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3 Tips for Dancers Working with Musicians: Thoughts from Conductor Ming Luke

October 25, 2018 by Rachel Hellwig

The Orchestra at the Opera by Edgas Degas. Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Image.

 

So, you find yourself dancing to live music instead of a recording? Congratulations! That’s special!

But this magical collaboration is not without its challenges.

Here are a few thoughts from conductor Ming Luke, Principal Guest Conductor of San Francisco Ballet that may be helpful…

Ming Luke
Ming Luke, Photo by Rachel Racker.

Same Art Form, Different Languages

Luke relates that, in the world of music, there’s a saying that “conducting a ballet is like conducting a concerto”  — except the conductor can’t see or hear the soloist.

But though an orchestra and dancers share in the art of music, Luke cautions that terms such as “counts” and “tempo” can have different connotations to dancers and musicians.

So, keeping communication clear and making sure that everyone is on the same page is essential.

The Why

Perhaps the most common issue Luke runs into is not knowing the details behind statements from dancers and artistic staff such as “this tempo is too fast” or “this tempo is too slow.”

He explains that the reason could range from an artistic choice — such as a director or choreographer wanting dancers to sustain a pose a little longer, to a practical one — such dancers not having enough time to get to where they need to be on stage.

Whatever the reason, it always helps the conductor to know more specifics about “the why.”

Luke also mentions to keep in mind that visual factors, such as theatrical special effects (Nutcracker snow scene!), costumes, etc. especially during the first theater rehearsals, can sometimes alter perceptions of music’s speed.

Conductor, Ming Luke. Photo by Dave Weiland.

Living Art

Luke says to remember that,  just as dancers don’t give the exact same performance every time they are onstage, musicians too are performers and their performances won’t be exactly the same every time.

“Musicians are not robots, they are humans and their performances will vary slightly by show,” he says. “Music has flexibility, life, and breath.”

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: Ballet, Ballet Orchestra, conductor, dance, Live Music, Ming Luke, Musicians, Orchestra

10 Questions With Alice Klock

April 28, 2018 by Rachel Hellwig

Alice Klock. Photo by Quinn Wharton.

1. How did you first become involved in dance?

I’ve been dancing as long as I can remember.

After having seen me improv my way through the living room for years, my mother asked if I’d like to try a ballet class. I was eleven and I’ve been at it ever since.

2. When/how did you realize you wanted to become a professional dancer?

I attended the San Francisco Ballet’s summer program at 13 and would watch the company work and rehearse whenever I could find a moment to sneak to their studio door. It was thrilling.

There was something so beautiful about the way the dancers interacted, the sense of company life, and I decided it was something I wanted to experience.

3. Was there ever a time when you thought of quitting dance or second-guessed your decision to pursue a professional career? If so, what helped you through that time?

Honestly, no. My commitment to this field has been pretty unwavering.

My path was tumultuous at times, but through set backs, injuries, and disappointments, I’ve never felt like quitting. I’ve felt the need to shift my environment, or my role within the profession, but that to me is an exciting evolution.

I would recommend to any struggling dancer who is wondering if they should quit to ask themselves if perhaps they are just in the wrong place, or if they are trying to be something they are not. The dance world is vast! There are more options than we sometimes suppose.

I am now at a point where I am transitioning out of dancing full-time so that I can choreograph more, but even that feels like an evolution rather than a departure.

https://vimeo.com/218059438

4. When/how did you realize you wanted to pursue choreography?

It is hard to say when/how, I’ve always loved choreographing!

I have been super lucky to have the support of my choreographic work that I have received at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and from my amazing boss Glenn Edgerton. I believe that Glenn has been instrumental in my journey to becoming a choreographer as he gave me the space, encouragement, and opportunities to truly nurture and find my voice. I’m incredibly grateful for that.

5. What inspires you as a choreographer?

Everything.

6. How would you describe your choreographic process?

My process is quite random, but always focuses on really using the dancers in the room.

