Belgian-born Aurélien Scannella arrived in Perth at the start of this year (2013) brimming with ideas and looking forward to the next stage in his professional life as the newly appointed artistic director of the West Australian Ballet.
Scannella is a softly spoken 38-year-old with a self-effacing demeanour and a quietly determined attitude to his latest role. He speaks excellent English as well as French, Dutch, Spanish and German, with the occasional picturesque turn-of-phrase.
Scannella is the 11th artistic director in the West Australian Ballet’s 60-year history and joins an elite group of directors who reflect ballet’s global landscape.
From founder/director Madame Kira Bousloff who was by nationality Russian, to Rex Reid (Australian), Luis Moreno (Spanish), Robin Haig (Australian), Garth Welch (Australian), Barry Moreland (Australian), Ted Brandsen (Dutch), Judy Maelor-Thomas (English), Simon Dow (Australian) and Ivan Cavallari (Italian), each one brought with them wide-ranging international experience.
Scannella had worked with former WAB artistic director Ted Brandsen (currently artistic director of the Dutch National Ballet), and Brandsen’s associate director Judy Maelor-Thomas, who directed WAB for a year in 2002.
From them he says he “already understood quite a lot about WAB and Perth” and adds: “I followed the ‘nice’ evolution of the company and when I heard that Ivan Cavallari was leaving, I decided to apply for the job”.
He says he had “never been to Australia and always wanted to work here”.
Scannella is married to Sandy Delasalle, a recently retired and highly regarded French dancer, and together they have a nine year-old son, Matteo.
“Matteo spoke no English when we arrived,” Scannella says, “but he is now happily settled into one of the Steiner schools in Perth and has already become very fluent in the language.”
Matteo has an Australian godmother, dancer Rebecca Gladstone, who works in Europe and was featured in Dance Australia’s “Dancers Without Borders” in September, 2012.
Sandy has now joined Aurélien at WAB as ballet mistress after the previous ballet mistress Eva Zmekova decided to return to Europe. Sandy also received a warm welcome to Perth from well-known WA dance luminary Terri Charlesworth, who had previously met Sandy in Monte Carlo at the late Marika Besobrasova’s L’Académie de Danse Princesse Grace.
“We love Perth and have no regrets, and it’s hard not to love the climate,” Scannella says. “Also, people in Perth are still hopeful and see new ideas as possible. People in ballet in Europe are facing some insecurity and less opportunity. So far, for any ideas I have proposed since starting with WAB, nobody has said ‘no’. They always will try to realize my ideas and plans.”
He has already met with Australian Ballet artistic director David McAllister and has also met with new Queensland Ballet director Li Cunxin to discuss plans for a co-production.
Scannella believes “art enhances our lives in many ways and ballet provides the best art can offer, including music, movement and spirit . . . and Australia has an amazing ballet company on its west coast.”
He is full of praise for the beautifully appointed new West Australian Ballet Centre: “It is fantastic. Only the company in Monte Carlo and Netherlands Dance Theatre have comparable facilities in Europe. It is essential for dancers to have good-sized studios and space and the right facilities in order to achieve their best work.”
Although Scannella has not had experience as the director of a company before this appointment, he feels that his background of 17 years dancing leading roles and appearing as a guest artist in companies in Europe, working with all of the established contemporary choreographers and performing the traditional classical repertoire, gives him the right grounding for his new job.
He especially singles out his four years freelancing for different companies and directors internationally as guest ballet master and teacher after his dancing career ended.
“It was invaluable preparation. I learnt a lot during this period. My role was a bridge between the ballet staff and the dancers, so I saw both sides, and learnt and developed my skills in communicating effectively.
The demanding and extensive touring experience with these companies has prepared me to deal with issues and problems faced by all members of the company. And I can assist dancers cope with the pressure of performing and help them find ways to produce their best work through mentoring.”
He says he is not a choreographer and has “absolutely no plans” to choreograph in the future. However, he says one of his strengths as a dancer was in partnering and he hopes “to be of assistance to choreographers working with the company in this area when needed”.
“I have also developed a network of colleagues and contacts all over the world and have knowledge of both classical and contemporary dance so I can rehearse both.” Aurélien Scannella’s impressive profile can be seen on the West Australian Ballet website.
Ivan Cavallari had already set West Australian Ballet’s 2013 program and Scannella is planning the 2014 program now. “It is important for me not to take too many risks with the first year as I want to learn more about the dancers and the audiences.
The Quarry season will include some new contemporary work (a work has already been commissioned from Lucas Jervis), which is suited to that unique venue, and at His Majesty’s Theatre we will present refreshed existing productions of full-length story ballets.
Our Genesis program of new work by company choreographers was a great success this year with three shows sold out in the Maylands Centre performance space, which I find very encouraging and hope to repeat.
It is hard to find a new language for classical dance; there are always physical limitations. Choreographers now look to use new technologies; some now provide their own music.
It is risky financially and artistically today to have full-length commissioned work. But it is very important for WAB to build up its own company repertoire.”
Ivan Cavallari’s production of Pinocchio is to be performed in 2013 by Ballet du Rhin (where Cavallari is now based), which is a way of recovering production costs.
WAB held auditions in France in December, 2012, and Perth in January, 2013, and Scannella engaged Australian Ballet School 2007 graduate Polly Hilton from the auditions and also Australian dancer Isabella Robinson. He plans to bring six more dancers from Europe later in the year.
While the company will have many international dancers, Scannella says: “With good dancers of equal standing, I would always employ Australians.”
When asked who he considers the most influential or significant person in his career, he says without hesitation: “My wife, Sandy. We met in 1995 when we were working with Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf. Sandy is knowledgeable, supportive, very patient, dependable and diplomatic and anything I have achieved is because of her support. She is my balance in life.”
At the conclusion of our meeting, Scannella unexpectedly mentions his distress at comments he read in Dance Australia, where I expressed my disappointment that no Australians were considered for the directorship of WAB.
I said that I did not resile from this view but had made it clear it was not a criticism of his credentials for the job. He said he understood, and added: “When the directorship of the Royal Ballet of Flanders came up after the long-term Australian director Kathryn Bennetts departed, I could not help hoping it would go to a Belgian applicant. It didn’t, it went to a Spaniard!”?
This article was first published in the August-September 2013 issue of Dance Australia magazine. Look out for a new article on Scanella and the West Australian Ballet in the Dec/Jan issue.