Aaron S. Watkin, Artistic Director, Semperoper Ballett Dresden

Cathy chats with Canadian-born Aaron S. Watkin one day before the National Arts Centre debut of Semperoper Ballett Dresden with his production of Swan Lake. Since graduating from the National Ballet School of Canada in 1988, Aaron has enjoyed a dizzyingly rich and varied classical and contemporary dance career with The National Ballet of Canada, English National Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt and Nacho Duato’s Compania Nacional de Danza. He speaks of his close association with Forsythe; making the leap from dancer to guest teacher and finally to artistic director of Semperoper Ballett in 2006 where he proceeded to build the company’s contemporary repertoire and modernize its troupe. In his ongoing attempt to erase the border between classical and contemporary dance, he introduced his Dresden audience to Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe and Mats Ek, among other choreographers. He also developed a passion for reimagining classical ballets.