I always strive to find the individualism in each artist, and unlock as much of their “personal genius” (something I believe each of us has) as I can. This means I seldom come in with too many preconceived notions about the piece I will make.

That being said, my movement is highly conceptual at its source, and is often directly derived from words or ideas. For example, I might ask a dancer “what is your favorite word?” or “what is the most amazing thing you have ever seen?” and then I shall construct a movement phrase out of their answer.

7. What’s the best advice you’ve received about choreography?

“Don’t hold anything back”

https://vimeo.com/218062887

8. What are some things you’d like to explore in your choreography career and dance career in the future?

I would like to work with a vast array of dancers, artists, and institutions. I love the unexpected and being put into contact with the unusual.

I would like to work with huge groups, with ballet dancers, with competition dancers, with non-dancers. I’d like to experiment with it all and to push the boundaries of what we think dance is.

I believe that as a creator it is paramount to create work that is inclusive and socially conscious and that breaks out of the often inappropriate antique norms that still exist in the art form.

As a dancer, I would like to continue to explore performing new and different work. Last year, Florian Lochner (a fellow Hubbard Street dancer and Choreographic Fellow) and I formed “Flock” which is a project in which we co-choreograph pieces that we then perform.

I am interested to grow this further and to see what that can open up for me as a performer. Dancing in our work is a particularly wild and satisfying experience and very different from the years I have spent in a rep company.

I also look forward to expanding “Flock” out further into the world and to see what that leads to.

9. You’re headed to Utah in May for SALT Contemporary Dance’s inaugural LINK dance festival. How did you first become connected with SALT?

SALT has been on my radar for some time as a place where I would love to create work. Their dancers are beautiful and varied and their mission is strong and inspiring. I was honored and excited to be asked to participate in their LINK festival.

10. What are you most looking forward about LINK?

The dancers! Like I said, I love being thrown into a studio with new dancers and this will be a particularly exciting process as our creation time is only a week! I am looking forward to see what we concoct!

https://vimeo.com/226251438


Disclosure: Rachel Hellwig serves as marketing director for SALT

Filed Under: 10 Questions With... Tagged With: 10 questions with, Alice Klock, career, chicago, choreographic process, choreography, contemporary dance, Contemporary Dance Choreography, hubbard street dance chicago, LINK Dance Festival, SALT Contemporary Dance, SALT Contemporary Dance LINK Dance Festival, Utah

The Commitment to Pursue

April 22, 2018 by Rachel Hellwig

Rehearsal at Miami City Ballet. Photo by Daniel Azoulay.

The regular physical pain of a professional ballet dancer’s life can be overwhelming. Every dancer experiences a different pain level during their careers. At a young age, the dancer is taught how to overcome and tolerate these types of pain whether it is physical or mental.

With time and patience, the disciplines required to pursue this life become normality. Early on, while in ballet school, I learned that it was inevitable to work with a commitment level of an adult. We are forced to heighten our judgement to guide us through the challenges.

As I sit and think about how to write this article, I am struggling to put it in to words. First off, I must say how truly lucky I am to do what I love every single day. I am one of those people who jumps from bed ready to tackle another day of dance.  As I take you through a typical daily routine, I want you to keep this in mind.

Tolerance

As you can imagine, dancers typically have a high pain tolerance because of the demands put on their bodies. When I was first starting out as a professional ballet dancer ten years ago, my days began at 9:45 a.m. and finished after 6 p.m. Then when I joined my second company, the schedule changed to 10 a.m.– 5 p.m. with no lunch break.  Now, at Miami City Ballet, I attend class each morning beginning at 10 a.m. and finish rehearsals at 6:30 p.m. with an hour lunch break.

Experiencing scheduling at a variety of companies has taught me that there is always intention behind the day. Typically, a rehearsal day is a combination of multiple ballets over the course of seven hours in preparation for our performances. Throughout the season, depending on our performance schedule, the weeks shift from Monday through Friday to Tuesday through Saturday.  Our performance weeks leave us with just Mondays off.

