Joni Mitchell writes music, influences choreography of new ballet

An amazing collaboration between celebrated singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell and visionary choreographer Jean Grande-Maitre awaits Saskatoon audiences as Alberta Ballet presents the full-length adaptation The Fiddle and The Drum Friday and Saturday at TCU Place.

In a telephone interview from her Los Angeles home, Mitchell said she plans to be in attendance at both of the Saskatoon performances.

No ordinary ballet, The Fiddle and The Drum is a unique tableau of dance, music and art, voicing Mitchell's long-held conviction the Earth is in peril.

The ballet company's artistic director, Grand-Maitre, originally approached Mitchell with the idea of staging a ballet that would be a retrospective of her life.

"I was so engrossed in the way the world was at that time that it seemed kind of lightweight to me," said Mitchell.

Mitchell was in the middle of putting together an art show consisting of 64 large canvasses on a war theme: Mammoth images of Hitler, Stalin and Bush juxtaposed with 1930s-era Busby Berkeley dancers.

"I had a model of the gallery on the pool table in my living room because I was hanging the show in miniature and working out what pieces would go in. (Grand-Maitre) saw this art show on the table and said, 'We must put this in the ballet!' " said Mitchell.

Mitchell warned him of the risks he might take in staging a ballet that was anti-war and pro-environment, including losing sponsorships from oil companies because of perceived Bush-bashing.

Grand-Maitre wasn't deterred. He created a 48-minute production as part of a mixed program that began touring to rave reviews in February 2007, including critically acclaimed performances in New York City.

Mitchell created two new songs for the ballet. If I Had a Heart is critical of the U.S. war on Iraq, while the song If is based on Rudyard Kipling's poem about war and stoicism.

"If is a really beautiful part of the ballet," said Mitchell. "It's so Canadian, so high-spirited. It gets very modern and the kids love it because they get to do contemporary dance. Although Rudyard Kipling's poem is a hundred years old, it has a terrific contemporary message."

Other Mitchell songs selected for the ballet are from the '80s and '90s, with lyrics protesting war-mongering and the degradation of the planet. "In the '80s, when most of those songs were first written, people just didn't want to know about it. They thought you were being negative. So the time has come for some of these songs to be heard," said Mitchell.

For the 2009 ballet season, Alberta Ballet has expanded The Fiddle and the Drum to a full-length ballet. Mitchell has added four new songs to the repertoire, including Ethiopia, which turns attention to African conflicts; Shine, from her newest album; The Reoccurring Dream, which warns against consumerism; and the prophetic anthem, Woodstock.

For the full-length ballet, the lyrics to Woodstock will be projected on a screen and the audience will be encouraged to sing along.

Unlike conventional ballets, The Fiddle and the Drum even has an encore -- Big Yellow Taxi. Mitchell described the choreography to Big Yellow Taxi as a "kind of Cirque du Soleil French comedy version. It's one of the things that lightens the whole piece up."

From the beginning, Grand-Maitre invited Mitchell's input while creating the ballet's innovative and athletic choreography.

"Most of what I gave them was emotional instruction, so they understood what they were dancing to, what the songs meant. It brought about an emotional quality to the music that was beautifully illustrated by his choreography -- and in a fresh way like I've never seen before. I couldn't have been more thrilled. The music just seemed to come alive on stage, which is what ballet is all about," said Mitchell.

- HOME ON THE PRAIRIES

Work on The Fiddle and the Drum ballet and her latest art show has kept Joni Mitchell busy throughout most of the past year, but when time permits, she travels back to Saskatoon to visit her father.

"Mainly what I come back to town for now is to see my dad. I'm mostly at the old age home, having dinner with the geriatrics," she said with a laugh.

"Some of them are the parents of people I knew. Bob Hinitt is there, so that will be nice."

While in Saskatoon, Mitchell's favourite haunts include the Bessborough Hotel. "I love the Bessborough. I've got a lot of memories there from my teens. I modelled there, our proms were there -- I love that hotel!"

Touching base with her Prairie roots is important, said Mitchell.

"I enjoy taking drives and taking pictures and coming home to paint them. I paint a lot of B.C. and Saskatchewan when I paint, as well as people I know."