Leonora Volpe
This is a very special edition of my inspirational interviews for it concerns not only a dream – but the continuation of a dream. The dream was passed from mother to daughter – and it is now Leonora Volpe that keeps her mother’s dream alive!
The dream started with a simple idea – to start a ballet company. While the idea may be simple, the reality of such a task is not. Nevertheless, Carmen Volpe adhered to her vision and in 1992, founded The Metropolitan Repertory Ballet. Her vision was to preserve and develop the art of classical ballet. Upon her death, the reins of her company passed into the capable hands of her daughter, Leonora. Leonora serves as artistic director, principal dancer, driving force and innovator. She ensures that the company keeps its feet firmly planted in tradition, but also strives for innovation. While the blending of the two elements may be difficult for some, it’s not for Leonora. I think partially it’s because Leonora is so very much like this herself.
Leonora Volpe received the bulk of her classical training at the Royal Ballet Academy in London. She also studied the craft of acting at the Royal Acting Academy. The pairing worked as the melding of acting into her dance is apparent. She whole-heartedly puts herself into her roles transforming into ballet’s beloved characters. She is so successful that even her eyes dance! As for accomplishments, she was the chosen and handpicked by Igor Youskevitch to dance Juliet in his production of Romeo and Juliet. She’s kept her ties to Igor Youskevitch as he is a direct link to the choreography of Michel Folkine.
The company shows its traditional roots in its performing the original version of The Nutcracker. This was version commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II for the Kirov Ballet. As for the innovative side, Leonora showed it brilliantly by writing the libretto for a new production entitled Tears of Aphrodite. The story centered on the political unrest on Cyrpus since the 1974 Turkish invasion. Its score was written by Michael Christodolides, resident composer of the Paris Opera. The production debuted at Lincoln Center in 1999. More can be learned about the company and its repertoire, but right now, let’s meet Leonora!
I broke with tradition and did not meet Leonora at Starbucks. Instead I sat with her in her beautiful home right off Central Park. Her two cats kept us company as I spoke to her about her life, her company and her views on ballet.
Q: I would first like to thank you so much for agreeing to be interviewed for dance.net. I’ll begin the way I normally do and ask you about your early training. Where and when did your interest in ballet start? And was it your idea to take ballet lessons or someone else’s?
A: No, it was my idea. I was very privileged in that the first live theater that I ever viewed was classical ballet. I don’t remember the company since I was only three years old.
Q: Wow! Only three?
A: Yes, three! [laughter] I think it was American Ballet Theater. It know it was in New York. My mother brought me to see a production of Sleeping Beauty. Prior to seeing this, I’d only been to films in theaters. I sat quietly throughout the entire performance which is a lengthy one, but I started to cry when they finished. I didn’t understand what had happened and wanted to keep sitting there. My mother insisted that we had to go, but I didn’t want to. I thought it was like a movie and that if we stayed, it would repeat. [laughter] Finally, my mother made me understand that these were real people. [more laughter]
In looking back the Bluebird Pas de Deux really fascinated me because I thought they were really flying! I thought, “This is what I want to do.”
Q: At three.
A: At three. I couldn’t wait to go to ballet class.
Q: And when did you actually start taking ballet?
A: Well, my birthday is in November so I was almost six-years-old. It was just before I started first grade. I lived in Westchester so I started taking class there. After I did, the teacher I had spoken to my mother and told her I really should be studying in a more serious place. By the time I was 11, I was studying at the Royal Academy in London, England.
Q: How did this happen? Were you with your parents?
A: With my father. My parents were divorced and my father lived in England. I was fortunate in that regard. I also attended regular academic school in London. As far as the early training, it wasn’t very smooth because I was asthmatic and actually had to stop for several years. I had trouble breathing and had three attacks that required my being rushed to the hospital. Mercifully, the condition corrected itself. You are never cured of asthma, but it went into a somewhat remissive state. It meant that I could dance.
Q: Now was this by the time you got to the Royal Academy?
A: Yes, by then it was better. It was under control, but the early, early ages I had to stop.
Q: Well, I’m fascinated and curious about the Royal Academy. What was that like? Were they very strict? Was it an integrated class in terms of having both men and women? Or were girls and boys trained separately?
A: When I was there, there were only girls in my class. I didn’t finish the complete program. Sometimes we had boys for a little pas de deux, but that was it.
Q: Did you start pointe there?
A: Yes.