I find the most difficult time during the year to be when we rehearse various genres of dance all at once. Although extremely rewarding, your body certainly feels the changes your muscles endure.

Working alone during downtime at Miami City Ballet

For example, shifting from a modern work where you might be in flat shoes rather than pointe shoes puts a different pressure on your quads and calves.  You may develop blisters on different parts of your feet where the skin has not callused over.

Typically, our modern works require a grounded intention and these requirements can make the day more challenging.  Each hour leading up to 6:30 p.m. may be scheduled for a different ballet. Preparing your body, the right point shoes, and making sure to review the choreography before presenting it to the room are all components of the day.  I find it helpful to plan out an hour at a time. This makes it easier to approach physically and mentally and eventually a dancer develops the habits in which are needed to tolerate this level of work.

Our season can include 10-15 works of which we learned the bulk of between the months of August and October.  During the month of January, we shifted from Nutcracker season into rehearsals to finalize the rest of our repertoire.  We recently performed our Jerome Robbins Centennial Celebration (Program Two) featuring five of his works. During this time, we rehearsed Tuesday through Friday, performed Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and rested on Monday.  During the week leading to our performances, the company rehearsed works from Program Three and Four while still keeping Program Two fresh. These works included choreography by George Balanchine, Alexei Ratmansky, Brian Brooks, and Jerome Robbins.  Once we approach the end of our season, we may begin work on our repertoire for the next season before April and May pass. When I explain what I do to people outside the ballet, they always wonder how I keep all the ballets I learn straight.  Honestly, it takes time to learn and absorb all the material.  I typically write down my material once I have learned it and then spend time on my own in the studio or at home to watch videos or review.  It is one thing to remember a work in the studio, but it is another to know it well enough to perform it on stage without the mirror.

Patience

“Patience” is probably the most important word in the world of dance to me—patience that is both physical and mental. The minute a dancer is unable to endure the wait without negativity is the minute all improvement ceases. Unfortunately, the life of a dancer is full of heartbreak and frustration. This is the part of the job that the audience does not witness.

People will ask me what I do during the day and sometimes I hesitate because it is so challenging for me to explain what goes on in a mind of a dancer during a 12-hour period.  There can be so many ups and downs and moments where you feel completely alone, but as a person living in this unbelievably rewarding and sometimes confusing career, ballet dancers are some of the strongest, toughest-skin human beings I know.

Mental Stability

It goes unnoticed because of our gracefulness and ability to maintain calmness, but the day can turn negative quickly.  After several years of practice and training, I have found ways to compartmentalize the positive and the negative aspects of the day.  For example, the casting board is a major component of a dancer’s day and overall season.  Learning to tame your emotions when you do or do not see your name on the cast list is vital to the focus of the day.  If you learn to understand the casting and not internalize it will help you move forward.  There is usually a reason for why or why not you have been cast in a specific role.  These moments can fuel motivation to make a change or improve.  Another aspect of the day that impacts a dancer is morning class.  Class is a time to work on yourself and find an overall balance for the day.  Most non-dancers do not realize that professionals attend ballet class every morning to warm their bodies up.  We face a lot of challenges in the first hour and a half of the day.  As my own critic, internal questions surface about overall appearance, placement, or why or why not I receive corrections during class.

There is tremendous pressure to reach the look you desire without psyching yourself out.  I have grown to understand myself and feel confidence in myself by reaching smaller goals that I set up.  This helps me continue on a steady path upwards rather than being beaten down or defeated.

The audience does not see that side of us, but a dancer goes through quite a wild mind ride when it comes to rehearsing and performing for nearly 40 weeks a year up to 40 hours a week.

Working on Juliet with Roger Van Fleteren (Alabama Ballet)

Developing this maturity starts through the structure of a typical ballet class which we take every day. Classes require the dancer to stand in formation and judge themselves. Critiquing your arm, head, and leg positions in class forces us to be our own teacher too.

Oftentimes, it can be extremely difficult to stare at yourself in the mirror.  I remember one year, which I will not discuss, where I went home and literally cried every night because I was not happy with how I looked or felt. Winning the competition with yourself can be the most difficult competition of all.

