susan jaffe

So, You Want To Teach Dance? The ABC’s Of Getting Hired

June 26, 2013 by 4dancers

by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

I have just been reviewing my latest masterpiece. It’s not what you think. It’s the schedule for my dance studio’s upcoming summer intensive. The process of completing this seemingly never-ending logistical nightmare is akin to choreographing a do-se-do of guest instructors, permanent staff and three student levels. Just one other job is harder–finding the right teachers to fill the slots.

The criteria of hiring guests and regular staff are very different from each other. For the prominent roster of guests, I am mostly interested in what they have to offer our students for the relatively limited amount of time (anywhere from 2-6 days) that they are with us. The students and I are so fortunate to have a solid core of exceptional guest teachers year after year. This summer, ballet legends Susan Jaffe, Cynthia Gregory, and Kyra Nichols, and former principal and current Pennsylvania Ballet Artistic Director, Roy Kaiser will share priceless wisdom with us as they have done for several years.

But hiring teachers who will teach for multiple weeks or multiple years takes more time to get right. I am lucky that my proximity to Manhattan makes finding a plethora of former professional dancers relatively easy. However, finding someone with important characteristics of a great teacher can be much more difficult. These are the ABC’s that I look for when auditioning a permanent dance instructor: [Read more…]

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Holiday Ballet Besides The Nutcracker

September 14, 2012 by 4dancers

by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

A few days ago, I asked my students at the first ballet class ever held at The College of New Jersey if any of them had ever seen a ballet before. A few of the females raised their hands. “Which one?” I asked. Three of them said almost in unison, “The Nutcracker.” Then one rolled her eyes and added, “of course.”

I had expected that answer. What other performing arts field has a website devoted entirely to one theatrical story such as the one titled, “Nutcracker Ballet”? The site’s 2011 listing for New Jersey shows at least forty-two productions of Nutcracker. And that doesn’t include productions in the Philadelphia area or in New York City, which are close enough for us Jersyians to easily attend.

The start of the Nut season (as it’s affectionately or not so affectionately called by the dancers who must perform it morning, noon, and night for days on end) is officially upon us. My inbox is filled with “Get Your Nutcracker Seats Now!” pleas, audition announcements, and unsolicited queries from unemployed professional ballet dancers looking to perform in a Nutcracker.

The deluge prompts me to ask a question. With American ballet company directors and boards lamenting the low status of ballet in the minds of the general public, I wonder what would happen if our ballet companies offered more options during the holiday season—the one time of year when both balletomanes and new patrons spend money to see shows. How on earth did we get ourselves trapped in a can of Nuts?

Nutcracker was first performed in Russia in 1892. Based on E. T. A. Hoffmann’s, The Nutcracker and The Mouse King, its premier was not a success. But by the second half of the twentieth century, The Nutcracker had spread from two successful American productions: Willam Christensen’s 1944 production for San Francisco Ballet and George Balanchine’s for New York City Ballet in 1954. Considered the bread and butter of nearly every ballet company, Clara’s journey to the Land of the Sweets brings in the funds to keep ballet companies and their more obscure offerings afloat.

But like real bread and butter, the ballet—of which there are hundreds of versions— is easy to digest but usually offers little substance. Indeed, most audience members leave a Nut performance satiated with enough sugary dancing to last a whole year before needing to see another ballet performance, which is usually The Nutcracker again.

Yet, there have been some interesting versions of late, which may entice their viewers to return to the theater for more ballet sooner rather than later. Septime Weber’s version for The Washington Ballet casts George Washington as the Nutcracker. Those lucky enough to have made it through snow storms to the Brooklyn Academy of Music may have seen Alexei Ratmansky’s magical version for American Ballet Theatre or Mark Morris’ telling of a different part of the original story, The Hard Nut:

[Read more…]

Bal-loopers: When Ballet Dancers Fall From Grace

May 10, 2012 by 4dancers

by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

Risa Floor — Lee Bell, Paolo Porcino, and Risa Kaplowitz from 2002 Easy Lessons, Choreography by Stuart Sebastion, Dayton Ballet, 1987

Last month, I attended a week-long training session for the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum in Orlando. The sessions are akin to being in a ballet nunnery, with attendees concentrating hard on learning, thinking about, and discussing the logical progression of technique. So when, on the last day, our instructor, Raymond Lukens, Director of the NTC, went off on a tangent about ballet bloopers, or what I like to call “bal-loopers”, we were ripe for hilarity.