Q: And was there anything different about the pointe training? Did they teach a classic technique?
A: Yes, very classic technique. It’s a bit different than the way they teach in America – from what I’ve seen.
Q: How so?
A: Everything there was very graded and everything was very exact. Because of the influence of Margot Fonteyne being one of their greatest ballerinas, I think. This was right before Darcey Bussell rose to her fame. I love Darcy Bussell, but if you remember Fonteyne, she was very exact. She didn’t have this huge extension. Her hips – everything was very square. I am very happy with that because I do have high extensions, but because of this training I can also find the squareness in the positions when I need to turn instead of having the hips completed rotated. I’m not criticizing, but I’m saying that it would be difficult if you didn’t have this very square classical training to achieve that if someone is very flexible.
Q: Perhaps your advice would be to start with very classical training and then later down the line, tweak it if you want to move in another direction?
A: Well, for example, let’s look at the basis for turns. I remember very distinctly that we would put our legs arriére on the lower barre for attitude. That meant your leg would be right behind you and your pelvis would be completely square and facing forward. By doing this, it made sure you’d be in the line. It does help with attitude turns because you really can’t turn with your leg held high in those positions. You can land and plié and then lift your leg – we learned all that. That when you finish the turning to lift your leg, but to turn you need to have that squareness. This facilitates all that difficult technique. If you just constantly lift your leg in a tilted position of the pelvis it throws you off and you don’t build strength in the right places.
Q: And lots of relevés?
A: Yes, lots of relevés, but again, very carefully. In the beginning, you go very slowly, rolling through the shoes, developing the feet. Everything in the correct line – not pushing. Slower. I think it was slower. Again, I’m just speaking from what I’ve observed from watching pointe and technique classes here. There were also other dances taught that are not even used here for children. They used them to develop movement.
Q: Such as?
A: Well, the minuet and all the classical ballroom dances of the court. The polannaise, things like that. Here I don’t see it that being done here that much.
Q: Oh, they taught that! They must come in handy!
A: It actually does because you’re moving in different positions, but since it is on two feet and you’re in soft slippers, you’re learning the to keep the proper upper body carriage in a much easier way. It becomes natural to the person. Unfortunately, we’ve lost many of these teaching techniques.
Q: Yes, and if they do them in a ballet, the corps members usually are taught those dances, but I can definitely see where it would help develop the upper carriage. You learn to move with it – you’re learning to incorporate it. As opposed to just standing at the barre. I mean, what happens when you get in the center?
A: Exactly. Take for example, reverence in fourth arabesque position – I rarely see that anymore. Of course, it’s still in Sleeping Beauty and the classics, but I mean in the classroom.. In my opinion, the syllabus – the classical vocabulary let us say – is shrinking dramatically.
Q: Interesting. Now to continue this dancing timeline, you stayed at the Royal Academy. After that, where did you go? Did you move back to the States?
A: Yes, I moved back to the States and danced with various companies – Metropolitan Opera and Manhattan Ballet. I was principal with Manhattan Ballet and danced with European companies such as the Ukranian National, for example. Now my mother had already founded this company, The Metropolitan Repertory Ballet, 18 years ago, but I rarely danced for her. Since she’s passed on, I’m carrying it on for her.
Q: Yes, the whole thing is such an amazing story. Where did your mother get the idea for starting a ballet company? What was the genesis?
A: My mother was a very well-known, very well-respected ballroom dancer – a beautiful ballroom dancer. In fact, she won the Harvest Moon Ball with her brother. Her brother was 12 years her senior and together they won one of those competitions. She just loved ballet, but never studied it herself. She always regretted not having studied ballet. She felt it would have been good for her ballroom dancing. She was absolutely in love with the ballet of her time. You know, The Royal Ballet and Fonteyne and Plitskaya.
Q: Did she attend their performances?
A: Oh, yes, she regularly attended. She founded the company in ’92, right after Markarova had stopped dancing. I think Baryshnikov had stopped also. Anyway, she felt that we were losing a little of that Golden Age of Ballet – The Red Shoes, glamorous type of ballet performance. She wanted to do something that would preserve that style and help develop new choreography in that style.
Q: To carry on that tradition ...
