Darting minnows and manta rays

As founding artistic director of Oregon Ballet Theatre, a position he held for 14 years, James Canfield created numerous works for OBT, including his popular Equinoxe, which will be seen in Las Vegas for the first time this weekend as part of Nevada Ballet Theatre’s From Stravinsky to Sinatra program.

You have been setting Equinoxe on quite a few companies. Why this ballet?

Every choreographer has one piece everybody wants. This is mine. I believe that Equinoxe, set to music by Jean Michel Jarre, is popular because its structure conforms to company and audience perceptions of what constitutes a “classic” contemporary ballet.

I first set Equinoxe on Pacific Ballet Theatre (the precursor of Oregon Ballet Theatre) in 1986. It was my first major choreography and has been performed many times in the last 10 years by companies across the U.S.

When you cast Equinoxe, what are you looking for in the dancers you select?

For the first and third movements, I look for a fast and furious quality—what I like to call my “darting minnows.” For the second movement, I want dancers who capture the slow and sensuous movement of a manta ray gliding through the ocean.

You have done a number of works based on historic couples. What intrigues you about these subjects?

I am intrigued with tragedy, passion, great character and romance and have based works on Romeo and Juliet, the diarist Anaïs Nin, ’60s-’70s icon Edie Sedgwick and fashion designer Coco Chanel. These specific individuals have all struck a nerve and inspired me to create works based on their lives.

Are there plans for you to work with the NBT dancers beyond this program?

As my schedule permits, I will be helping out during the company’s search for a new artistic director—mostly by teaching company classes.

How do you contrast your experiences as an artistic director with your current freelance role? Pros, cons?

I am forever a student so have been enjoying spending the time with companies across the U.S. and learning about their problems, successes, and challenges. Also, I like to see how dancers are being taught—this changes with the times and location.

What of your other ballets are in company repertories?

I have set Trois Gnossiennes (to music by Satie) on Nashville Ballet, along with Anaïs (a distillation of the film Henry and June) and Jungle.

Besides your existing catalog, have you been creating new works? Who for?

I have been working a lot with the Northwest Professional Dance Project in Portland, Oregon. Founded by Sarah Slipper, the Project was created to offer real-world experiences to preprofessional dancers with advanced technique and young professional dancers by giving them the chance to work with elite choreographers, directors and teachers.

For Nashville Ballet’s current season, I collaborated with composer Michael Kureck on Confessional Poetry, a work based on the relationship between the political activist Maud Gonne and the Irish poet W.B. Yeats.

What interesting adventures did you have during the transition period from being a full-time artistic director to your current freelance career?

Before launching into anything new, I spent a year in Hawaii taking a much-needed break. Between 1973 and 2004, I worked with such a high degree of intensity that I needed this time to quiet down and reacquaint myself with me. After that year, I went to school and now am a licensed massage therapist with my own practice, in addition to my choreographic and teaching assignments.

Would you consider returning to an artistic director position?

Yes. But only if it were the right placement, one that would keep me in love with the art form.

Nevada Ballet Theatre

From Stravinsky to Sinatra

Tickets: $29–$72