so everybody was able to do class with a lot of space.  On the Sunday we did a recall for 40.  We did a class, then some of the Ashley Page repertoire, which is our most classical part at the moment, then part of my piece, Eve.  Within that, the dancers were given a task to give some creative input. So it was all very thorough, and at the end of the process we awarded eight contracts. 

 

Kanika Carr and Alvaro Madrigal (Photo by ASH)

 

Please tell me about the company’s repertoire.

First of all, I don’t want to present pieces that are already being done by other British companies.  I have long been interested in reviving some of MacMillan’s short ballets that are never seen, such as Ballade that we will be doing on our opening tour.  Choreographers have always made ballets for smaller groups of dancers that fit the kinds of venues we are touring to.  Most of these ballets have fallen out of favour not because they are bad, but because they are made for small groups, and we don’t have the kind of offshoot touring groups that we used to.  So, with a company of 16 very good and very professional dancers, it is my intention to dance MacMillan, Ashton, Balanchine…and many others. We won’t of course be touring the big ballets, but we are really hoping to take a good mix of pieces out there and hope that there is something for everyone in this mixed bill.  If you want to see a classical piece there is the Ashley Page which is in tutus, then on a more contemporary spectrum is Arielle Smith’s piece.  We gave a lot of thought in putting together these programmes and hope that they are diverse enough in content to please everyone. Many people out there seem to think ‘Swan Lake is not for me’, but hopefully if we market our company and repertoire properly, we can show them that there is a lot more to ballet that they might like.  

 

Can you tell me about the tour?  Not only are you touring England, but you are also going to Portugal, the USA and China.  That is incredibly impressive at the very start of the new LCB!

Well, I wanted the company to be seen from the start.  Financially it isn’t worth just presenting three shows.  We are going to be seen somewhere different every week.  The foreign tours are also very important in getting our name out there.  There are dance festivals in Europe in the summer, when there is very little dance to be seen elsewhere, and we have the repertoire to send, say, eight dancers to Portugal and eight to Italy, whereas China and NY will be the whole company. 

 

You are opening the Fall season at the Joyce Theater in New York.  Is that a daunting prospect for a new company?

No more so than opening at the Theatre Royal in Bath or at Sadler’s Wells.  We are very aware that the audience is coming to see, and expects, a quality performance and that’s what they will get.  We are doing seven performances in a week, so a heavy workload! The dancers are very excited, and some of them have never been to NY before, so it will be a great experience for them.

 

I am so impressed that you are going to China.  How did that come about?

It’s a lovely story.  After our launch in October 2023, I was contacted by a production company in China.  This man had been working there for about 40 years and had brought LCB to China in the 90s.  He remembered the company fondly, and liked the repertoire we are presenting, so invited us over there! They have experience taking over Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet.  We are the first foreign company they are taking there since the pandemic.

 

How are ticket sales going for the tour, both here and abroad?

Very well.  Abroad, things are organised for us locally, but we are in constant touch with our representatives, ensuring that all the relevant information gets out on social media and elsewhere, so we keep on top of things. 

 

Alina Cojocaru will be guesting with the company at Sadler’s Wells, but not on tour, which has disappointed some people…

I would love to say that we are going to do 50 venues and Alina will be guesting at all of them.  But we are a new company, and we are therefore limited in what we can do.  This is a new relationship with Alina; I am a huge admirer of hers and her interpretation of the lead MacMillan roles is second to none.  That’s why I asked her.  But these are all building blocks:  when people ask me why we aren’t going to Scotland, or here or there, I have to remind them (and myself!) that this time last year there was no LCB!

 

Alina Cojocaru and Alvaro Madrigal (Photo by ASH)

 

We have discussed repertoire a bit, but looking ahead, will you be commissioning new work for the company?

Well, my intention is to commission one new work per year.  I think that is really important because it gives the company its own identity when new work is made on them.  But my main focus is not going to be on new work; as mentioned I want to concentrate on rarely seen works, or works that are less old but not often seen in the UK.

 

Which brings me to Ashton.  There is a whole closetful of Ashton ballets that we never get to see here anymore.  Have you thought about reviving some of those?  Would it suit the company?

One or two of my dancers will have danced Ashton in their previous companies.  When I was director of the Joffrey Studio we put on excerpts from Jazz Calendar.  Having said this, it is very hard to please everyone.  Companies are under pressure to supply and supply and supply.  We must ensure that we get the programmes right, to attract audiences.  But I love the Ashton repertoire and could well look to see what we can pull out to see what might be possible.

 

What types of ballets would you be commissioning for the company?

