Interview with Wes Chapman

CC: What's up with the beard?

WC: The beard I have grown for the role of Tibalt. And I felt that it was very important to create more of a sinister look and it gave me a stronger appearance because I tend to have sort of a baby face and a very sort of a smiley happy face. So for me I thought it would make me a little stronger and little more intense if I had some facial hair. And always facial hair looks better when it's actual instead of when it's glued on.

CC: Great. So are you feeling more sinister?

WC: I feel much more sinister. Absolutely. It helps me stay in character more easily when I feel like I'm a different person. Playing Tibalt of course I have to be a very different person than I am normally. So as a result, the facial hair is sort of a crutch. It helps me get there.

CC: So next week is the big week...

WC: Next week, we go into the theater. And of course there will be a lot of new elements that will be big distractions like scenic issues, making scene changes. Part of the hardest thing about my job is remaining calm when things aren't working in terms of scene changes because there's a lot of scenery. It's a lot of big peices. So we're going to have to spend some rehearsal time moving those things with stage hands making sure the performance will actually flow properly. It's a set we've not worked with before so they're a lot of unknowns until we see it set up in the theatre. That'll be one big issue. The dancers are on track. They're doing really, really well. The ballet is completely choreographed now which I'm very pleased about of course. That's one big load off of my mind is that I'm not concerned about that we don't have the last scene choreographed or what have you. So that's done and I'm feeling much much better about that.

CC: Can you tell me a little about the differences between the two casts. One is more experienced than the other. Advantages? Disadvantages?

WC: There's always-- Each person-- Each dancer that comes to a role like Romeo and Juliet, for example, brings something of themselves to the role each time and their life experience and who they are and what their dance experience is like. Both Roger and Tatiana have done Romeo and Juliet. They've done it in different companies. They've done it in different productions. So they bring a whole element of experience to it dramatically and, of course, technically and physically that maybe the first cast doesn't have yet because they haven't had those experiences. So their performances will be very different. Um... Frequently I think the cast who hasn't done it yet have a different feeling for obviously for who they are as Romeo and Juliet but also they have a younger and more inexperienced sense to the ballet. And a lot of times that can be very endearing and that can be very helpful in their interpretation of the role. A lot of times it doesn't necessarily take them to a higher level dramatically. I've worked with Jennifer and Kfir personally quite a lot in the past two weeks because I wanted to bring what I know about the ballet and give them some guidelines dramatically to it so they don't feel as if they're wandering through the ballet not really clear about what they're doing. I've done the ballet a lot myself so I bring a lot to the table for them. As a result, they've really taken it to heart and they've really listened. They've really done a lot on their own in terms of being together, you know, out at dinner and talking about it and watching other videos and those sorts of things. And that's always very helpful for any dance experience because any new information--any other interpretations that you can see can give you new ideas that spark spontinainty within you. I encourage them frequently to be real. Don't think about dancing. Think about being Romeo and Juliet. And when you do that you bring a whole different light to the ballet. Because it's suddenly really happening in front of your face as an audience. As opposed to it being very choreographed: this is one, this is two, I look on three. It can't be like that otherwise it becomes very contrived and we're trying to stay away from that. I want them-- I want them to tell the story very elegantly and melodically through they're own expression.

CC: Can you tell me from your own experience watching Tatiana and Jennifer. How do they relate to one another.

WC: I encourage the dancers to role model each other. And I used to do this as a young dancer myself. All the dancers that were far more experienced and far more accomplished than I was at the time, I would always watch them very closely and watched their performances and talk to them and get to know them as much as I could so that I could, sort of, get the feeling of what it really took to be a leading dancer. And I think Jennifer in this particular case has looked up to Tatiana in that way because Jennifer has been with the company for some time as a young girl-- a young teen into maturity now. And Tatiana has always been here when she's been Prima Ballerina. So there's no reason why you can't watch other dancers and do the things that inspire you. Imitate. Some of the best dancers are imitators of other good dancers. And I encourage the dancers to role model each other when they see somebody they want to be like. Not to be them but to be like them in their own way. And that's a very difficult thing because you can turn around and imitate to the "T" absolutely everything that happens with another dancer and then suddenly it's not you anymore. You're trying to be somebody that you're not. So there's a fine line between role modeling and imitating. So I encourage them to watch each other and see what they do spontaneously. And then, how does that take you to the next level of spontaneity as well. Because if it's not spontaneous, it's not real. It's not working.

CC: Have you seen Tatiana correct Jennifer or relate information to her in terms of, "if this something that you've ever noted."

