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Now entering its sixth year, choreographer Ihsan Rustem’s Bolero headlines NW Dance Project’s triple-bill season premiere, Bolero+. In many ways, it seems Rustem has been preparing his entire life for this show—and given the grim state of the world, its ebullience has rarely been more welcome.
“It’s this long, slow, take-you-to-the-edge-of-your-seat [performance]…and when that climatic ending happens, it’s like a release of energy,” Rustem says, noting that Bolero (inspired by Maurice Ravel’s inescapable ballet of the same name) is ultimately “tongue-in-cheek fun.”
Rustem’s road to becoming a resident choreographer at NW Dance Project began in London, where he grew up studying karate and the violin. He credits the secondary school he attended at the age of 11 (which offered dance as part of physical education) with providing him an entryway into the world of dance.
“From doing karate for many years and playing the violin from a very young age, I had sort of a musical ear and my body was very strong and flexible,” Rustem tells WW. By the time he turned 13, he knew he wanted to devote his life to dance, a revelation sparked by his involvement with a boys’ dance group at school that he says was created “to remove stigma.”
“[Dance] just sort of came very naturally,” he says. “I didn’t understand why people thought it was difficult. I thought the whole thing was hilarious fun.” At 16, he left school for a full-time ballet education.
Rustem’s passion is palpable. He was first introduced to Ravel’s Bolero as a teenager, and it stayed with him throughout his life. His version has toured nationally and internationally, but he says Portland will always be his “creative home.”
Along with Bolero, NW Dance Project’s season premiere will include work by Italian choreographer Luca Veggetti, as well as artistic director Sarah Slipper (who founded the company in 2004, embracing contemporary choreography after serving as ballet mistress at Oregon Ballet Theatre from 1997 to 1999).
“It’s a joy to be back in the studio creating again and bringing new characters to life,” Slipper says. “My new work is tentatively titled Down the Garden Path—it centers around a family and deals with their conflicts of love, envy, betrayal, duty and class. In developing my work, I am shifting between the music of Chopin and contemporary composers and playing with my own narrative and throughline.”
Despite the thrill of being immersed in the creative process, Slipper worries about the future of NW Dance Project in a post-pandemic world. “Many organizations have used up all their resources just to be able to still be here at this point, but the rescue measures and funding has dried up,” she says. “I hope people appreciate how important live art is and turn away from the screen and get back into the theater to show their support.”
SEE IT: Bolero+ plays at the Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 503-828-8285, nwdanceproject.org. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Oct. 14-15. $29-$68.
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