[中][ENG]芭蕾舞的戲劇性－與維文安娜．杜蘭緹的訪談 The Importance of Emotion – A Conversation with Viviana Durante

相片由維文安娜．杜蘭緹提供。

Photo provided by Viviana Durante.

舞蹈生涯充滿戲劇色彩的芭蕾舞者維文安娜．杜蘭緹（Viviana Durante）於八月到訪香港，為香港芭蕾舞學會舉辦的《超新星大賞2016》（下稱超新星）擔任評判。她與《舞蹈手扎》分享了芭蕾舞的戲劇性與體操式訓練之間的矛盾及當今芭蕾的發展。

Viviana Durante, one of the greatest dramatic ballerinas of her generation, was in Hong Kong in August as one of the judges for the Hong Kong Ballet Group’s Stars Award 2016. She talked to dance journal/hk about emotion versus athleticism and where ballet is headed today.

杜蘭緹出生於意大利，於十歲時入讀英國皇家芭蕾舞學校，畢業後加入皇家芭蕾舞團。二十歲那年，舞團正上演《天鵝湖》（Swan Lake ）。當時出演黑白天鵝奥德蒂/奧狄莉（Odette/ Odile ）的舞者因傷離場，由在沒有綵排過的下杜蘭緹頂替演出。翌年，她成為了皇家芭蕾舞團史上最年輕的首席芭蕾舞員，並憑著其精湛舞藝、感召力及富戲劇性的舞風很快便成為舞評家、編舞家和廣大觀眾的寵兒。其中，新創角色的優秀演繹包括麥美倫（Kenneth MacMillan）的最後兩個作品及賓特利（David Bintley）、麥葛萊格（Wayne McGregor）、艾胥雷（Page Ashley）的創作。1999年，她再度成為芭蕾舞界的焦點。當時她與新拍檔排練《曼儂》（Manon）時發生衝突，並沒跟隨舞團該次的日本巡演。這次風波掀起大眾輿論，並令她與皇家芭蕾舞團的關系添上難以修補的缺口。兩年後，杜蘭緹離開舞團，遠赴東京加盟同樣是前皇家芭蕾舞團員的熊川哲也（Tetsuya Kumakawa）創立的K-Ballet。同期，她亦遊走於米蘭史卡拉歌劇院芭蕾舞團（La Scala）和美國芭蕾舞劇團（American Ballet Theatre）。杜蘭緹仍不斷探索，踏足過劇場、電影，當過模特兒、編舞，甚至在日本電視廣告中也會看到她的身影。數年前，她回到英國，邂逅英國作家克里夫（Nigel Cliff），誕下現年四歲的兒子奧蘭多（Orlando）。

Born in Italy, Durante moved to London aged 10 to study at the Lower School of the Royal Ballet School , White Lodge, and joined the company on graduation. At 20 she made headlines when the ballerina dancing Odette/Odile injured herself halfway through Swan Lake and Durante (who hadn’t even rehearsed the role) took over and finished the show. At 21 she became the company’s youngest ever principal and a favourite with critics, choreographers, and audiences for her virtuosity, charisma, and above all, her dramatic power. One of the finest interpreters of the Kenneth MacMillan repertoire, she created roles in his last two ballets as well as in work by the likes of David Bintley, Ashley Page, and Wayne McGregor. In 1999, Durante made headlines again, this time for less happy reasons, when she was dropped from a tour of Japan after conflicts arose while rehearsing Manon with a new partner. The ensuing welter of highly publicized accusations and counter-accusations caused a rift with the company that never healed fully. Two years later she left for Tokyo to join K-Ballet, newly set up by another Royal Ballet escapee, Tetsuya Kumakawa, and subsequently divided her career between K-Ballet, La Scala, and American Ballet Theatre. Always ready to try something new, Durante has acted on stage and screen, modeled, choreographed, and, in Japan, even appeared in TV commercials. Returning to London a few years ago, she met and married British author Nigel Cliff with whom she has a four-year-old son, Orlando.

"關鍵『是要成為一個舞者』，而非『令舞蹈成為工作』。當中的分別是你必須擁抱舞蹈成為你的生命。

It’s about ‘being a dancer’, it’s not ‘I do dancing’.There’s a difference in that and you have to embrace that if that’s what you love."