In an instant, we transformed from nail biting, head-scratching teachers-turned-students into guffawing former professionals who had each survived a major on-stage mishap or two. One woman recounted her awful experience of having her skirt fall off mid-performance. Another in the class—a former male principal with a thick French accent—told us about a time when a faulty lift left him holding his female partner between his legs “like a piece of dental floss”. We were rolling.

Ballet is perfect; dancers are not. And thank goodness! A blunder now and then is just enough to remind the audience that what looks easy is actually brutally difficult, and it reminds us that we are not the gods and goddesses we sometimes think we are.

My most embarrassing stage moment came unexpectedly during a performance in Japan. I became disoriented onstage after a lift, and I continued the pas de deux facing the backdrop instead of the audience. It felt like an hour passed before I figured out where I was. My partner laughing at me didn’t help, and the fact that that the Prince of Japan was in the audience made it all the more humiliating.

But my encounter with a backdrop was nothing compared to what I saw a dancer from a major company do. During a guest performance for a ballet competition of which he was a former winner, he did a circle of gorgeous split leaps directly into the scrim. The impact sent him flying backwards. Ever the warrior, he went on to do a final double tour en’lair to his knee and toppled. No doubt, a performance he’ll never forget.

Thanks to youtube, bloopers like the above are no longer left to memory alone. Hundreds if not thousands of people can view what’s embarrassing to the fallen. A student has graciously allowed me to show this clip, which occurred during a performance of The Nutcracker, which Susan Jaffe choreographed for DanceVision, a company she and I founded and of which I am Artistic Director. The repeats in slow motion—courtesy of videographer Jamie Watson—could be overkill, but oh my, they are funny. Thankfully, the dancer survived to tell the tale, and now when she sees it, she laughs almost as hard as the rest of us.

I googled “Ballet Bloopers” (only for this post, I swear), and I found the mother load of unnamed dancers of yore having, shall we say, less than stellar moments. The clips that are most endearing (aka funny) are the ones in which the victim attempts a very noble cover up.

But not everyone tries to pretend a fall didn’t happen. Ever the noble himself, Edward Villela chose to bow after a crash to the tush. According to my friend Anne Levin, who was the dance critic for Trenton Times, the former New York City Ballet principal and Miami City Ballet Artistic Director, got up from his fall, bowed to the audience, and took his place upstage to start again.

While surprising bloopers can be funny, so can those that are planned. Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the company of men that parodies classical ballet while dressed as females, makes audiences laugh at prat falls and the like. Here, in a snip from Swan Lake, one can see every corps member’s worst nightmare come true. (As an aside, the bowman is Serge Manolo Molina, who teaches at my studio.)

On a more serious note, in the vast majority of cases, a slippery Marley, the vinyl floor covering that every ballet studio and company uses, is the culprit of bal-loopers. At Youth America Grand Prix gala a few years ago, nearly every ballet dancer, some of who are major stars, took a spill or two on the ice-like floor. This weekend I witnessed similar problems with performances of my ballet, The Secret Garden. After watching one of my company members take a nasty fall during dress rehearsal, I’m convinced that, as wonderful as Marley is for dancers, there has to be something better for ballet.

Have a favorite bal-looper of your own? Share the fun!

Have an idea for a better floor? Please make it!

Risa Gary Kaplowitz

Contributor Risa Gary Kaplowitz is a former principal dancer with Dayton Ballet and member of Houston Ballet and Manhattan Ballet. She has also performed with Pennsylvania Ballet and Metropolitan Opera Ballet and as a guest artist with many companies nationwide.

She was originally trained at Maryland Youth Ballet by Tensia Fonseca, Roy Gean, and Michelle Lees. She spent summers as a teen studying on scholarship at American Ballet Theater, Joffrey Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Houston Ballet. As a professional, her most influential teachers were Maggie Black, Marjorie Mussman, Stuart Sebastian, Lupe Serrano, Benjamin Harkarvy, and Ben Stevenson. She has performed the repertoire of many choreographers including Fredrick Ashton, George Balanchine, Ben Stevenson, Stuart Sebastian, Dermot Burke, Billy Wilson, and Marjorie Mussman.