I feel that modern repertoire with a classical line running through it would be a great fit for us. Something that has storytelling at its core interests me. I would also like to point out that I do not envision this company as a vehicle for my own choreography.  We are doing one of my pieces, Eve, for the opening tour because it is my most recent piece (we saw it once, at Sadler’s Wells).  But the reason I wanted to end the evening with it on the first tour is that it is about Eve from her perspective, and the second half of it is about looking towards a hopeful future.  I saw similar stories in that piece and how this new venture is going. It has a very poignant ending, with the dancers walking into a very bright future, so I think for a first tour it is very appropriate.  But this will be a repertoire company, with lots of different choreographers’ works.

 

Do you have a Christmas programme lined up?

No, and that’s on purpose.  There is so much dance around at Christmas, and most people are not crazy like us, going to lots of shows.  The general public might go to one or two shows a year, often at Christmas.  So, our tours will be from Easter (April/May) through to October, and for the next three years we will fit into that slot. We can hit those lovely European dance festivals and tour the UK when there is not a lot on offer.

 

I believe you have funding for the next three years; can you tell me a bit about how that works?  It is all private, I think, with no grant from the Arts Council.

Yes, that’s right.  It is private funding.  I haven’t applied for an ACE grant.  To be honest I was inspired by the American system of running a ballet company.  With private funding I can get more of a vision as to where the company is going, because I have very strong ideas about that.  The three private donors all believe in me; they allow me the freedom to see what works.

 

How about corporate funding, going forward?

There used to be a very good relationship between the company and corporate sponsors (e.g. ADT and Barclays) in its first iteration, so this might be an option in the future.  I mean, we can’t just sit back and assume that we will continue to be funded in the same way that we are now.  Everything costs more than you think it’s going to.  I am always thinking about how to raise funds; as I said I can’t assume we are going to be privately funded indefinitely.  So we will be applying different ways of fundraising in the future.  There are many people out there who like what we are doing, and who realise the reach that ballet can have outside of London.  Those are two of the main reasons we have so much support.  And yes, I would apply for an ACE grant.

 

Of course, you would need more money if the company were successful and you decided to expand it.  Do you think such an expansion would be on the cards?

That’s not my intention.  The model of the company and what we are doing is perfectly suited to what we have now, i.e. 16 dancers.  If we went to, say, 30 dancers then that would impact the repertoire and where we can go.  As it is, we can still have two or three casts for the same ballet. Depending on repertoire, we could have fewer than our current number if necessary, or if there is a particular ballet I’d like to present that has more, then we can recruit a few extra dancers for a tour.  It is very important that we have a flexible model.

 

So, do you think this will be the most challenging undertaking of your career thus far?

Well yes, probably!  Although it’s all relative:  you have challenges as a dancer, you have challenges when you go into the admin side of things…. but this is something brand new, that I have my head in all the departments of.  That’s another reason I won’t be doing much of my own choreography; there just won’t be the time.  But there is as much satisfaction for me to organise a tour, or the repertoire, or hiring the dancers, or marketing strategies and to a lesser extent fundraising.  I love it.  I love talking about it because I believe in it.  But yes, it is by far the most challenging thing I have taken on!

 

You and your husband have a five year-old son.  Is your husband a dancer, and is your son following in your footsteps?  

No, my husband runs a gym in Chelsea!  So still involved with the physical side of things, and loves the theatre, but is not in the dance world, so I do have some balance in my life!  Our son also provides balance; he loves football and tells us who to support (although it changes each week; we don’t know anything about it!).  He also comes into the studio sometimes and whilst he is doing his Lego, we will see a little leg stretching out or a foot pointing… but no, at the moment he shows no sign of pursuing dance. We want him to find his own loves, so that is fine by us!

o O o

Chris is an incredibly busy man, but generously spent almost two hours with me, including inviting me to watch company class, being taught by former BRB Principal and newly appointed AD of the Royal Ballet School, Iain Mackay.  The diverse group of dancers was a pleasure to watch and will be even more of a pleasure to watch onstage, I am sure.  I wish Chris and all his colleagues the very best of luck with this incredible new venture, and hope that LCB will soon become once again, like the phoenix rising from the ashes, an integral and important part of the British dance landscape.   

 

London City Ballet begins its tour at the Theatre Royal, Bath, on 17 July, then tours around England until 14 September.  Details of national and international tours are on the company website:  www.londoncityballet.com

 

 

Copyright Simonetta Barzanti-Dixon, 2024                                                          

[Scheherezade]

A very interesting and insightful perspective set out by Christopher Marney, Sim. I am very much looking forward to seeing this company at Sadler’s Wells in September and wish Christopher and the company every success in their inaugural tour and for the future. This is the kind of vision that we need. Let’s hope it gets the support it deserves. 

[Sim]

33 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

A very interesting and insightful perspective set out by Christopher Marney, Sim. I am very much looking forward to seeing this company at Sadler’s Wells in September and wish Christopher and the company every success in their inaugural tour and for the future. This is the kind of vision that we need. Let’s hope it gets the support it deserves. 

