Ballet – Page 14

Ballet Dancers: Special, But Expendable….

July 3, 2012 by Kimberly Peterson

by Kimberly Peterson

In the new series “Breaking Pointe”, a documentary style show highlighting the world of professional ballet inside Ballet West from the CW network, there are several brilliant things which happen here: 1) – a no holds barred look at life as a professional dancer, the ups and downs of this on their professional and personal lives, their own development as artists and people; 2) – it brings into sharp relief the nature of the competitive atmosphere of professional ballet and the ramifications of this atmosphere on the work ballet produces.

In the first episode, we are introduced to several of the dancers in differing points in their careers, who are getting ready for their annual contract renewals, or conversely, their pink slips. The Artistic Director, Adam Sklute, in speaking about how he must make difficult decisions for the good of the company, states: “The best recipe for creating a hardworking and well-functioning dancer and artist is if all the dancers know that they are special, but also that they are expendable.” This statement resonated with me and instinctually. I found myself bumping up against it as I watch these people struggle for an unattainable perfection, while knowing and accepting that they will never truly find it, never really have security or rest. There is only the constant pursuit of perfection.

While this may be the way in which ballet chooses to conduct itself, the manner in which they operate their business, I seriously doubt the efficacy of this kind of an environment not only on the people who work there, but also the work that is eventually produced. [Read more…]

One Dancer’s Journey: Performing Outside the US

June 28, 2012 by Ashley David

ToddFox_OksanaStorazuk_Giselle_SerbianNationalTheatreBallet — Todd Fox & Oksana Storazuk in Giselle (Serbian National Theatre Ballet)

It’s time for the next question in our series, “One Dancer’s Journey”. Todd Fox has danced all over the world, and here he shares some of his experiences (and photos) from his travels…

by Todd Fox

6. You have danced for companies all over the world. Can you talk a bit about what that is like?

Truly unbelievable! When I was a young professional dancer just starting out I never imagined performing with a ballet company outside of the USA, not because I didn’t want to, it just didn’t seem realistic. The Internet didn’t exist back then and things were much different in regards to communication and retrieving simple information like addresses and contact info on companies you wanted to audition for abroad. You couldn’t just do a search for the company and email your resume/images/video, if you wanted to seek employment with a ballet company abroad you had to either wait for that company to host an audition here in the states, or, personally know dancers in those foreign companies who could tell you when they were auditioning in their cities, where to send resume/CV info via regular post and then somehow communicate via regular telephone.

ToddFox_RomeoandJulietPromo_PerthScotland — Todd Fox, Romeo & Juliet Promo (Perth, Scotland)

That was just crazy complicated and back then my world was New York City, all I was ever concerned with when living in New York City was the perpetual task of finding a job, any job that would allow me to dance every day. Back then within my circle of friends and peers when you said you were going to dance abroad it generally meant crossing the Hudson River.

ToddFox_ Mercutio_Death_Manx Ballet_Isle OfMan_UK — Todd Fox, Mercutio (Manx Ballet, Isle of Man, UK)

Ironically, during the first half of my career I ended up doing quite a bit of international touring with the companies and productions I danced for, I loved every minute of it and developed a great passion for traveling abroad. I began paying much more attention to what performance opportunities were available overseas and jumped at the chance to do any of them, even if the monetary value of the contract was so low that I would only break even. Then in 2001, the ballet company I worked for at the time, Cleveland San Jose Ballet, went bankrupt during its 25th year anniversary and I once again found myself suddenly unemployed. Up to that point in my professional career (12 years) I had worked for a total of 5 different ballet companies here in the states which either declared bankruptcy, ceased operations and relocated, or gone through major financial hardship forcing dancers into immediate unemployment and I was just so sick of it all. I decided to continue dancing but no longer within the structure and confines of a “home” ballet company and have since focused much of my efforts on performing seasonally and as a guest artist with companies overseas.

It has been a dream come true to use dance as a way to fuel my travels around the world in seek of new and emerging creative influences. Since I made that decision in 2001 I have been privileged to perform with ballet companies in 8 different countries spanning 4 continents. Not all have been high profile red carpet events but for me each different performance experience represents an absolute miracle in my career. Working in these foreign countries allowed me the opportunity to study and compare first hand many different cultural and ideological approaches to dance. I learned so much from each experience and as a result my own knowledge and creative perspectives on dance have broadened in ways I never could have imagined.

