As a preface to the next “Choreographer Series” video featuring finalist Loni Landon, we asked company dancer James Fuller to discuss Loni’s two-week residency.
Loni Landon started her choreographic residency at Ballet Austin by asking me and the other dancers in her piece to close our eyes and explore our feet. I turned my feet out and in, rolled my weight onto my heels and then onto to the tops of my arches and crossed my feet so far that I could barely move. In ballet class, all of these positions would have been horribly wrong, but Loni wanted us to find ways of moving that would normally feel awkward or ugly. She explained that movements that feel awkward and ugly can be fresh, interesting and beautiful in ways that traditional steps can’t.
We started to work with each other, first in pairs and then as a group. One of us would call out a command like “freeze”, “collapse” or “rescue”, and the other dancers would respond. We soon discovered that much of Loni’s choreography was like these commands: very specific but also open to many interpretations.
The last exercise Loni gave was to perform a short solo about ourselves. She encouraged us to both speak and dance. Everyone was nervous, but the results were magical. We danced and talked about our childhoods, our years of training, our relationships and our quirks. Loni gave us this assignment because she wanted to get to know us. She wanted our personalities to be part of her piece.
For the next few days, we learned phrases and created short group dances. I found this part of the process difficult both because of the volume of material and because Loni’s approach to movement is very different from what I’m used to at Ballet Austin. Loni approaches movement holistically, and wanted us to grasp her material’s shape, dynamic and intent all at once. At Ballet Austin, we usually approach movement more analytically. We break down the mechanics of each step, figure out when each step happens, and after all that work is done, we think about intent.
Fortunately, as the piece gradually came together, I started to feel more comfortable in Loni’s movement. The piece is dark and smooth, but I can still see glimpses of our jagged improvisations and cheerful solos. At the end of her residency, it was fascinating to see two weeks of hard work woven into a piece.
New American Talent/Dance premieres Feb 17-19. Tickets and more info here.
With New American Talent/Dance less than a month away, our dancers are in full rehearsal mode. We asked Company Dancer Beth Terwilleger about the growth she experienced as an artist while working with finalist, Gregory Dolbashian.
A dance career is often too short. Therefore, the work that goes into it must be intense and full of passion in order to squeeze as much out of it as possible. Any chance to work with a new choreographer is a great opportunity. I feel lucky to dance for Ballet Austin – with an Artistic Director that challenges his dancers to grow with his work, but that also brings in artists to add to the richness of the dancers’ development and repertoire.
I feel very lucky to be a part of New American Talent/Dance 2012and constantly seek to embrace the opportunity therein. Each choreographer I have worked with in this competition speaks a different dance language. Some languages are easier to learn than others – some languages I already know. Either way, there is always great opportunity for growth.
For New American Talent/Dance 2012, I was chosen by Greg Dolbashian to dance in his piece. The experience of working with Greg has been truly unique to my dance career. Growing up in a classical dance training environment, never did I imagine exploring the movement possibilities of improvisational work. Greg’s piece is heavily inspired by his own choreographic voice and movement style. Greg’s language is unique and inspiring, but also exceptionally challenging. Speaking his dance language was no easy task. Watching him move and understanding his emotional and artistic perspectives allowed me to fearlessly dive into rehearsals. While I feel that I have a lot of work to do before I could even scrape the surface of what he is trying to pull from me as an artist, I know I’ve already grown from the experience.
New American Talent/Dance opens Feb 17. Get tickets today!