Thanks Scheherezade.  I so agree that this endeavour deserves the best support and success.  

[Emeralds]

Thank you @Sim! Lovely interview! Got our tickets already and looking forward to their Sadler's Wells visit. Lucky audiences at Theatre Royal Bath who can see them in less than 2 weeks!

Edited July 4 by Emeralds

[FionaM]

@Sim Thanks for this informative interview  I am looking forward to seeing them in Bath and at Sadler’s.   

[Emeralds]

Bumping this excellent interview up for @annamk and anyone else who might have missed it. If any lucky members were/are in Portugal this month and saw the company dance, do let us know what you thought of the performance/s!

[LBC]

The London Ballet Circle also spoke to Chris Marney recently.   The video recording

 is on our website for members to watch.  
 

The written  report is available for anyone to read:

 https://www.tlbc.org.uk/resources/christopher-marney-in-conversation

[Emeralds]

The LBC interview and Sim's interview make interesting reading side by side! Thank you to @LBC and @Sim for both.  I do remember seeing the Larina Waltz when it was first performed, with Viviana Durante. Darcey Bussell, Bruce Sansom et al in the cast. It will be great fun to see it again. Very impressed that they have two MacMillan pieces in their programme as well. Can't wait!

[Jan McNulty]

56 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Very impressed that they have two MacMillan pieces in their programme as well. Can't wait!

Only at Sadler’s Wells ….

[Emeralds]

3 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

Only at Sadler’s Wells ….

Thanks for letting us know, Jan. No Concerto pas de deux? (Although perhaps most regulars would have seen it.....as long as there is still Ballade at all the venues!) 

[Jan McNulty]

5 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Thanks for letting us know, Jan. No Concerto pas de deux? (Although perhaps most regulars would have seen it.....as long as there is still Ballade at all the venues!) 

Yes Ballade is most definitely on the programme!

[FionaM]

The same 4 ballets are listed for Sadlers, as are being performed in Bath

 

Larina Waltz (Page)

Ballade (MacMillan)

Five Dances (Smith)

Eve (Marney)

[Ian Macmillan]

And, if the theatre card in the post is a reliable guide, those are the four pieces to be danced in Cambridge next week. ....... probably our first theatre night out since the premiere of Cathy's The Cellist just before the first Covid lockdown!  Going into town is just too much bother nowadays, I'm afraid.   

[LinMM]

Cambridge has got almost as bad for parking as Brighton these days!!

When I’m visiting friends there we go into town partly on the bus. 
At least they do have a very good park and ride system going there which Brighton ( for all its Green credentials) does not! 
I hope you enjoy your trip to the ballet anyway. 
 

[Dawnstar]

52 minutes ago, LinMM said:

At least they do have a very good park and ride system going there which Brighton ( for all its Green credentials) does not!

 

Unfortunately the park & ride isn't much use for theatregoing though, apart from matinees, as the buses stop at about 8.30pm. We'll be using it when we see the company class on Thursday afternoon but will have to drive in & hope we can find somewhere to park on Wednesday evening when we're seeing the actual performance.

[Jan McNulty]

Does the car park stay open @Dawnstar.  I've used one of the Bath P&Rs this week.  The car park is open 24 hours.  I did have the expense of a taxi back after the performance but it was easier and way cheaper than parking in town.

 

The one I use in Chester, however, closes its gates at 8.

[Dawnstar]

@Jan McNulty I don't actually know, as I've never tried to use it out of hours. I don't fancy forking out for a taxi though, I'd rather try to park in town. Not that it's actually up to me, since it's my mother who drives!

[Peanut68]

I was disappointed no Concerto PDD performed in Bath…. There was certainly time for it & possibly one more well known group piece would’ve benefited the evening too! I’m always keen for more when it’s well performed & joyous! 

[Jan McNulty]

7 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

I was disappointed no Concerto PDD performed in Bath…. There was certainly time for it & possibly one more well known group piece would’ve benefited the evening too! I’m always keen for more when it’s well performed & joyous! 

 

When you look at the small number of dancers in the performance and how demanding the pieces were if anything else had been added would the evening have been too much for them?

 

When I first started watching dance it was contemporary with the companies not having many more dancers than LCB.  Their programmes were 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on whether there was one or two intervals.

[FionaM]

@Jan McNulty

 

You raise a good point … most of the dancers are dancing full out for 3 of the 4 pieces.  That’s pretty intense with one short interval and requires speedy costume changes. 

[Emeralds]

@Peanut68, here's the thread you are looking for: the interview in the first post by @Sim and you will probably be interested in the interview in the 7th post by @LBC.

[Jan McNulty]