ToddFox_AmyLawson_StudioRehearsal_Dublin Ireland — Todd Fox & Amy Lawson (Studio Rehearsal, Dublin, Ireland)

As amazing as these opportunities were, working thousands of miles away from home for extended periods of time as an independent dance artist presents unique challenges and it’s definitely not for everyone. Trust me when I say, there is a HUGE difference between touring and performing abroad with a company of dance artists you know and trying to integrate into a company of dance artists that you don’t know for just one season or a single production. There are cultural and artistic differences to take into consideration, language barriers, and workplace politics like power struggles, labor disputes, casting disputes, partners that are difficult to work with, or choreographers who may not like you just because of what country you come from. Granted, all this can be said of dancing for just about any ballet company on the planet but when you’re a foreigner overseas the difference is that you are not at home and at the end of the day when you go back to the hotel or whatever housing you are living out of a suitcase in you eventually start to crave “home”. For me it took about 7 years of performing and traveling abroad before I started spending more and more time at home and less time flying all over the world to perform. Everything runs its course and for the rest of my life I will always cherish the amazing opportunities and life altering artistic experiences I was exposed to while performing independently abroad.

[Read more…]

Music Notes: Opus 1

June 22, 2012 by 4dancers

by Allan Greene

The first thing is, something always has to be moved. The piano, the seat, where to put the tea to keep from knocking it over, do I need to see this teacher’s feet or can I rely on her cadence… A quick look around the studio to see if there are any interesting visitors, if any regulars are missing. Once I know who my audience is, I can think about how to break the aural dryness. Often the choice is like a steakhouse menu, steak or non-steak, or, in this case, Chopin or non-Chopin. This presupposes, of course, that the teacher doesn’t decide to lead off with foot warm-ups or something. I almost always react to avant-pliés non-Classically. If a teacher wants to start a class Pawn-to-Queen’s-Knight-4, I feel it’s my duty to let the students know they’re no longer in Kansas. But it’s just going to be pliés, and pliés music must be a satin blanket that can never crease. Can the students handle drama, or will it have to be Bel Canto? Let’s try drama. Can they handle humor, or surprise? If they’re disciplined enough, I can really have fun with them. Let’s save that for the second side, after I’ve relaxed them. Okay, it’ll be a Chopin nocturne, no, a Liszt Consolation, no the Goldberg Variations aria, no, we’re about to begin, CHOOSE! “Préparation…” Hands on keys, oh, I’m playing D-flat arpeggios, Opus 9 No.1, D-flat Consolation, Berceuse, need a melody: an E-flat! It’s a V9 chord in G-flat major, and yes! the Schubert G-flat Impromptu, and we’re off! Second side, can we integrate the Well-Tempered Clavier into this? It should work.

I can’t speak for any other dance accompanist, so don’t draw any conclusions. But the above is precisely the way I think from the moment I walk into the dance studio through to the end of the class. It’s a 90-minute interior monologue interrupted by commands to start and stop, repeat, change the tempo, change the music, play more, play less. I have to make the whole thing sound improvised, yet intentional. It’s my job to reinforce whatever the teacher is teaching that day, never step on his message. Ninety-nine percent of the time I don’t want to draw attention to myself, even if the effect I choose is a Lisztian ocean of sound. Sometimes my choice doesn’t come off, sometimes I switch in mid-combination, or even in mid-phrase. But almost always, the result, after ninety minutes, is an artistic workout, the satisfaction of structural completeness, and the heightened sensitivity that serves as the emotional foundation for dance artistry. Or so I like to think.

Consider this column as my préparation for my future commentary on the relationship between dance and music. Some of my pieces will unlock the magic of great ballet choreography, looking at the symbiosis between the steps and the music. (Shall we tackle Swan Lake?) Some will cover my experiences working with the famous and the not-so-famous. (Interested in what it was like working with Agnes de Mille after her stroke?) We will undoubtedly get into the gnarly but indispensable subject of synesthesia, the study of how some peoples’ brains vividly cross-process sensory information. (I have arrived at the conviction that the truly great artists were all wired this way to varying degrees.) We might mix in a music lesson here and there. (Ever wonder what the significance is of the difference between 4/4 and 2/4?)

I can’t wait to share with you a few of those thoughts that rattle around in my mind, like dancers awaiting the curtain’s opening, for that Pavlovian word, “And…”

BIO: Allan Greene has been a dancers’ musician for nearly forty years. He is a composer, pianist, teacher, conductor, music director, father to Oliver, 9, and Ravi, 6, and husband to Juliana Boehm. He has also been an architect, an editor, a writer and a boiler mechanic. He lives and works in New York City. His ballet class music can be found on www.BalletClassTunes.com.

