Handling Handel
Mauricio Wainrot uses Messiah as the basis for a ‘spiritual ballet’
Jared Story

Before you wrap up that frankincense and start doing some feverish repenting, you should know that The Messiah being advertised around town isn’t the second coming — it’s a ballet being presented by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and a rather renowned one at that.

Using the music of George Frideric Handel’s famous oratorio Messiah as a base, Argentinian choreographer Mauricio Wainrot created his own brilliant dance. Originally conceived in 1996 as a 25-minute piece for the Ballet Royal de Belgique, The Messiah was expanded by its creator in 1999 for the National Ballet of Chile, where it earned an award for best dance production.

“It’s a visual feast, if you will, and also a musical feast, a hearing feast,” RWB artistic director Andre Lewis says. “It’s a wonderful work, and it’s non-denominational. It’s not specific or telling a story per se, but it certainly brings a sense of spirituality through the movements, through the feels, through the lighting and things of that nature. It brings something very special.”

Non-denominational spirituality is a key part of Wainrot’s work. He says The Messiah is indeed for everybody and anybody, regardless of whether Handel’s composition is of the Christian canon.

“It is not a religious work,” Wainrot says of his interpretation. “I don’t follow the words; I follow the spirit of the music and the mood of the music. I don’t like to be leader. I like to use vocal music, but I don’t care what the words say — well, not so much because I don’t care, but the feeling of the music is more important.”

Though his creation is of a secular nature, Wainrot acknowledges a sense of spirituality in The Messiah, and he says that’s common to any art form.

“We as artists have some sort of spirituality. We don’t need to be religious to have some sort of a spiritual and mystical mood,” he says. “When we create, whether it be a painter, musician, writer or choreographer, you live in your own world, which I think is quite mystical and has quite a lot of religiosity in that moment. I believe in that more than in any kind of religion.”

Messiah isn’t the first time Wainrot has brought his spiritual creations to Winnipeg. In fact, the choreographer has a close relationship with the RWB. He has danced for the company, and his Carmina Burana is now a part of the company’s repertoire. That’s a work which blew Winnipeggers away, Lewis says, largely because of Wainrot’s distinct style.

“He’s a good choreographer — what can I say?” Lewis explains. “He has a romantic feel, and he’s incredibly inventive. Everything he comes up with, you never expect. Suddenly something comes up that you didn’t think would ever occur. It (The Messiah) is beautifully, brilliantly done.”

If you’re a ballet virgin, Lewis has some friendly advice: Just go.

“You don’t have to be knowledgeable in dance to appreciate it,” he says. “You see all these beautiful bodies. Ballet is a visual art form… it really comes alive, and somebody who really has never seen ballet will understand and appreciate.”