Choreographer Matt Neenan :: growing and changing with each work

Matt Neenan, choreographer in residence at Pennsylvania Ballet, premieres "Beside Them, They Dwell" at the Merriam Theater this weekend as part of the program "N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz."� The in-demand Neenan also co-directs (with Christine Cox) the contemporary classical troupe Ballet X.�
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Neenan talked about his new work and transitioning from a full time dancer-choreographer at the Conversations with the Ballet series at City Institute Library on Rittenhouse Square.�He said he was recently lured back�onstage at the Arts Bank where he performed a completely liberated, improvisational dance.

"When I found out that it was an improvisational performance, working directly with a composer, I immediately said, 'Hell yeah!'"
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It hurts

Still, there were aspects of ballet he did not miss. "It can be beautiful and awesome, but often it's not," he half-laughed "It's work and it hurts. I don't miss the personal constraints that a dancer lives with. I do miss the relationship with the audience."
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Neenan was very game answering a wide range of questions in the unique forum. He charmed the audience by demonstrating his love for Balanchine choreography, recounting how he loved the great choreographer's work. Neenan even made fun of himself as a young dancer with his grand danseur deportment.
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He also said that one of the reasons he stopped performing was that he didn't want to risk some of the common maladies that dancers experience when they reach their 40s: torn muscles, stress fractures and bone spurs.�"I'm forty, so I have to take care of the body," Neenan said. He may be out of the daily rigors of classical dance training, but he still takes class with his dancers, practices yoga and, natch, hits the gym every day.�
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Neenan never leans on formula in his choreography and has shown such choreographic range. "I'm my own worse critic, I can be the first one to say if it's crap." Neenan lets out his signature snicker. 'Dwell' is Neenan's 13th piece for Pennsylvania Ballet. Several have had classical structure, but he has built his own signatures that have become part of the look and vocabulary of PB dancers.
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Neenan has been part of the healthy choreographic expansion of Pennsylvania Ballet that is building new audiences. He scored big with a new version of "Carmina Burana," replacing the much loved older version. Now his "Carmina" is the one people expect to see. And his "11:11," set to Rufus Wainwright songs, became one of his unexpected company classics.�

Whole new direction

When he first started, Neenan had a process in place for creating a piece. "I come in the studio with a vision, I know the music, I know the dancers and some ideas. But it's not fun to do it all on your own." That was with his first ballet "Vicissitudes." "It went over well, but it was very detailed - very mathematical, to the point. And it was exhausting."

Not long after that, Neenan did a workshop with choreographer Alonso King in San Francisco. "He told me I didn't have to go in with so much preparation. I think in time I would have learned that, but he gave me a whole new outlook." This led to his less conventional approach.
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Neenan is allowing the dancers in "Beside Them, They Dwell" (his new ballet) to improvise and riff their own movements in segments. The work is set to music by Pierre Boulez, features dance couture by Christine Darch and a Calder-esque set piece. Neenan admitted that he was a little nervous about the piece, but this is part of the excitement of getting it right.�
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I have to give credit to the costume designer - I went in a whole new direction," he said. "The costumes were creatures, not human beings, which played into the abstract elements of the music."
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Pennsylvania Ballet closes their season with this program which includes Peter Martins' "Barber Violin Concerto," a work for two couples, and the company premiere of Jerome Robbins' explosive "New York Export: Opus Jazz," with a 60s retro-metro score by Robert Prince.�
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"N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz" continues through June 3, 2012 at the Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19102. For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Ballet website.