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An In-depth Review of Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa's 'Broken Wings' with Comparison to 'Requiem For a Rose'
‘Broken Wings’ was created for English National Ballet by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. It was part of the triple bill, ‘She Said’, which Tamara Rojo commissioned to push female choreographers to the forefront, having herself never previously danced in a work created by a woman (Monahan, 2016). Therefore ‘Broken Wings’ had the industry-wide impact of both celebrating female choreographers, and highlighting the gender imbalance of the industry. However, Lopez Ochoa has had a long and successful career and it has been viewed as a ‘step backwards’ to celebrate her gender over her talent (Monahan, 2016).
Frida Kahlo was chosen for the triple bill as a strong female character (English National Ballet, 2018) who made no concessions (Sitarchuk, 2019). As opposed to ‘Requiem for a Rose’, where Lopez Ochoa aimed to explore through an abstract impression of love, in ‘Broken Wings’ she left the audience with a more obvious explanation of Kahlo’s life (English National Ballet, 2019). Her choreographic intention was that the audience would gain ‘insights on Frida Kahlo’s life journey and hence would understand better her body of work’ and equally to ‘transport them into the surrealist imagery of her paintings.’ (Lopez Ochoa, 2019). Although the work is at times narrative, Lopez Ochoa never restricted herself to one category, and interchanges artful storytelling with more abstract scenes (Monahan, 2016), while never losing the audience’s understanding (English National Ballet, 2019).
In ‘Requiem for a Rose’ Lopez Ochoa began her process with symbols, but in ‘Broken Wings’ she began with research such as books and films (English National Ballet, 2019), Kahlo’s paintings (Sitarchuk, 2019), and to her own inspirations, such as Pina Bausch, who was iconic for exposing human vulnerability (Lopez Ochoa, 2019). Lopez Ochoa never chooses to prepare steps prior to rehearsals but instead prepares situations for her dancers (Lopez Ochoa, 2019), as she aims to create a ‘playful atmosphere’ (English National Ballet, 2019), where mistakes are celebrated. For ‘Broken Wings’ she would often improvise in front of the dancers, and then personalise the steps to them (Lopez Ochoa, 2019).
Similarly to ‘Requiem for a Rose’, Lopez Ochoa chose to use long skirts, even for the men (English National Ballet, 2018) and choreographed the movement of the costume as an integral part of the steps (Sitarchuk, 2019). The character of Kahlo wears a top of many crossing straps, conjuring images of the steel corset she wore after the accident (Parry, 2016), while her husband Diego (English National Ballet, 2018) wears a fat suit (Parry, 2016) continuing the mixture of abstract and realism, and adding a layer of comedy into the piece. Furthermore, the multifunctional cube of the stage’s set acts as a representation of the bed Kahlo spent her life, after the accident, confined to (Sitarchuk, 2019).
As with much of Lopez Ochoa’s work, there is a balletic element to the choreography (English National Ballet, 2019) and her expressive sweeping movements here help to display the free spirit of Kahlo (English National Ballet, 2019). The pas de deux between Frida and Diego is integrated with touching and comedic acting, unlike the central duet of ‘Requiem for a Rose’. This not only develops the characterisation but also highlights Lopez Ochoa’s aim to portray them as real people and not simply historical figures of great achievement (Sitarchuk, 2019). The movement carries meaning through each step, due to its creation process, such as the shaking movement from the pas de deux, which coveys how Kahlo felt ‘half a woman’ after her accident, due to her ‘3 miscarriages’ (Sitarchuk, 2019). This helps to establish the narrative movement vocabulary.
Overall the impact of ‘Broken Wings’ was to educate the audience, factually and emotionally, on Frida Kahlo, by combining storytelling and exploration her inner thoughts. Lopez Ochoa showed her personality beyond what is seen in the pictures, creating a real person from the legend (English National Ballet, 2019).
‘Broken Wings’ was created for English National Ballet by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. It was part of the triple bill, ‘She Said’, which Tamara Rojo commissioned to push female choreographers to the forefront, having herself never previously danced in a work created by a woman (Monahan, 2016). Therefore ‘Broken Wings’ had the industry-wide impact of both celebrating female choreographers, and highlighting the gender imbalance of the industry. However, Lopez Ochoa has had a long and successful career and it has been viewed as a ‘step backwards’ to celebrate her gender over her talent (Monahan, 2016).
