I.
EARLY MEMORY
What are some of your early memories involving scent?
ADAM: I have a very strong sense of smell and it is very evocative to me. I grew up in Sydney, next to a park, and since Sydney is very humid, there’s this smell of soil and a particular smell of plants developing.
I spent a lot of time with my grandmother when I was young. She used some old-school wooden toothpicks, that had a very particular smell, of menthol. She would disinfect our hands with this classic old German cologne, Echt Kölnisch Wasser by 4711.
She would disinfect our hands with this classic old German cologne, Echt Kölnisch Wasser by 4711.
II.
LEAVING & RETURNING
You left the Royal Ballet at 21. What did that world smell like—the studios, the theaters, the physical space of classical ballet?
What’s your relationship with fragrance and perfume?
ADAM: I don’t wear perfume all that much. It is a bit like Yoga to me, I love it, but I don’t always practice it. But I do like funky smells, as well as spicy woody scents. I do have a perfume I’m loyal to, an old Dior fragrance, called Patchouli Imperial. I like the old Dior fragrances, the classics, the musky ones. And I have always loved the smell of figs. I love fig trees, and I love fig as a fruit.
When you were conceptualizing Loyalty, you were living in Los Angeles, in the El Royale building in Hancock Park. What did LA smell like from that panoramic view?
ADAM: The process spread over time, as I was transitioning between locations. I spent a lot of time in LA, where I was in fact living. As I started sketching Loyalty, we moved to an apartment in this very famous building called El Royale. El Royale is a late 1920’s famous landmark in LA. A tall fusion style apartment building located in the Hancock Park neighborhood, that used to be a hotel. A lot of celebrities lived there. It had a beautiful panoramic view over Los Angeles. I spent a lot of time in that apartment thinking about Loyalty. Then, as I started working on the piece, I was already back in Europe. I crafted the whole play in Hamburg. It was summer and I was happy, the return to Europe felt like coming home after nearly 6 years spent in the US. I was working very intuitively. It felt like a new beginning.
The return to Europe felt like coming home after nearly 6 years spent in the US. I was working very intuitively. It felt like a new beginning.
III.
ACT I: THE MACHINE
Let’s talk about the three acts of Loyalty. How would you describe Act I?
ADAM: The 1st act is a parade of different vocabularies. It uses and abuses ballet. It is monochromatic, and strict. The dancers wear black in a very graphic manner. It is very technical and virtuosic. Like a well-oiled machine.
It is very technical and virtuosic. Like a well-oiled machine.
IV.
ACT II: THE FLESH
And Act II?
ADAM: The 2nd act is theatrical. A naked solo figure doing a kind of crude physicality. It is fleshy, earthy, a bit gritty, and brutal. Like left over crumbs on a plate.
It is fleshy, earthy, a bit gritty, and brutal. Like leftover crumbs on a plate.
V.
ACT III: THE EMBRACE
And Act III?
ADAM: The 3rd act is a polyamory of partnering. It is luscious, warm, with beautiful pinks and oranges and reds. It is sensual, tactile, and voluptuous.
The 3rd act is a polyamory of partnering. It is luscious, warm, with beautiful pinks and oranges and reds. It is sensual, tactile, and voluptuous.
VI.
LOYALTY
What are some of the things that are essential to your fulfillment?
ADAM: A sense of adventure and the earthly pleasures—music, dance, sex, and food. My friends, my people, my family.
The Loyalty fragrance—is it risky or not risky?
ADAM: It is risky, but you trust it. It’s not risky just for the sake of being experimental. It’s risky because you have the option to stay or leave, to wear it or not.
That’s also how audiences experience the ballet, right? You said you want your work to “consume or engulf the audience.” What do you want them to feel during or after the performance?
ADAM: I want them to be engrossed, I want my work to consume or engulf the audience. I want them to think that’s the best thing they’ve ever seen.
It is risky, but you trust it. It’s not risky just for the sake of being experimental. It’s risky because you have the option to stay or leave.
A sense of adventure and the earthly pleasures—music, dance, sex, and food.
I want them to think that’s the best thing they’ve ever seen.
I keep thinking about what Adam said: “It’s risky, but you trust it.” That’s loyalty—not blind faith, but practiced trust. The kind you build by returning again and again, even when the form has changed, even when you’ve changed.
Loyalty the ballet moves through three temperatures: the HD, graphical precision of Act I, the raw heat of Act II, the colorful embrace of Act III.
Wearing it feels like participating in a performance. You have the option to stay or leave. That’s the risk. That’s the trust.
SCENT NOTES:
Bergamot, Ginger, Saffron, Ambrarome, Benzoin, Costus, Patchouli, Animal Notes, Oud, Cypriol, Gaiac Wood.
FÀP – Essays: Profile / Adam Linder / Loyalty
50ml Eau de Parfum
10 / 2022
Credits: Loyalty (2021) Concept & Choreography: Adam Linder Created and danced with: Douglas Letheren, Joshua Harriette, Louella May Hogan, Paxton Ricketts, Stephanie Amurao Stage & Lighting Design: Shahryar Nashat Music: Coil Co-produced by Kampnagel (Hamburg)
