'I don't like to restrict myself'

In Abu Dhabi, Kader Belarbi, the star of French Opera Ballet, describes his career moves


He's a subject of scrutiny in this part of the world because of his Arab lineage. Kader Belarbi, a prominent French ballet dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet, was born in the French city of Grenoble of an Algerian father and a French mother. He joined the national ballet company (most of the ballet companies are supported by the state) in 1975 and went on to become an etoile dancing star in 1989.

Belarbi was fleetingly in Abu Dhabi to perform at his concert held at the National Theatre recently (a show was also held at Sheikh Rashid Auditorium of The Indian High School, Dubai, on Sunday). Tabloid caught up with this "dancing star", a title he bagged after a performance of Rudolf Nureyev's Sleeping Beauty, during a dress rehearsal.

The atmosphere is filled with tension in the green room as the members of this national ballet group, who had flown in just the night before, try to catch a couple of hours of practice before the big show in the evening.

The petite dancers tiptoe around hurriedly in their pink tulle, while we wait nervously for the star to prepare himself for the short "10-minute" interview, we are told. Kader Belarbi resembles a romantic hero with a lean tanned, intense looking face. He does seem edgy and high-strung but gamely collects himself to project his philosophy of trying to make a difference in the world of ballet. Of trying to make it more approachable, more real rather than leaving the audiences to savour something ethereal and ephemeral.

In their performances in the UAE, the Paris Opera Ballet's repertoire spanned classics such as Giselle, Don Quixote and more contemporary creations. Here he explains his interpretation of the classic Giselle and his quest for his Arab roots in the more experimental ballet piece Selim.

WHY HE CHOSE TO PERFORM THE BALLADS GISELLE

It's a romantic ballad. It has a story, strong emotions and veers between dream and reality. In my opinion it's the best ballad ever created. It's an exercise in style and every step has a meaning. It's a quest of love, I'm drawn to this man's deep love for his dead wife and how he searches for her in space. At the end, he's left alone, desolate and sad in the stage with just love in his heart for his wife.

Deliberately, I perform a long extract from Giselle so as to build up the atmosphere. I wear a black cape and I appear on stage holding white flowers to add to the dramatic mood. After the first act, there's a choice to show whether the man is really in love or indulging in a false game. I prefer to interpret the man's emotion as real and not fake. Yes, I'm a great romantic.

... AND SELIM IN THE UAE

This modern ballet piece originated from me. It was first performed in 1995 and has now become part of the national opera's repertoire. The idea stemmed from my own longing to visit the country of my origin - Algeria. I've always been busy or I was prevented by the political troubles there preventing me from entering the country. Thus, I wanted to experience this country through my dance. That's when I asked choreographer Michel Kelemenis, a Turk from the Mediterranean region and working in Marseilles to create this piece."

"The starting point of Selim comes from the traditional songs sung by the women of Algeria's Aures mountainous region. It's very stark and simple using Houria Aichi, Algerian troubadour singer's voice to convey the message. She's famous for interpreting the mediaeval songs of the Aures mountains in France. I play the wandering cavalier in this ballet, a nobleman like a stallion roaming around the singer. She's like his mother, sister, lover... and he keeps circling around and coming back to her. The movements in Giselle are vertical as the dancers often spring upwards, while the dancers in Selim seem to move horizontally.

MORE ON SELIM

The renowned designer Kenzo has designed the costumes for Selim. The clothes are made from very light fabric - taken from banana and pineapple fibre - and made in an Oriental design. The calligraphy on the ground done by Hassan Massoudi are excerpts from Arabic poems. We chose to name it Selim because it's a name I nearly had until my father opted for Abdul Khader. Incidentally, I gave my new-born son that name.

INTERPRETATION OF ROLES

Recently I choreographed Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. I made the piece very real and gave an identity to the characters. Usually, ballet dancing is considered to be an illusion, the characters seem very far away and difficult to identify with. It's not alive in short but I try to give my ballet pieces a meaning of life and make it closer to reality. In fact, the British critics liked my interpretation of Wuthering Heights so much that they wrote that the trip to Paris was worth making to see the piece.

FAVOURITE CHOREOGRAPHERS

The German Pina Bausch and the Swede - Mats Ek. They bring out the innermost feelings of the the character they portray. It's purified dancing with the psychology of the characters coming through.

DANCING DID NOT FIGURE IN HIS PLANS AT ALL

I never dreamt I would become a dancer. I was more into theatre and wanted to become an actor. Dancing did not figure in my plans at all. I moved around from place to place with my father who was employed in the military. Once when he was stationed at Paris, he took my sister and me to enroll into a ballet school. Strangely enough, I was accepted but I pursued my dancing without much ardour. I mechanically followed what they told me to do in classes. I used to paint, take pictures and generally enjoy myself than thinking about my career. Frankly, I was not a very good dancer. Until...

BELARBI'S LIFE TAKES A NEW TURN

My life changed when Rudolph Nureyev took over as the director of the Paris Opera Ballet. It was a shock when I confronted such a strong personality. It was he who picked me out of others to perform the Rite of Spring in 1986. That's when I started to think about dancing and became addicted. I entered a completely new world, dancing became very exciting, I wanted to dance, again and again. It was a revelation.

ANOTHER TURNING POINT

I was very proud when for the first time I was responsible for bringing Algeria into the repertoire of ballet dancing. I don't like to restrict myself to one kind of dancing but keen on bringing contrasting forms of dance. I have two sides to me as an artiste now - I'm not just a dancer but a choreographer as well. I dance and create new ballets like Wuthering Heights. my experiments in ballet seem to be working because today I'm sought after in in places like China and Canada.