Saarland in a spin as Irish dance dynamo departs

On a sunny evening recently in Saarbrücken, the pretty capital of Saarland near the French border, a well-heeled crowd gathered for the premiere of a new production by the Donlon Dance Company.

Minutes before curtain, without saying a word, they whip out hand-painted banners with slogans such as “Success Leaves, Intrigue Lives”.

When a woman with freckles and red-brown hair appears in an elegant black evening gown, the crowd begins cheering: “Maggie! Maggie! Maggie!”

Maggie is Marguerite Donlon, the Longford native who has become something of a local celebrity since founding the Donlon Dance Company (DDC) here in 2001. In the intervening years , her troupe has become Saarland’s cultural calling card at home and abroad. The company has been invited to tour as far away as South Korea; dancers come to audition for her from New York and Chicago. When a Maggie Donlon premiere looms, her legions of fans flock to Saarbrücken from France, Italy and beyond. Thanks to Donlon, they say, the Saar capital is now known in dance circles as a place to watch.

A late bloomer – she had first ballet lesson aged 13 – Donlon began her career in London before moving to Berlin’s Deutsche Oper as a soloist in 1991, where she worked with Rudolf Nureyev and Sir Kenneth MacMillan.

Her fresh and innovative Saarbrücken productions have attracted rave reviews from critics, attracting regular complimentary comparisons to the late Pina Bausch and Berlin's Sasha Waltz. Ballettanz magazine applauded Donlon for work that "bridges the gap between classic and comic, avant-garde and Grand Guignol". Among Donlon's many hits were an inventive Giselle: Reloaded, set among Irish travellers, and a Romeo & Juliet praised by Die Welt as "the best international production of the ballet in decades".

After a dozen high-flying years, however, the Donlon era has come to an abrupt end after the Saarland state theatre terminated her contract by mutual agreement – two years early. The news came as a bombshell in Saarbrücken and triggered an extraordinary outpouring of love for the diminutive 47-year-old, dubbed by Bild tabloid the "face and heart" of the local dance scene.

“I’ve had the best 12 years of creative freedom here and we’ve realised many goals,” said Donlon. “But it wasn’t possible to continue in a way that I would like to have gone.”

Her departure marks the end of a frosty seven-year co-habitation with Dagmar Schlingmann, artistic director of Saarland’s state theatre. The two women never saw eye-to-eye but fell out badly over Donlon’s ambitious plan to make Saarbrücken the base for a “European Dance Company”, tapping Brussels funding to create a pan-EU troupe with greater European co-operations.

There were “many good ideas” in Donlon’s plan, Schlingmann says, but she saw it as an attempt to break up the existing three-pillar structure of her theatre: drama, dance and opera.

“I’m so sorry about it all because she has many fans here and did a really good job,” said Schlingmann. “She pushed for greater independence but that’s not possible in this house.”

Saarland’s culture minister Ulrich Commerçon kiboshed the plans and, when he appeared for the premiere, he and his wife had to run the gauntlet of angry fans.

“The excitement will calm down, it was time for a change and I am confident the high standard of dance, opera and drama will continue in Saarbrücken,” he said, climbing the stairs quickly to keep ahead of the angry mob behind him.

They are furious and upset in equal measure at what they see as a political betrayal of the choreographer. Without Donlon, they fear the city will slip into cultural obscurity – a painful thought for the proud people of Saarland.

“She went from success to success, her productions are world-class and filled with great ideas,” said Helga Müller Snr.

“Her dance company put Saarbrücken on the cultural map,” said Fred Rütters.

Given all the excitement of Maggiegate, it was a emotional evening. A showcase of pieces choreographed by dancers in the company, it was an exhilarating and inventive show. Donlon sat to one side, watching the performances of her hand-picked team.

As the lights went down, the music chosen for the first piece had a message for the cultural minister in the audience, and the theatre’s absent artistic director.

“If you should lose me, you’d lose a good thing.”