Frida Kahlo was chosen for the triple bill as a strong female character (English National Ballet, 2018) who made no concessions (Sitarchuk, 2019). As opposed to ‘Requiem for a Rose’, where Lopez Ochoa aimed to explore through an abstract impression of love, in ‘Broken Wings’ she left the audience with a more obvious explanation of Kahlo’s life (English National Ballet, 2019). Her choreographic intention was that the audience would gain ‘insights on Frida Kahlo’s life journey and hence would understand better her body of work’ and equally to ‘transport them into the surrealist imagery of her paintings.’ (Lopez Ochoa, 2019). Although the work is at times narrative, Lopez Ochoa never restricted herself to one category, and interchanges artful storytelling with more abstract scenes (Monahan, 2016), while never losing the audience’s understanding (English National Ballet, 2019).
In ‘Requiem for a Rose’ Lopez Ochoa began her process with symbols, but in ‘Broken Wings’ she began with research such as books and films (English National Ballet, 2019), Kahlo’s paintings (Sitarchuk, 2019), and to her own inspirations, such as Pina Bausch, who was iconic for exposing human vulnerability (Lopez Ochoa, 2019). Lopez Ochoa never chooses to prepare steps prior to rehearsals but instead prepares situations for her dancers (Lopez Ochoa, 2019), as she aims to create a ‘playful atmosphere’ (English National Ballet, 2019), where mistakes are celebrated. For ‘Broken Wings’ she would often improvise in front of the dancers, and then personalise the steps to them (Lopez Ochoa, 2019).
Similarly to ‘Requiem for a Rose’, Lopez Ochoa chose to use long skirts, even for the men (English National Ballet, 2018) and choreographed the movement of the costume as an integral part of the steps (Sitarchuk, 2019). The character of Kahlo wears a top of many crossing straps, conjuring images of the steel corset she wore after the accident (Parry, 2016), while her husband Diego (English National Ballet, 2018) wears a fat suit (Parry, 2016) continuing the mixture of abstract and realism, and adding a layer of comedy into the piece. Furthermore, the multifunctional cube of the stage’s set acts as a representation of the bed Kahlo spent her life, after the accident, confined to (Sitarchuk, 2019).
As with much of Lopez Ochoa’s work, there is a balletic element to the choreography (English National Ballet, 2019) and her expressive sweeping movements here help to display the free spirit of Kahlo (English National Ballet, 2019). The pas de deux between Frida and Diego is integrated with touching and comedic acting, unlike the central duet of ‘Requiem for a Rose’. This not only develops the characterisation but also highlights Lopez Ochoa’s aim to portray them as real people and not simply historical figures of great achievement (Sitarchuk, 2019). The movement carries meaning through each step, due to its creation process, such as the shaking movement from the pas de deux, which coveys how Kahlo felt ‘half a woman’ after her accident, due to her ‘3 miscarriages’ (Sitarchuk, 2019). This helps to establish the narrative movement vocabulary.
Overall the impact of ‘Broken Wings’ was to educate the audience, factually and emotionally, on Frida Kahlo, by combining storytelling and exploration her inner thoughts. Lopez Ochoa showed her personality beyond what is seen in the pictures, creating a real person from the legend (English National Ballet, 2019).
Bibliography
- English National Ballet (2019). Broken Wings - extract of Frida and Diego | English National Ballet. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSMBqyJ4Z6A [Accessed 23 Jan. 2020].
- English National Ballet (2019). She Persisted: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Broken Wings | English National Ballet. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBIRugRuXdc&t=27s [Accessed 23 Jan. 2020].
- English National Ballet (2018). She Persisted: A look at female choreographers | English National Ballet. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfNjz1evu9s&t=401s [Accessed 23 Jan. 2020].
- Sitarchuk, B. (2019). Broken Wings - Rehearsals (Chor. Annabele Lopez Ochoa). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRjA1w8EH34 [Accessed 23 Jan. 2020].
- Parry, J. (2016). English National Ballet – She Said: Broken Wings, M-Dao, Fantastic Beings – London. [online] DanceTabs. Available at: https://dancetabs.com/2016/04/english-national-ballet-she-said-broken-wings-m-dao-fantastic-beings-london/ [Accessed 23 Jan. 2020].
- Monahan, M. (2016). The agony and ecstasy of being Frida Kahlo - review. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/dance/what-to-see/she-said-enb-sadlers-wells-review/ [Accessed 23 Jan. 2020].
- Lopez Ochoa, A. (2019). She Said: interview with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa - English National Ballet. [online] English National Ballet. Available at: https://www.ballet.org.uk/blog-detail/said-interview-annabelle-lopez-ochoa/ [Accessed 23 Jan. 2020].
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