Consistent coaching and reviewing before approaching the stage is all worth it, but there needs to be a balance. Perfection does not exist and ballet is not simple. My ballet teacher of 21 years always says, “If ballet were easy everyone would do it.”

Samantha in George Balanchine’s Emeralds from
Jewels (October 2017) Photo by dancer.

Samantha Hope Galler. Photo by Daniel Azoulay.
Miami City Ballet’s Samantha Hope Galler

Contributor Samantha Hope Galler, a Bedford, Mass. native, spent 13 years training with The Ballet Academy, Inc., under the direction of Frances Kotelly in the Cecchetti Method. She performed six seasons with The Northeast Youth Ballet under the direction of Denise Cecere. She continued training, on scholarship, with Boston Ballet School and received the PAO Merit Trainee Scholarship. She received the NFAA Honorable Mention Award in Ballet. Galler spent summers training at Boston Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Boston Conservatory. She danced with Cincinnati Ballet in their 2008-2009 season under the direction of Victoria Morgan.

Samantha spent five seasons with Alabama Ballet under the direction of Tracey Alvey and Roger Van Fleteren. During her tenure there, she was promoted to principal dancer. She had the honor of performing some of her dream roles including Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, The Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, The Sylph and Effie in La Sylphide, Myrtha and Moyna in Giselle, Dryad Queen and Mercedes in Don Quixote, the Rancher’s Daughter in Agnes De Mille’s Rodeo. Her Balanchine roles included Dark Angel in Serenade; The Sugarplum Fairy, Arabian and Lead Marzipan in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™; and the principal roles in Allegro Brillante and Tarantella. She has also performed in Jiří Kylian’s Sechs Tanze, and Van Fleteren’s Shostakovich and Romancing Rachmaninov, both world premieres.

Samantha joined Miami City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2014. Since joining Miami City Ballet, Samantha has performed in various roles including as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and as the Harp Soloist in Balanchine’s Raymonda Variations.

Follow Samantha on her website and blog.

Filed Under: 4dancers, Career Tagged With: Life of a Professional Ballet Dancer, Miami City Ballet, Professional Life, Samantha Hope Galler

10 Questions with Eldon Johnson

April 17, 2018 by Rachel Hellwig

Eldon Johnson. Photo by Christopher Peddecord.

1. How did you first become involved in dance?

I first became involved with dance through the Polynesian side of my family. My mother was a hula dancer, along with her brothers and sisters growing up, and as they all began to have kids, they started the next generation of performers.

It was also part of our culture to pass on these traditional dances to your family. I did not start my formal dance training until I was basically 17. Hip hop was originally what I intended to train in, but after taking jazz, tap, and ballet, per the requirements of the studio I trained at, I fell in love with more classical forms of dance.

2. When/how did you realize you wanted to become a professional dancer?

I knew I wanted to be a professional dancer after seeing a Janet Jackson music video. “If” and “Together Again” were the ones that really sparked my interest to start taking dance classes. My goal was to be a backup dancer for her.

3. Was there ever a time when you thought of quitting dance or second-guessed your decision to pursue a professional career? If so, what helped you through that time?

Through my 20 year career, there have been many times where I questioned whether dance was a sustainable way to make a living. I never questioned whether dance was right for me, but I often question whether I am good enough for dance.

Dance has always been a way for me to express myself, my passion for movement, and my desire to inspire emotion in those who may be watching me dance.

Many times, still to this day, however, I wonder if I am enough. I question if what I have to offer, as a dancer, artist, and performer, is good enough, meaningful enough, thoughtful enough, or will be enough to please an audience. It is the bane of being a dancer, or artist for that matter.