A: She felt that in America, the real classical style was unfortunately losing its components. Now we did have New York City Ballet – but that’s a genre unto itself. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking it’s classical because it’s on pointe, but it’s not. It’s gorgeous, but it’s a stylized art form. Now you also have to remember it was during the time that they tore down the old Metropolitan Opera House and put up Lincoln Center. That gave New York City its permanent residence, but American Ballet Theater is there only eight weeks out of the year. So there’s even a time factor involved in presenting classical ballet. This is how she felt.
Q: And she just took it upon herself to do this? I’m really sort of amazed. Many people have dreams, but to actually get them going and make them a reality is a whole other thing. How did she even begin to start forming a ballet company?
A: She initially started with a fundraiser in 1992. She was very fortunate in that people that were huge names in dance attended – people like Carmen Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder. They presented Swan Lake. At the time, Mortimer’s hosted the dinner so she was very fortunate with her acquaintances in the dance world.
Q: So she was using acquaintances – networking.
A: Yes, networking. She did that and put this together.
Q: And did she hire outside dancers to perform Swan Lake?
A: Yes, she hired dancers.
Q: While you were doing other things … !
A: Yes, at that time I was doing other things.
Q: And when did you join her and the company? Did she hire you at a certain point?
A: I was with her in 1997 when we did our version of Faust. We are the first company to perform what we call Ballet/Operas. My mother was also a mezzo soprano, so she was very familiar with the operatic scores and she was fortunate to have Anton Coppola as her conductor and musical director – and he is still to this day. She decided to present Faust.
Q:[laughing] As a ballet?
A: Yes, and not just to the musical score and the libretto, but to the voices. We had the principal singers singing, and the dancers were performing the action. This was first performed at the French Institute. It sold several performances out and was very well-received. Both nights, we got standing ovations. We had the orchestra in the pit and three principal singers – because that’s all we could afford [laughter] – on the stage. They took up maybe 1/8 to ¼ of the stage and had their music on stands. The dancers were dancing their parts and instead of having the angelic chorus in Faust, we had the corps de ballet – which are the angels – and the singers singing it. The whole thing worked beautifully. It was very original. Every voice had a body – a dancer. So Faust had a body, Marguerite had a body, etc. They were the dancers on the stage. Now the voices did not have bodies – they were on the side. The only one we incorporated into the dance – and he was doing mime – was Mephistopheles because he was the Devil. He needed to be part of the action because he was the spirit.
It was very innovative and what people said was they understood the opera better with the dance. The choreography was formulated with the lyrics. Every movement in the ballet done to music was being sung.
Q: And who did the choreography?
A: Victor Litvinov. He was the Director of Ukranian National Ballet.
Q: Where you danced.
A: Yes.
Q: I know you said your mother had a dance background and sang, but she must have been extremely artistic. Did she just have this vision?
A: Yes. She felt and I agree – and this is just my opinion – my taste, that the most popular ballets are where women play the roles of actual women. They’re not sylphs, or not angels or sugar plum fairies - they’re women. They’re Giselle. They’re Juliet. Those are the types of ballets that have endured. Operas have always had really dramatic stories and roles. The Magic Flute has some really crazy characters, but usually –
Carmen, Rigoletto – they were about people. She felt that there wasn’t that kind of storyline being written for ballet, but there were these incredibly rich stories in opera. She felt they could be portrayed with ballet so beautifully. That’s where she got her idea.
Q: And eventually you started dancing for her. Were you in a subordinate role? Or did you actually help her fulfill what she envisioned at that point?
A: I helped her a little bit, but mainly I was dancing. I mean I had a lot to do!
Q: [laughter] You had your hands full! [more laughter]
A: Yes, it was a big production. The orchestra was a reduced orchestra, but it was still 30 musicians and 20 dancers and singers...
Q: And did she do more of these types of Ballet/Operas?
A: Yes, she did
La Traviata and
Tears of Aphrodite which was an original libretto. I wrote that libretto.
Q: You did?
A: Yes, it was commissioned by the Cypriot Consulate and presented at Lincoln Center.
Q: You just wrote it? And the music? Do you have a musical background?
A: No, I wrote just the storyline. We had a composer from the Paris Opera Ballet write most of the score.
Q: Are you still performing these Ballet/Operas?
A: Well, we’ve been doing
La Traviata. We did
Faust once more and
The Tears of Aphrodite has not been done. It’s a matter of funding more than anything else.
Q: I see that you also include contemporary music and perform to Frank Sinatra.
A: Yes.
Q: That sounds pretty fun to do! Where did that idea come from?