Completing our walk down memory lane, here’s a rundown on what our talented finalists from the 2008 and 2010 NAT/D competitions have been up to recently:
2008:
Viktor Kabaniaev, Resident Choreographer & Apprentice Program Director of Diablo Ballet in Walnut Creek, California
Finalist in Ballet Austin’s NAT/D 2008, received top Jurors’ Award and one Audience Award for Weather
Choreographed the original work Difference of Perceptions for Diablo Ballet in 2008
Choreographed The Crucible’s 10th Anniversary Fire Ballet Dracul: Prince of Fire in 2009 in Oakland, California. Known for one-of-a-kind industrial arts education programs, The Crucible is also highly regarded for its innovative performances
Returned to Ballet Austin in 2009 to choreograph the original work Phrases for Ballet Austin II
Choreographed the original work Almost a Story Ballet for Sacramento Ballet in 2010
Choreographed the original work Series of Unrelated Events for the New Choreographers Initiative in 2010 in Irvine, California. The piece was later re-staged twice (once for the Sacramento Ballet and once with Orange County Ballet Theater).
Amy Seiwert, Artistic Director of Im’ij‐re and Choreographer‐in‐Residence for the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco, California
Finalist in Ballet Austin’s NAT/D 2008, received 2nd place Jurors’ Award for The Danger of Speaking
Named Choreographer‐in‐Residence for the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco in 2008
The nationally-acclaimed New American Talent/Dance is in a class of its own when it comes to fostering talent in the field. See what our talented and established finalists from 2006 have achieved in the years following the competition:
Finalist in Ballet Austin’s NAT/D 2006 – received Audience Choice Award for Stepping Ground for all four performances
Created Printemps Perdu in 2007 for Ballet Austin II
New work created for Boston Conservatory, which was founded in 1867 and is now home to more than 200 productions a year by students, faculty and guest artists
Awarded the 2008 Princess Grace Fellowship – a prestigious, grant-based award dedicated to identifying and assisting emerging talent in theater, dance, and film – to create Mendelssohn ViolinConcerto in 2009 for Ballet Austin II
Awarded 2009 Princess Grace Fellowship Special Project Award to create the original work, Quiet Imprint, in 2010 on Ballet Austin II
Finalist in Ballet Austin’s NAT/D 2006 – received the top Jurors’ Award for Majestic Days and Fervent Nights
Commissioned to choreograph the original work Pain Inside of Confidence in 2006 for Ballet Austin II
Joined Ballet Austin as an Artist in Residence from 2006/07 and 2007/08
Choreographed the original work Out of Many…One/The Monologue Project for Ballet Austin II
Choreographed the original work Minute Monologues in 2008 for Ballet Austin II
Sonya Delwaide, Head of Dance Department – Mills College in Oakland, California
Finalist in Ballet Austin’s NAT/D 2006 ‐ choreographed Savoir Vivre on Ballet Austin
In Oakland, California in 2009, Delwaide restaged Terre Brune for AXIS Dance Company, which featured only 4 dancers with the goal to “convey a sense of community and to still be able to bring it to a level of intimacy”
World premiere of Je Me Souviens for ODC/Dance, founded in 1971, in San Francisco, California in 2010
Check back over the next week for more exciting details on the other esteemed finalists from 2008 and 2010.For tickets and more information on NAT/D 2012, click here.
Between rehearsals, I met up with Company Dancer Orlando Canova to talk about his dance bag. The first thing he tells me? He doesn’t really have one. See below for details:
When Orlando asked me if we could do a “What’s In Your Locker?” post instead, I was skeptical. Little did I know that his lack of dance bag actually meant a super organized locker. Orlando’s locker functions almost like a small apartment. He’s got a wardrobe full of clothes (which he re-stocks every Monday) and personal effects like birthday cards and gag gifts from friends. He has even decorated the outside with magnets – much like a fridge. He “lives” in locker #21, right between friends and fellow company members Paul Michael Bloodgood and Ed Carr. Below is a basic rundown of his essentials:
Warm-up Boots: Much like Orlando, these bright red boots are often the center of attention when he wears them around the halls of Ballet Austin. He used to wear them during morning class, but his teachers weren’t able to see his feet.
Body Support and Stretching: Orlando keeps several types of support braces in his locker to help his body through the smaller injuries dancers frequently experience. His collection includes back, ankle, and foot arch braces, as well as knee pads and wrist warmers. Like many other dancers, he also carries a medium ball and theraband to help rub and stretch out any soreness.