Review: Treasures Of The Russian Ballet (DVD)

June 18, 2012 by 4dancers

by Catherine L. Tully

If you love the Russians in ballet, this is something to see.

I was thrilled to have the chance to review Treasures of the Russian Ballet, which features Bolshoi and Kirov performances from the 50’s and 60’s. The complete works are not here, but some unbelievable pieces have been saved for us to see all these years later…

The ballets include: The Stone Flower, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Giselle, Gayaneh and Don Quixote–but that’s not all. You’ll get to experience ballerinas such as Galina Ulanova and Maya Plisetskaya on “film” and see why they commanded attention back then–and why they are known to this day.

I was fascinated to watch the choreography–it was so different. It seems like watching older choreography almost has the same appeal as seeing brand new movement–it has been so long since these patterns have been used that it is fresh and exciting. And of course, the emotion exhibited by these dancers is legendary.

The DVD runs 81.58 minutes and I enjoyed every single moment of it. A great piece to add to your library of dance videos.

Here’s a sample for you:

Book Review: Breaking Pointe By Miriam Wenger-Landis

June 8, 2012 by 4dancers

by Emily Kate Long

Miriam Wenger-Landis’s latest novel Breaking Pointe is the companion to her first, Girl In Motion. The protagonist is Anna Linado, now fresh out of the School of Ballet New York and entering her first season as an Apprentice with Los Angeles Ballet Theatre. Breaking Pointe takes us through four seasons of Anna’s career with LABT. From her embarrassment at her mother’s effusiveness over Anna’s new job, to her first-day find of an old diary in her theater case, to her debut in solo after solo, to her disappointing and confusing fall from favor with the artistic staff, Anna’s narration reveals she’s wise beyond her eighteen years. She is optimistically curious about the “real” dance world and its inhabitants, and observant—but forgiving—of the shortcomings she finds there.

Slowly we see Anna’s optimism change to denial and disbelief. How can the things she reads in the diary possibly be true? How can dancers become so jaded and cynical? Injuries, lost roles, sexual harassment, company politics, guilt over the need to prioritize other areas of life, and workplace role ambiguity all take their toll on members of Los Angeles Ballet Theatre. Will the same things happen to Anna?

I loved the way Wenger-Landis uses the voice of Karina, the diary’s author, to serve as a series of interviews with the dancers and staff of LABT. For Anna, the entries provide insight into her colleagues’ sometimes mystifying behavior. They also ring true for the reader as an airing of dancers’ grievances in general. I know many dancers who have been in at least one of these characters’ fictional shoes.

Many of Anna’s career challenges initially stem from her relationship with Ethan, an older, worldlier, boy-next-door type. He is an utter outsider to the dance world, and Anna decides to take the risk of inviting him into her ballet bubble. Though she comes close to questioning her decision to let him in several times throughout the story, Ethan is Anna’s rock. Ultimately, he’s the best thing that could have happened to her, and she knows it.

Spoiler alert: in Breaking Pointe, as in many a ballet fairy-tale, love triumphs over evil, but this happy ever after is the real kind you have to work hard at. The conclusion of this novel brings to light a sad but important question for dancers: how many of us actually have the healthy relationship we want with dance? How good are we at picking up on cues in our own experiences to help us make that assessment? If anything, Breaking Pointe is a lesson in the importance of self-knowledge. I recommend it in earnest.

Purchase Breaking Pointe here

BIO: Contributor Emily Kate Long began her dance education in South Bend, Indiana, with Kimmary Williams and Jacob Rice and graduated in 2007 from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s Schenley Program. Ms Long attended Milwaukee Ballet School’s Summer Intensive on scholarship before being invited to join Milwaukee Ballet II in 2007. She also has spent summers studying at Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive, Miami City Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, and Ballet Chicago.

Ms Long has been a member of Ballet Quad Cities since 2009. She has danced featured roles in Deanna Carter’s Ash to Glass and Dracula, participated in the company’s 2010 tour to New York City, and most recently performed the title role in Courtney Lyon’s Cinderella and the role of Clara in The Nutcracker. Prior to joining Ballet Quad Cities Ms Long performed with Milwaukee Ballet and MBII in Michael Pink’s The Nutcracker and Candide Overture, Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadére, Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Bournonville’s Flower Festival in Genzano and Napoli, and original contemporary and neoclassical works by Tom Teague, Denis Malinkine, Rolando Yanes, and Petr Zaharadnicek.

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