Scottish Ballet: Sophie Laplane on Sibilo

Article by Rachel Bowles | 08 Sep 2016

The Skinny catches up with rising star of Scottish Ballet, the talented choreographer Sophie Laplane as she prepares to premiere her specially commissioned original piece Sibilo

Heralded as major talent in the making, French dancer-turned-choreographer Sophie Laplane has continually broken new ground in the Scottish dance world, particularly with her innovative and intelligent piece Maze last autumn. Sibilo looks set to exhibit more of her unique geometric, angular yet emotional style and precise yet swift pacing with Laplane expanding and testing her dance vocabulary, though she remains intriguingly tight-lipped about what else we can look forward to.

In the run-up to Sibilo's premiere, the intensity of Laplane's schedule is palpable: “We're in rehearsals all day! It's good, it's different because I am used to being on the other side. I am a dancer, so for me to be at the front of the studio and having lots of pairs of eyes expectantly looking at me – it's certainly different but I am enjoying it. I'm hoping it will continue!” she laughs.

Laplane is coy about Sibilo but reveals its central thematic thread, “Sibilo means whistling in Latin, bon? So, I guess it's a bit of a giveaway in the sense that there will be a lot of whistling. I've picked a lot of different styles of music, it ranges from classical to street. The piece is going to be 30 minutes and it's the first time I've been commissioned to do that length. It's a big step forward for me. It's just such an amazing opportunity.

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“It starts with a group of dancers, all looking the same with mechanical-like movements. It's really about how society dictates our behaviour and the fact that we lose our spontaneity. I'm quite lucky that I know the dancers well, they're my colleagues, my friends. Crafting the piece, I knew their personalities so I work with that. I really wanted to show how society can perceive somebody – you've got your routine, it's quite functional, automatic, but what is really inside of you? What is inside of a person? How are they feeling? What is their real personality? So, it's mostly about showing your true self.”

Laplane is still cautious and humble in her talent but growing in confidence in her creativity. Her creative process starts with introspection and reflection as a lover of dance, “When I got this piece commissioned, I thought, ‘OK, wow! What about?’ I had a blank page basically so I just asked myself, 'What I do like when I go to see a show?’ I like to be inspired, I like to be moved, I like to have fun watching a new piece and I like to be surprised. That really triggered the fact that I wanted all those elements to be in the piece. So Sibilo has a lot of different moods, some surprises, things you don't expect to happen. And of course, the dancers inspired me. I enjoy the fact that as I know the dancers so well, they are not scared, they're not shy of trying new things or being stupid. It's a kind of working relationship that's really amazing and I wanted to take advantage of that.”

Laplane also feels very lucky to work with her composer Alex Smoke, “He is a very open minded, very creative, very easy to speak to. We had a lot of meetings to really find out what we wanted to show, to hear, so we spoke about ideas and how to make it work and which sounds are good, which sounds work and make an impact. He has been very patient with me, sometimes my music vocabulary isn't great. There was a lot of ‘Please, can you play those bubble sounds again?’”


Sibilo with Emergence runs from 29 Sep to 1 Oct at Theatre Royal Glasgow, 7-9 Oct at Eden Court Inverness, and 14-15 Oct at His Majesty’s Theatre Aberdeen 

For more information on Scottish Ballet’s Autumn season: https://www.scottishballet.co.uk/event/autumn-2016