New Shoes: Female dancers aren’t the only ones with custom dance shoes. Like the female dancers, however, Orlando always keeps a pair of new shoes in his locker so they’re ready just in case. As for leather vs. canvas? “I wear leather shoes every day for class and rehearsal… I keep the canvas ones almost completely for performances.”
Garter Belt: Orlando tells me that one of the great things about the locker is getting to keep sentimental items nearby. In addition to birthday cards and a walker (he recently turned 30), one thing of note is Company member Ashley Lynn Gilfix‘s garter belt from her wedding. “I caught it at her wedding a few years ago, and then I just never took it out of my locker!”
Clothes, clothes, clothes: One of the greatest things about Orlando’s locker is how organized it is – see the extra photos below for proof. Sorted by clothing type (dance belts, tank tops, t-shirts, shorts, unitards and THEN tights, to be exact), Orlando’s preferred brand for dancewear is Yumiko - he has over 25 pieces. His favorite unitard, while not Yumiko, is the green one in the photo. A gift from a company member at Joffrey, he calls it the ‘franken-unitard’: The zipper has been fixed multiple times, patches have been sewn and even the crotch fabric has been completely replaced.
Fans: From Spain, the two fans Orlando keeps in his locker were a gift from a friend. “A friend went to Spain and I asked her to bring me back a bunch of fans… I gave a few of them as gifts to my performance partners during Don Quixote.” As I mentioned above, Orlando uses canvas shoes during performances and as you can see in the photo they are all different colors. Since Orlando’s shoes don’t wear out as fast as, say, the Snow Queen’s pointe shoes, he keeps them post-performances.
Our next production in the 2011/12 Season is New American Talent/Dance, a choreography competition. To kick things off, we asked Artistic Director Stephen Mills to reflect on the importance of new work.
The ballet Swan Lake was considered a failure when it premiered at the end of the 19th century; Tchaikovsky’s music was admired, but the choreography was dismissed. Only in its second life, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov did this beloved dance become legend. In thinking about art today, we have to remember that even the most revered work was once new, suspicious and often, harshly criticized. Balanchine’s great neo-classic work Serenade was derided at its premiere, yet seventy years later the dance endures as the choreographer’s signature work. An idea of great beauty in thought and design often has to wait patiently while mere humans intellectually catch up. Cubism, expressionism and neo-classicism were all experiments which had, at least in the beginning, the potential to fail.
Dance, music, art, literature and technology must continue to progress and refresh. To me, New American Talent/Dance is essential in creating a platform for dance makers. By definition it is a forum for new movement technologies and ideas. The project allows artists the space, time and financial resources to investigate new ways of tackling complex questions and issues through physical metaphor; the body becomes the teacher. And while NAT/D is a competition, I believe success should be measured through the artist’s ability to share ideas and their willingness to engage in this uncertain process called creation.
This is the second part of our Pointe Shoe Q&A series featuring questions from our Academy students. Read below for Company Dancer Chelsea Renner’s pro-tips on pain relief and more.
Q: Can you reduce the amount of foot blemishes? A: Yes and no. It really depends on the dancer’s feet. You can tape certain toes to avoid getting blisters, but in some places you will definitely want to develop callouses. Some dancers do have normal looking feet but they’re not the majority… It’s just one of those things that comes with dancing en pointe.
Q: How can you make your shoes quieter? A: To make your pointe shoes quieter, you can take them outside and bang the bottom edge on the concrete, or you can also try hitting it with a hammer to soften it.
Q: What type of toe pads hurt the least and which brands do you recommend? A: I would recommend ouch pouch pro pads. They are less bulky than regular ouch pouches because instead of the gel in the bottom, they’ve used just a thin layer of material.
Q: Do I have to wear toe pads? A: Toe pads aren’t required and, actually, the less you have in your shoes the better. Using the tips of socks or paper towels are good padding, as well as the ouch pouch pro pads.