攝影：KY Cheng 片由南華早報提供

Photo Credit: KY Cheng. Photo provided by South China Morning Post

外表嬌小、時尚、踏實及幽默的杜蘭緹，談吐之間流露出她博學的智慧及探究的精神。這次原來是她首次訪港。「我多次被邀請到這裡演出，卻每每因不同原因而告吹。所以我今次非常高興可以去與舞者見面及探索。」訪問之際，她剛出席了超新星的第一節大師班，卻能一針指出香港芭蕾舞學生的強項和弱點：「大家都非常專注，排練室靜得落針可聞。但似乎他們都缺乏信心。不過我很理解，畢竟這只是第一節課。」

Petite, chic, and lively with a down to earth sense of humour, Durante’s intelligence and enquiring mind are immediately apparent talking to her. Surprisingly, this is her first ever visit to Hong Kong. “I was asked to dance here many times but it never worked out. So I’m very happy to be here - what a great chance to explore and see the dancers.” All she’d seen so far of the local students taking part in the Stars Award was a masterclass but she’d already put her finger on some characteristic local strengths and weaknesses. “Everybody is so committed and so focused. You can hear a pin drop, everybody is so into it and really listening to the teacher.” However, “It looks as if there’s a lack of confidence from what I saw today, but I think that’s normal, it’s their first class in front of us.”

她認為比賽經驗對年輕芭蕾舞員很重要：「比賽教導我們應對壓力……始終表演總是要演下去，經驗的積累讓人變得具競爭力，這些都不是壞事。特別在技術層面，看到其他舞者傑出的表現是求變的動力，推動舞者達至更高的水平。」 Taking part in competitions is valuable because “First of all, it teaches you how to command stress... Somehow, the show must go on - you get a hint of that. And then the fact that it makes you competitive, which is not a bad thing to be. Especially technically, it can make you better. It pushes you, it lifts the level where you might be at, when you see somebody else and you try to be like that.”

談到比賽經驗，杜蘭緹年輕時在瑞士洛桑國際芭蕾舞大賽（Prix de Lausanne，下稱洛桑）中贏得金牌，後來更擔任大賽的評審。談及洛桑與超新星(*見 18－5香港夏日舞動)的水平固然不同，杜蘭緹說：「評審並不等於批評，我的責任是協助他們進步和成長。」她在頒獎禮中寄語一眾參賽者說：「你們都是冠軍！」可見她對每位參賽者的熱切鼓勵。

The level of participants at the Stars Award (*See 18-5 Issue SUMMERTIME) may have been different from the Prix de Lausanne where Durante adjudicated earlier this year (and was herself a gold medalist). However, as she said, “We’re not here to judge them, we’re here to help them go further” and her speech at the closing ceremony (“You are all winners”) was warm and encouraging.

香港芭蕾學員最大的困難是他們只能在外國學生畢業於專業學校的年齡，才能接受在香港演藝學院授予的全職專業芭蕾舞訓練。杜蘭緹同意這是個關鍵的問題，尤其女舞者更需要在年幼時開始全職訓練：「正如音樂家，你必須每天訓練，愛上音樂、讓音樂成為你的人生，成就便隨之而累積。

A major problem for Hong Kong ballet students is that the only professional training, at the Academy for Performing Arts, doesn’t start until an age when dancers elsewhere are already graduating from vocational schools. Durante confirms that it’s crucial, especially for girls, to start full-time training earlier. “It’s like being a musician; you have to practice every day. You have to love it. It becomes your life. Then the achievement comes naturally.”

她接著說，單靠練習並不足夠：「關鍵『是要成為一個舞者』，而非『令舞蹈成為工作』。當中的分別是你必須擁抱舞蹈成為你的生命。」這份對舞蹈的熱愛令十歲時初到英國，懷著愁鄉並不諳英語的她渡過艱苦的時期。

That said, practicing in itself is not enough: “It’s about ‘being a dancer’, it’s not ‘I do dancing’. There’s a difference in that and you have to embrace that if that’s what you love.” It was that love for dance that enabled a homesick ten-year-old Durante to cope with the “harsh” experience of being at a boarding school where she didn’t even speak the language.