A: This was my idea. It was based on my mother’s ballroom dancing so it’s a ballroom/ballet, but on pointe. We have sections that are jazzy with jazz shoes, but 90% of it is on pointe. Hofstra University commissioned it last year – in April of 2008. It’s all these different Sinatra songs – and the dance is done to the lyrics. It looks like a Rita Hayworth movie.
Q: I would love to see it! Frank Sinatra is fabulous to begin with so even if I didn’t like the dancing – which I’m sure I would – I could enjoy it. I also like that it’s on pointe. It’s innovative, yet classical and in this format, I’m sure a lot of people could relate to what is being done. Now also in your repertoire is Nutcracker, but I understand you do the original version.
A: Yes, we try to do it as closely as possible.
Q: Now could you explain to the members of dance.net what the differences are between what we’re used to and what the original is?
A: I think the most popular version in America – and the one where all these other companies like the Pennsylvania Ballet developed their versions – is New York City Ballet’s. Basically, George Balanchine changed everything – even the name of the protagonist. In Russia, her name was Marcia and not Clara. The Nutcracker is really a very dark story. If you read the German fairy tale, it has the mice and Drusselmeyer is a strange, lecherous figure ….
Q: [laughter] Of course, that doesn’t come out in the New York City Ballet …
A: No, we don’t show that either, [more laughte] but the beauty of Nutcracker, in my mind, Baryshnikov brought back in his version. Gelsey Kirkland danced that version although she doesn’t actually transform into the Sugar Plum Fairy either.
Q: Okay, let’s get into that. What do you mean?
A: Well, the original Nutcracker – and I feel the beauty of it – is that it’s about the transformation of this young girl into a woman. Marcia becomes the Sugar Plum Fairy. You have to bear in mind that this ballet was first produced in 1892. At that time girls were getting married at 15 years old, so Marcia … or Clara … at 12 was almost a young lady. She was thinking about herself – thinking that in the next 3 years she’d be married. Her dream was about perceiving herself as this grown-up woman – the Sugar Plum Fairy. So you see the transformation from little Marcia at the party scene in the little girl’s dress and playing with the dolls right through to this woman. She comes down in the nightgown, but in the end she dances the pas de deux. She’s the glorified vision in the tutu and the tiara dancing with the Nutcracker Prince. I don’t see how it makes sense the other way because if The Nutcracker turns into the grown-up prince, why doesn’t the girl turn into the grown-up girl? So this is the real version. Most people think it’s Clara watching this dream happening, but it’s not. When you see the original version – watch the ballerina transform – the role expands. It requires acting. I’ve seen Fonteyne on film – and she must have been 60 at that point. She played the 12-year-old and then there’s this transformation and it’s absolutely incredible to see. We don’t have anything like this right now.
Q: And this is the version your company does?
A: Yes, and I think this is the beauty of the story. I know that America is very youth-oriented, but I don’t feel that this helps the youth want to grow-up. Why not want to make them want to become adults? I know we want to be stay young and we love kittens. I cry every year about the children in our production – I’d love to keep them all that way! At the end when they’re all onstage, I think “Oh, if I could only keep them all this way! Choreograph their lives so they’d be perfect!” But you can’t keep them as children.
Q: And you miss the different qualities. Hopefully, the ballerina playing the part would be able to bring those to the role – exemplifying the differences between child and adult.
A: Yes, and at the very end in the Russian version, she turns back into the Marcia in the nightgown and doesn’t understand what happened. That it’s a dream. It’s beautiful. You see the changes. It’s not just about how many double turns she did. It’s about this character.
Q: Since we’re on this subject, there’s something I would like to touch on. I saw a set of pictures of you dancing [Note: They re the ones posted with this interview.} and your facial expression are lovely. You’re not only dancing the part, but you’re acting the part – totally in character. Do you feel that aspect has been lost? And how important do you think the ability to act is in dancing ballet?
A: I think it’s very important – it always was. I think of ballerinas some right now – like Nina Ananiashvili who is just fantastic, Irina Dovochenko, Fonteyne, and Markarova were incredible. I was in awe of them when I saw them dance because of this ability, but now, I don’t know if it’s lost or just not thought of as important. I think you must have this and if you don’t have it something is not communicated. In this art form, there are no words and the only means of communication is movement – basically your soul is coming out on stage. If you can’t do this then you haven’t achieved the full potential the art.