After spending ten years in a successful business career while building a family, Risa returned to the dance world and founded Princeton Dance and Theater Studio (www.princetondance.com) and DanceVision, Inc. (www.dancevisionnj.org) with Susan Jaffe, former ABT principal ballerina. Risa is now PDT’s Director, and the Artistic Director of DanceVision Inc. Risa also founded D.A.N.C.E. (Dance As a Necessary Component of Education), an outreach program that brings dance to New Jersey schools.

Risa has choreographed more than twenty pieces, and her original full-length ballets, The Secret Garden and The Snow Queen, premiered with DanceVision Performance Company in 2008 and 2011, respectively. Additionally, she has choreographed for several New Jersey Symphony Orchestra family and school outreach concerts.

Risa is an ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 5. She has lectured the ABT/NYU Master candidates on starting a dance studio. She is most grateful for her teachers who gave and (in the case of ABT Curriculum) give her the exceptional tools necessary to have had a performance career and the opportunity to train others in authentically. She also feels fortunate to have had the opportunity to dance with and learn from many exceptional dancers.

When Ballet Stars Align

April 11, 2012 by Risa Kaplowitz

Today I’d like to introduce our newest contributor–Risa Gary Kaplowitz. She’ll be doing a monthly column for 4dancers, and today we begin with a bit of her “back story” so you can get to know her a bit…

by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

It’s a wonderful thing to realize how lucky you are. I don’t mean the gratuitous “grateful” we all read on Facebook posts when a “friend” gloats about one thing or another and then says, “So blessed!” Nope. I mean how great it feels to acknowledge the really big decision or moment of good fortune without which your life would be completely different.

I had such a realization a few months ago when I attended the 90^th birthday celebration for Tensia Fonseca, Artistic Director of Maryland Youth Ballet. It was she who started the now nationally recognized school and youth company almost 50 years ago in the barre-lined basement of her cozy suburban home.

I came to what at that time was called, Maryland School of the Ballet when I was three years old. My mom had taken me to my first ballet class at the local recreation center where Mrs. Fonseca’s business partner at the time, Roy Gean, was teaching pre-ballet. After class, he told my mom that I showed promise and asked if she would bring me to their newly built one room studio on St. Elmo Ave. in Bethesda.

The rest of my life can be traced back to the moment my mom said, “Yes.” [Read more…]

5 Questions With…Susan Jaffe

August 26, 2010 by 4dancers

In Part II of our series, we are following up on the interview with Risa Kaplowitz and talking today with Susan Jaffe, who was recently named Ballet Mistress for American Ballet Theatre…

I also have to point out this wonderful interview Susan did with Charlie Rose in 2002. Don’t miss it.

1. What is your teaching philosophy and who has it been influenced by?

This is a question one can write entire book on, but below is snap shot of my philosophy. Also, I have had many great teachers in my life including books, artists from other professions, and life’s circumstances (good and bad), but here is a list of people from my professional ballet life that have mostly influenced my teaching: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Irina Kolpakova, Elena Tchernichova, Christina Bernal, Nancy Bielski and Julio Horvath-who created Gyrotonics.

Princeton Dance & Theater Studio — Susan Jaffe

I am very much focused, when teaching a ballet class, on correct placement, correct use of turn out, breadth, coordination of the arms and head and legs, using the oppositional forces within a step, i.e. every force has an equal and opposite force going in the opposite direction within the body. For example, to releve´ the dancer must push down into the floor through the legs to rise up to pointe. Secondly, it is important that the dancer takes all of these skills and transforms them into a movement quality with the understanding of the use of dynamic, musicality, amplitude, and of course, the heart, which is the source that allows a dancer freedom and genuine expression.

At the beginning a dancer needs to understand how to stand up correctly. This includes not only the proper placement of the torso, arms, feet, head and legs, the correct use of turn out, and the correct coordination, but also where to direct ones energy and focus while executing a step. This is a very sophisticated understanding of the body and requires much will and focus to acquire. Then as the dancer progresses, those same ideas apply when s/he is moving through space, which requires added strength, skill and application of those same principals.