WC: I have noticed that Tatiana will talk very little. And she may do when I'm not watching and I don't know. But I've noticed that she doesn't-- She doesn't spend a whole lot of time, necessarily, coaching the other dancers. Her strongest point is by being that prima ballerina. And when you're that example, hopefully people pay attention. And I'm certain there's probably been some time where Jennifer has said, "Tatiana, what's going on in you're mind here?" And she might have said, you know, "This is what I think. This is what works for me. So, take it for what it is." I can't say but I would think that they have had those conversations. I do know that in other ballets like Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty and other ballets that we've done here that Jennifer has asked Tatiana, you know, "Help me with this variation or what have you." Particularly in the more classical work, the Petty Pas (?) classical work, you find the experienced ballerinas really shed a lot of light on, you know, how do I get through this act because it is so difficult. So who knows how they've really conversed but hopefully Jennifer's had her eyes peeled. And by doing that, hopefully opening a new door to herself.

CC: Can you talk to me a little bit about as one dances-- I suppose the more experiences one has with dancing. Can you talk to me a little bit about the toll dancing takes on one's body?

WC: Dancing is so grueling and so demanding physically and mentally and certainly emotionally. It comes with all of that. That for me it was a very trying time when I danced all the time. I can't do it now. I probably could but I don't have the desire to do Romeo anymore because I've done it. And it was so difficult and I have not forgotten how difficult it was. Because a lot of times our brain forgets pain quickly and I have not forgotten. I remember many, many times after the Balcony pas de deux in the full length production going back to the dressing room and just wanting to get my clothes on and go home and you have two acts to go. So there are times for me that it was very much like I sort of fed on the challenge of it but also I felt the toll that it was taking on my body. I knew that it was asking so much of me physically. And I'm the kind of personality that I'm a little bit of a Terrier in that way. The more you get me, the more I'll fight back, and the more I'll try. That's good to a point but does that create longevity in one's normal life? You know, because I want to able to walk around when I'm sixty, seventy years old. I don't want to be in a wheel chair because I did so much dancing. That doesn't make me happy. So my quality of life is very important to me in that sense. So when I danced those years that I did at that high level, I did keep that in mind. And I was very fortunate and very blessed that I wasn't injured a lot. I did have some injury but not a tremendous amount. So I wasn't plagued with a lot of injury which to me means my body-- Hopefully my body will, as I grow older,will be OK as long as I stay in good shape and I'm not doing crazy exhausting kind of stuff. I'm not wearing it down. Hopefully now being smarter, I work at the gym. I cross train. I do other things so that I'm just not dancing ballet all the time.

CC: Is their normally a path on how long someone dances?

WC: You know, I think everybody's body is different. I think everybody's desire is different for dancing. So I don't think there's ever, you know, at 35 you must retire kind of thing. Um... People dance into their 40s and 50s all the time. Some people retire in their late 20s and it really has to do with injury, if you have bad injuries or not. It also has to do with what type of body you have. Some people have a very stretchy elastic body that repairs quickly and recovers quickly...um...so there's not so much of a down time. Some people have a tight body and it's harder for them. It's more difficult. They're muscles are more rigid. That sort of thing. So it's an independent sort of thing. I mean most people that are--that are real dancers like myself would like to dance they're whole life but do you need to is one thing. But there's no set time and I think a lot of people will say, "Well, I'm not going to dance past 40." And they hit 40, "Well hey, I feel good. Why should I stop? I still love it." And myself-- I can speak for myself in that sense, every time that I get out there, even if I'm not in a leading role which is most of the time now. I get out there I go, "God, I still love performing." This is why I do it. I go back to the dressing room. My adrenaline is up and I go, "God this is why I do it." Because I love the audience. I love being there. I love the lights, the costumes, the makeup. Everything. I love every aspect of it. It's my life.

CC: Is there-- Is there-- I know that obviously more experienced dancers bring the experience, the passion, the acting, the technique. Is there a stamina issue as you get older?

WC: Stamina. Stamina is certainly a youthful-- For me, it was certainly a youthful issue. I was much, much more in shape. Much easier getting through one more difficult ballet. I noticed as I got older it felt more difficult. And I think in this particular ballet every single Romeo, everyone that I've every talked to, that I've ever coached, that I've ever performed myself and this was in fact the case myself, my biggest fear as Romeo was would I make it through the ballet, physically stamina wise, make it through the ballet. You know, you're worst nightmare is running out of steam and collapsing to the floor center stage while Juliet is running around you. It never happened one time. Not once. So it makes me laugh when someone says it to me. Like Kfir goes, "I'm so afraid I'm not going to get through it." And I say to him, I say, "So what do you think is going to happen." And he goes, "Well, I don't know. I just think I'm not going to get through it." And I'm like, "What, are you just going to fall down on the floor? You're not going to fall down on the floor and poop out. It's not going to happen. You're going to stand up at least. it's going to happen. You're going to get through you're ballet. Don't worry about that part about it. Just worry about being Romeo. That's all you have to do. The rest will come." That's not very comforting [laughs] to a dancer that's never done the ballet before. But that is the case. I never one time ran out there in the center of the stage and fell down because I was too exhausted to make it through the ballet. Not once.