Q: If you get injured while on pointe how long do you have to wait to go back on? A: It all depends on what the injury is, but please make sure to take guidance from and be checked out by a medical professional and your teacher.
Q: What’s the difference between spring pointe and rolling pointe? A: Spring pointe is more of a small hop to get onto pointe, where rolling pointe is done by rolling through your demi pointe into full en pointe.
Q: Do your feet not hurt as much as you go on? A: If you are wearing your pointe shoes on a regular basis, you will get more use to them. Anytime you take more than 2 or 3 weeks off, however, they will be a little more painful when you start wearing them again.
Q: Are pointe shoes hard to pointe in? A: Yes, they are definitely harder to point your toes in than flat shoes simply because there is more material you have to bend and manipulate with your feet.
Unanswered questions? Let us know in the comments.
Ballet Austin Academy students are preparing to go on pointe this winter. On hand to answer their questions are company dancers Jaime Lynn Witts and Chelsea Renner.
Q: How do you use Super Glue to make pointe shoes last longer? A: If trying to make your pointe shoes last longer, glue the inside of the box and a little up the vamp before ever wearing them. This will help to seal the shoe from sweat, which breaks down the glue.
Q: How long does it take you to break in your pointe shoes? A: This is completely dependent upon how a dancer uses shoes. If the shoes are for class and rehearsal, the process is easy. For performance pairs, the process is a little different. I avoid gluing them so they will be nice and quiet onstage. I wear them for part of class, and then take them off and let them dry out. Later, I’ll try a few steps in them to make sure they feel good, and set them aside to be worn onstage. The process takes me anywhere from 20 minutes to a couple hours.
Q: What is the hardest thing to get used to when you first get pointe shoes? A: It’s hard to pick just one thing so here are a few:the hardness of the shoes, the wobbly feeling when standing flat, the tight fit, the rubbing on your toes and bearing weight on your toes. The good thing is that the longer you’re on pointe, the more you get used to everything.
Q: How do you know when to get new pointe shoes? A: You’ll know! Beginners will probably outgrow their shoes before they get too soft or too “dead” to wear, but once you start dancing on pointe a lot of things can happen: After a long rehearsal in a hot studio, it may feel like your shoes just melt and then they are too soft to support you any longer. If you are working on something that’s mostly on one leg, that shoe might die and then you need a new pair. Occasionally, you’ll get a shoe that feels weird; collapses in the big toe, feels round in the box, etc.
Q: How do you wash your pointe shoes if the water deforms them? A: You should NEVER wash your pointe shoes!!!!
Q: Can you wear your shoes at home? A: As tempting as it may be, you should NOT wear your shoes at home. You need to be under the careful supervision of your teacher to make sure you do not get hurt.
Q: Are there different ways to tie the ribbons and do they have to match the pointe shoes? Can I cut the ribbons if they are too long? A: There are a couple of ways to teach students how to tie their pointe shoes, but it’s pretty much the same technique. If your ribbons are too long, cut them so that the ends can be tucked in neatly.
Q: Do any guys dance on pointe? A: Yes, there is an all-male company called Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo where men perform females roles on pointe. Visit http://www.trockadero.org/ for more info.
Q: How long does a pair of pointe shoes usually last? How many pairs do you go through in a year? A: The life of a pointe shoe is measured in hours of wear or times in a role. I can wear a pair of shoes for 2, maybe 3 runs of Snow Queen before they become class/rehearsal shoes. The amount of pairs of shoes I use in a year really depends on our season. A more classical year will use more shoes than a more contemporary year. As a company dancer, we are given 35 pairs of pointe shoes per season.
Q: How do you know what pointe shoes are the best for you (without buying a lot of shoes)? A: Trial and error is the only way. I’ve worn every kind of shoe you can think of at some point in my dance life. Even now that I have a brand I love, not all of my shoes are exactly the same.
Unanswered questions? Check back in January for pt. II of Pointe Shoe Q&As. Happy holidays!