談到自杜蘭緹開始舞蹈生涯至今，芭蕾舞界的發展，她說：「大家現在都更注重身體並接受運動員式的訓練，因為舞者會以身體瘋狂地表現。」她應為古典芭蕾與當代舞的「融合」是「非常好的主意，使我們創作更多，發掘更多。」

What has changed in the ballet world since Durante began her career? “People are looking after their bodies a lot more, they are treated more like athletes, because we do use our bodies - you do wild things with your body! That’s all amazingly good.” The way that classical ballet and contemporary dance are “merging together” is “A great idea, you can create even more, explore even more.”

“You can’t just practice the solo technically and think that [the other side] will just come on stage. It won’t.”

杜蘭緹飾演安娜塔西亞（1996）。

Durante as MacMillian’s Anastasia (1996).

攝影Photo Credit: 英國皇家芭蕾舞團The Royal Ballet

但與此同時，她擔憂過份的強調體能和當代舞風格會令舞者忽略藝術的其他面向：「不要忘記古典舞者的身份。你终歸也是個藝術家，一旦迷失，你會與運動員無異。你需練習透過舞蹈說故事及表達情感，與日常練習同等重要。」

At the same time, she’s concerned that the increased emphasis on athleticism and modern choreography may lead dancers to neglect other aspects of their art. “We must not lose who we are as classical dancers. You are an artist after all. That must not be lost, otherwise you do end up being just an athlete. You have to practice the telling of the story, the emotional side of something, just as much as you practice your tendus every day.”

如要與麥葛萊格共事，舞者的體能是必要條件：「他編排的舞動十分奇妙，對舞者的技術要求亦非常嚴格，欠缺體能的舞者會受傷」。杜蘭緹很欣賞麥葛萊格的破格，她認為他的作品對電子科技時代下的觀眾特別吸引：「每當我進入劇場，我都滿心期待感人的故事。」她相信古典芭蕾舞可邁步向前，為觀眾提供「觸動的內心深處的情感及讓人感動落淚的體驗」。

To do work by someone like Wayne McGregor, working on your fitness is essential: “Otherwise you’ll hurt yourself because he’s so technically demanding… he moves you in such an amazing way.” While McGregor is “a wonderful choreographer” and Durante appreciates that it’s easy for audiences to relate to his work in an age of i-phones and video games, “When I go to the theatre, I really want to see a great story that transports me.” She believes this is where classical ballet can go further and take audiences to a higher plane by offering “Something that makes you cry and brings out the most inner emotion that you have.”

杜蘭緹經常回溯到表達情感的重要性。她憶起年輕時排練瑪歌芳婷（Margot Fonteyn）的《睡美人》：「她關注並要求我反覆練習『我是誰』，我必須清楚了解『我是誰』才能踏上台階。當我掌握以後，她又要求我練習及成為『我是一個剛到達自己十六歲生日派對的女孩』。她說，『你必須練習那種情緒，我希望看到你很高興。』」

Durante returns frequently to the importance of expressing emotion. As a young dancer she was rehearsed by Margot Fonteyn in The Sleeping Beauty. “All she was concerned about was my practicing who I was, knowing who I was before I came on to the stage. When I came down those steps, she wanted me to practice the fact that I was actually arriving at my 16th birthday party. She said, “You have to practice that emotion. I want to see that you’re happy.”

「傳承」對芭蕾舞來說非常重要。杜蘭緹特別感恩曾與琳．西摩（Lynn Seymour）在《我的女主角》合作演出由麥美倫（Kenneth MacMillan ）創作的角色Seymour。「對我而言，這就似在接觸芭蕾的根源。身為一個藝術家，努力去保留作品的歷史，包括其創作時的風格及原因。」

The tradition of each generation of dancers coaching the next is vital for the continuity of ballet. Durante is particularly grateful to have worked with Lynn Seymour (My heroine!) on the roles Seymour created for Kenneth MacMillan. “For me, it was like being in touch with the source of something. It adds to you as an artist and at the same time you preserve the style of when it was made, why it was made - the history of it.”