Making a living through dance, that is fulfilling, and not just repetitious, will always elicit those questions as well.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: 10 Questions With..., 4dancers Tagged With: 10 questions with, contemporary dance, Contemporary Dance Choreography, Dance in Salt Lake City, Dance in Utah, Eldon Johnson, SALT Contemporary Dance

Interview: Bobbi Jo Hart, Director of “Rebels on Pointe”

December 16, 2017 by Rachel Hellwig

Director Bobbi Jo Hart. Image courtesy of Icarus Films

How/when did you first become acquainted with the work of the Trocks?

I first discovered the Trocks several years ago when they came to Montreal to perform at Place des Arts. I saw an ad in the newspaper and was immediately intrigued by the photo of these men in ballet drag.

I did a bit of online research and couldn’t believe that I’d never heard of the company, who have been touring the world since 1974!

Then I was even more surprised than no one had ever done a behind-the-scenes documentary about them.

This is your first documentary on a dance subject. How was making this film different (or not) from your past work?

This is indeed my first film in the dance world, and, in fact, my first film with male main characters as well!

This year is my 20th anniversary as a documentary filmmaker, so I have spent some time this year reflecting on my filmmaking choices…asking myself why I am drawn to certain people and environments to follow and film.

It is now clear to me that my passion is observational documentary filmmaking.

I love to immerse myself in worlds and with people that I am often unfamiliar with, to build deep trust so I can follow in an intimate way, and then find the common human threads that connect these unique individuals and realities to a wider audience.

I am also a big fan of the underdogs in life…and love stories of determination and resilience.

My university degree is International Relations, so I also realize that with each film I am looking to bridge bridges of understanding to ultimately celebrate our shared humanity.

So the Trocks appealed to me because it was a world I knew so little about, and I wanted to learn more…and subsequently share what I learned with the public.

I also love uncovering untold stories that I feel the public should know more about, and the Trocks is definitely an example of this.

Dancers (left to right) Robert Carter, Philip Martin-Nielson, Chase Johnsey, Laszlo Major and Chris Ouellette. Image courtesy of Icarus Films

Tell us a little about the documentary’s style/format and how it tells the story of the company…

I am a cinema verite, observational filmmaker. In other words, I like to let life happen and hopefully catch narrative lightning in a bottle, so to speak.

I also had a wonderful editor to work with — Catherine Legault — who was instrumental in helping me structure the film in the editing room. Catherine was a dancer herself in the past, which was very helpful, and her timing and flow really added so much to the film.

I knew I wanted to juxtapose the company’s fascinating history with life on the road today, including some personal stories of a few of the dancers.

I have gravitated, over the years, to filming a lot of footage by myself, without any crew.

Although this is exhausting at times, it does allow for a deeper intimacy with the characters, not to mention quick mobility to follow the natural movements of characters at a moment’s notice.

Of course this can result in some technical challenges that my post production team help me correct as best they can (ie: colour, sound, etc.), but it also offers audiences a connection to the characters that is on a much deeper human level.

How long did it take to create this documentary? Were there any particular challenges with featuring a dance company on camera? Did you have concerns about losing certain elements of live performance?

From the moment I first discovered the Trocks, it took about 4 years to create the final film.

Some of the biggest challenges were trying to literally stay out of the way of the dancers, be it in rehearsal or during a live performance. They are professionals through and through, as are their incredible, skeleton staff who are the wind beneath their wings. I often had two cameras at live performances. I would shoot by myself backstage and a second cameraperson would be set up on a tripod out in the auditorium to film the performance itself.

I admit that there were a few times when the Associate Director and Production Manager Isabelle Martinez had to literally grab me by the collar and yank me in another direction so I wouldn’t get run into by a dancer zooming off stage into the wings, or to prevent me from wandering out on stage accidentally because I was so enraptured by filming what was going on.

But I think, overall, things went very well filming with the Trocks, and I developed such a deep respect for how hard they work on a daily basis to be such incredible dancers.

Where can audiences find “Rebels on Pointe”?

Audiences can check on our film website at www.rebelsonpointe.com to find the latest screening information, and we also post updates on the film Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RebelsonPointe/

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: Bobbi Jo Hart, dance documentary, dance film, Dance Filmmaking, interview, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Rebels on Pointe, Trocks

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