Nederlands Dans Theater 2: ‘It was now or never’

Choreographer Paul Lightfoot’s career is inextricably linked with his creative partner and former wife, Sol León. So what is it like to be going solo in his new role, asks Kelly Apter

PAUL Lightfoot was 18 when he arrived at Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). A recent graduate of the Royal Ballet School in London, he recalls being so insecure back then that worrying about the simplest of dance steps would keep him awake at night.

How things have changed. In January this year, 45-year-old Lightfoot was appointed NDT’s new artistic director, taking over the reins of one the most esteemed modern dance companies in the world.

When we meet at NDT’s headquarters in The Hague, Lightfoot is still buzzing about his new job. Nearly 27 years after he left behind his Cheshire home, his accent still holds strong (albeit with a slight Dutch tinge at the end of his sentences) and there’s a boyish charm that makes him seem much younger than his years.

Lightfoot joined the company’s youth wing, NDT2 in 1985, moved on to dance with NDT1 and then became resident choreographer, along with his creative partner (and former wife) Sol León. Having gone from one purely creative role to another, the decision to take on the responsibility of leadership can’t have been an easy one.

“The question has come up a few times over the years,” he says, “but this time it felt like now or never. One part of me was really excited by the prospect, the other part had a realistic vision about what it would entail, and whether I was capable and ready. It’s early days, but so far I feel very good about the decision. I think it was the right moment.”

Throughout his choreographic career, Lightfoot’s name has been inextricably linked with León’s. Both refuse to talk about their work without the other being present. So when the news broke about Lightfoot’s new position, the question on everyone’s lips was: “What about Sol?”

“Sol’s artistic input is as important as ever and I’ll always talk to her about things, and listen to her advice,” says Lightfoot. “But taking on this kind of responsibility was something that she wasn’t interested in, and I don’t think it can work to have two directors for a company – ultimately somebody has to be responsible and have the final flick of the pen. When it comes to our choreographic work, though, it’s exactly the same as before – the decisions that are made, we make together. I wouldn’t undermine that relationship just because I’ve taken on the role of artistic director.”

The fruits of that relationship can be seen in Edinburgh this month, when NDT2 performs the Lightfoot/León piece, Studio 2, along with Jirí Kylián’s Gods and Dogs and Alexander Ekman’s Cacti.

Having both danced with NDT2 when they first joined the company, Lightfoot and León had an affinity with the dancers when they created Studio 2. Not only that, but the room that inspired it – the real life Studio 2 in the NDT building – is a place they’ve spent many, many hours themselves.

“We were celebrating 50 years of NDT in 2009, and Sol and I had the responsibility of representing and encapsulating NDT2 – but how do you do that?” recalls Lightfoot. “All the ballets that have been created for NDT2 have been made in Studio 2, so we thought if those walls could talk, that’s where you’d find the truth. The studio is where we spend three quarters of our professional lives, it’s not on stage. So we wanted to dedicate it to the room where so many works have been created with these young people, and the trials and insecurities you go through when you’re facing the mirror day after day.” To that end, Studio 2 has a giant mirror capturing the action on stage, a raked floor that emphasises the difficulty of dancing, and eight remarkable dancers twisting, turning and stretching with an energy and suppleness that can leave you (but definitely not them) breathless.

Like Lightfoot and León, Swedish-born Alexander Ekman also danced with NDT2 before turning to choreography. Lightfoot calls him “a storming voice in the dance world right now”, and he’s right. Cacti is a work filled to the brim with theatricality. Dancers sit, lie and stand behind square plinths, creating sounds with their bodies to complement the string quartet that joins them on-stage. A voiceover delivers a tongue-in-cheek narrative on the art of dance, using grandiose words to ironically illustrate Ekman’s point – that dance is there to be felt and enjoyed, not overanalysed.

If there’s one company where that’s innately possible, it’s NDT2. Even if you’ve seen them before, there will be a whole new set of dancers to entertain you this time, because NDT2 is a launchpad – and once they’ve launched, they’re gone.

“Forty or 50 per cent of the company changes every 12 months,” says Lightfoot. “So every year there is a rejuvenation of the energy, and new chemistries are created. Watching something so young and fresh and inspired, you yearn to be part of it again. I think that’s what a lot of people get from seeing them – this drive and love of what they’re doing, and unquestionable abandonment.”

• NDT2 perform at Edinburgh Festival Theatre, tomorrow and 24 March.