杜蘭緹將於九月到皇家芭蕾舞團特別培訓四位舞者，傳授她最受人盛讚的角色—麥美倫創作的安娜塔西亞（Anastasia）。她被邀請去重點琢磨舞者對作品的戲劇感，並針對第三幕的悲劇安排以往西摩和她做的訓練—讓舞者脫掉芭蕾舞鞋，用演技演繹娜塔西亞的角色。杜蘭緹提到：「你不能只顧練習舞步、技術，然後奢望情感會在台上自然流露。」她希望舞者能每星期上一堂聲音演戲班：「我明白舞者的表達都是無聲的，但只有透過聲音的練習，才可找到無聲的表達方式。」

In September Durante herself will be coaching four Royal Ballet ballerinas in one of her signature roles, MacMillan’s Anastasia. She’s been asked to focus on bringing out the drama and for the tragic third act, plans to do an exercise Seymour did with her - making the dancers take off their pointe shoes and act the role before they dance it. “You can’t just practice the solo technically and think that [the other side] will just come on stage. It won’t.” She would like students to do an acting class once a week using their voices. “I know we do something which is silent, we don’t use sound. But it’s only by using sound that you can find that inner silence.”

每次現場演出為杜蘭緹的情感帶來無比的滿足感。「我熱愛舞台。直至今日我仍熱愛，時刻都想念演出的感覺。如遇上合適的作品(最好不用單足趾尖旋轉！)，我絕不會猶疑。雖然我沒有試過服用毒品，但我能夠想像兩者之相同。只有觀眾才能給予我這種沈迷的感覺。」

For Durante, it was the emotional satisfaction of live performance that she found most fulfilling. “I love being on stage. I still do, I miss it. If the right thing came up (without fouettés and things like that!) I would certainly go for it. It’s like taking drugs - I’ve never taken drugs but I can imagine it’s like that. It’s an addiction of feeling that only an audience can give you.”

（右三）杜蘭緹擔任《超新星大賞2016》的評審之一。

Durante (third from right) adjudicating at the Hong Kong Ballet Group Stars Award 2016.

攝影Photo Credit: Tong Luk

"杜蘭緹相信「機會只屬於有準備的人」"

雖說舞台為她帶來滿足感，但杜蘭緹認為舞者需要的不只是舞台，還需要一份對舞團的歸屬感。杜蘭緹離開皇家芭蕾舞團後曾與多個舞團合作。儘管她演出之處都受到尊重和如巨星般愛戴。但對於她來說，泛濫的寵愛卻是孤獨的來源：「當時的我就像無家者，心感迷失。我終日在舞台上忙碌著，但我心明這並不健康。」縱使外面總有林林總總的平台不時出現，但她仍建議舞者留駐在一個舞團：「這可給你一份身份認同及一個家。」

However, the joy of performing isn’t always enough. A note of regret creeps in when Durante talks about the years she spent guesting with different companies after leaving the Royal Ballet. Always being an outsider, despite the respect with which she was treated and the adulation of audiences, was a lonely experience. “I felt homeless… I sort of lost myself a little bit. I was only finding myself on stage and doing too much of that is not very healthy.” While it’s good to perform elsewhere from time to time, she would advise dancers to be based at one company. “It gives you an identity and it gives you a home.”

今天已婚並成為母親的杜蘭緹明顯是更快樂地生活，亦展開了事業上的新里程。她剛於皇家芭蕾舞學院完成了舞蹈教育文憑和在英國聖三一音樂學院完成舞蹈教育及學習文憑。令人驚嘆的是這兩個文憑皆是同時修讀的：「我晚上待孩子入睡後，在凌晨兩點寫論文！」

Today, married, and a mother, Durante’s clearly in a much happier place and busy embarking on a new phase of her career. She has just completed the Royal Ballet School Diploma of Dance Teaching and the Trinity College Diploma in Dance Teaching and Learning - astoundingly, she did them both at the same time: “I was writing my essays at 2 o’clock in the morning after putting my little one to sleep!”

她有志帶領舞團或學校，亦希望繼續向學術界發展。現時她正向倫敦南岸中心和巴比肯藝術中心的藝術總監取經，學習管理。杜蘭緹相信「機會只屬於有準備的人」。她說：「從第一天加入皇家芭蕾舞團開始，我便從不同角色及工作中學習，為擔任首席舞者作準備。我很想去學……我仍很好奇，總之我真的很喜歡學習！」

Her ultimate goal is to direct a school or a company and following her academic studies, she’s now learning about management by shadowing the artistic directors of London’s South Bank and Barbican. Durante believes that to succeed in anything, you need to be prepared: “When I started in the company, I worked myself up to be a principal and I learnt by doing roles and doing things. I wanted to learn… I am curious, anyway, I like to know things!”