I try to teach all of this within the appropriate stages and levels of maturity of a young dancer’s training. Each level can be taken to higher levels of understanding and sophistication that equals their abilities. I also try to be as honest, but as positive and reassuring as I can. It is important for a dancer to know what they need to work on, but it is equally important how a dancer approaches their work and how they feel about themselves while they work. If they are implementing their corrections with the joy and curiosity of learning, then they will improve much faster than if they go into habits of self-flagellation. My quest is to empower the dancer with their-own confidence, curiosity, self- exploration and passion to learn and improve.

2. What is your best advice for a dancer who wants to become a professional?

To become educated about your art whether it is in or out of class. It is important to know dance history, see the greats (past and present) in the profession in videos or movies, go to museums, listen to great music, and read literature. It is also important to get to know yourself on a deep level and understand what is beautiful and horrible about humanity. Never stop trying to learn as much as you can about you, and it. Then you will have the possibility to become a professional that can transform pure movement into genuine inspiration. You should not aim to be a technical machine; a true dancer is guided by their heart and soul to speak a language that is deep, informed, and inspired. That is where the real art of ballet lies. Aim for that.

Susan Jaffe rehearsing "Lilac Garden", Photo: Paul B. Goode

3. How has your dance career informed and impacted your teaching?

Everything that I have done in my life has impacted my teaching. It takes many, many years to understand this art form and what makes it come alive. But, while I was dancing I reinvented my approach to technique several times throughout my career. That has informed me a great deal about how long it takes to change a habit or to implement a new idea. It takes tremendous patience and perseverance and I am able to support a dancer through a change because I lived it myself.

4. What was it like to leave the stage and start teaching in the classroom?

When I left the stage, I was ready to go, so teaching was a nice way to give back to the art form that I have loved all my life. That is the way dance continues on, and it seemed like the most natural thing to do for me.

5. What will you miss about teaching at Princeton Dance & Theater Studio and what are you looking forward to in your new role as ballet mistress at ABT?

The thing I will miss most from my school is my students and the lovely families that came together as a result of opening the school.

What I am looking forward to in working at ABT is being able to share what I have learned on a more sophisticated level (now we are getting into roles and dramaturgy. Yeah!) to the dancers that are going out there and performing those roles. I already started working with them last spring and it has been a real joy. I look forward to more of it.

BIO: Declared by the New York Times as “America’s Quintessential American Ballerina” Susan Jaffe danced as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre for 20 years. Prominent in the international dance scene as well, her European engagements included performances with The Royal Ballet, The Kirov Ballet, The Stuttgart Ballet, The Munich State Opera Ballet, La Scala Ballet in Milan, The Vienna State Opera Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet, and The English National Ballet.

Ms. Jaffe’s versatility as a dancer allowed her to tackle a large range of choreographic works. This not only included her acclaimed interpretations of the classics like Swan Lake but also the dramatic works of John Cranko, Anthony Tudor, Agnes DeMille and Kenneth MacMillian. She also worked with and danced the works of many prominent choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, Twyla Tharp, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Lar Lubovitch, Nacho Duato and Roland, Petit, David Parsons, Mark Morris, Merce Cunningham, Ronald Hynd, Frederick Ashton, Ulysses Dove and Lynn Taylor Corbett.

In 2003, one year after her retirement from the stage, Ms. Jaffe co-founded the Princeton Dance & Theatre Studio in Princeton, New Jersey where she enjoys passing on the wealth of her knowledge to her dance students. Along with teaching for American Ballet Theatre and giving corporate lectures for Duke Corporate Education, Ms. Jaffe has expanded into choreography. Her choreographic achievements to date include “The Nutcracker” “Pop Sonata” “Velez Pas de Deux” “Sleeping Beauty Act lll” “Raymonda Divertessments” “Novem Pas de Deux” “Ballet Studies”, “Tarantella”, “Royenne”, “UnCaged” and the “Cancan.” She also wrote a children’s book, “Becoming a Ballerina” for children ages 7-13.

Ms. Jaffe has recently been named Ballet Mistress at American Ballet Theatre; a position she will fulfill in October of 2010.

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