Q: I know for myself, my favorite ballerinas were the ones that I had an emotional connection to. They could make me feel something. The leg extensions were wonderful – and the turns were wonderful – but it was that emotional connection that made someone my favorite. Do you think it is not being taught these days? Or do think people feel it’s not as important as technique anymore?
A: I don’t think it’s being brought out and developed. I think things have become extremely technical. As I mentioned before, Fonteyne only had a 90 degree extension at best, but she was so perfect within it, but today I don’t see anyone like that. And I can’t believe there’s not another dancer like that, that somebody can be like her and not just have high extensions. I think we’re missing something.
Q: Do you think it’s because they’re choosing based on high extensions and not on what they could be to the artistry of the role?
A: Well, it would be lovely to have it all …
Q: Of course!
A: I mean, Ananiashvili has it all. She has lovely extensions and perfect technique, but it’s not all about that.
Q: I agree. Now in terms of The Nutcracker are you doing it every year? Are you doing it this year?
A: We’ve been doing it every year. I believe this year we’re doing it. We have this little theme we’ve been using. For the past few years, since 2004, It started with The National Arts Club in Gramercy Park. When we presented The Nutcracker there – they opened the whole mansion. We did sort of a play within a play and let the audience become part of The Nutcracker because it does take place in a mansion – Marcia’s home. And there’s a Christmas party after the performance. So we condense it into an hour, and have the people as part of the party.
Q: Oh, my God! That sounds great!
A: Yes, so we did that at The Arts Club and then we were fortunate to have the Archbishop from Russia present us in his mansion. This was located at 93rd and Park. It was incredible. We were very honored that he chose us. Then we at the Liederkranz mansion at East 87th Street. I think we’re going to be there again this year. We’re also resident in a theater in New Jersey – The Baker Theater which was built in 1906. We do The Nutcracker there – we were there twice last season. It’s a very different kind of Nutcracker when you perform it at a mansion as opposed to a theater.
Q: Oh, yeah! It sounds wonderful! Now in terms of children for The Nutcracker, how are you finding the children for the performances?
A: We are very excited in that we are going to be residents in a studio called Bridge For Dance which is located 2726 Broadway. Ellen Chapelle and Kim LaRue are the owners of this studio and we’re going to be using their students. And we are going to be holding an audition at Bridge For Dance for children between ages 6-18. We’d love everyone to come and try. What’s interesting about our Nutcracker is we don’t limit it to ballet. For example, the character dances can be done by jazz students, or modern because they’re all different dancing dolls – Russian, Arabian, etc. I mean, we have many professionals in this, but we see the children we have and fit what they do into our production We’ve used as many as 80 children at Tribeca Performing Arts Center.
Q: I was meaning to ask you about Tribeca, do you perform there every year?
A: No, we were there twice and then we started performing in mansions. I really like this mansion idea because it’s a living set. They’re 19th century buildings. For example, the Liedenkranz was built in 1848 and you can’t get a more perfect set than that.
Q: No, you can’t! I really would much prefer to see it that way! It just sounds so amazing! Speaking of which it’s yet another very innovative approach. Did you come up with that idea?
A: Well, when The National Arts Club asked me to perform, they had only presented a dancer twice before me – and that was Baryshnikov.
Q: Oh, no! You’re in good company! [laughter]
A: I can’t even put on his shoes, [more laughter] but that’s not the point, it just worked out that way! [more laughter] When we performed and I saw how beautifully it worked, it stuck. Now the Baker Theater is a regular 1,500 seat theater, but it was built in 1906 so it’s not far off. However, if you want to see dance intimately, and in to be actually part of it, see it in a mansion. Doing it this way means it’s being done in a Grand Salon fashion. Unfortunately, Grand Salons have lost their appeal. From Louis XIV through the 1930’s, it was very common in a wealthy person’s home or nobleman’s to have the top performers of the day perform in their palaces or homes and we’ve lost this. Whether it’s through more moderate, modern living or for another reason, I don’t know, but we try to preserve this art form. Dance should be seen in a Grand Salon manner and through purchasing a ticket and attending a performance, everyone can experience it.
Q: I definitely agree that it would be wonderful to see dance presented this way! Now as for the company, when did you actually takeover?
A: It was about five years ago.
Q: Five years ago, okay. And the history of dance that you seem to possess came about through your dance training? Or is it through taking over the company that you researched dance?
A: Through training. It’s a little bit different in Europe when you study. You study music, you study art history, dance history – it’s not just dance. In college, it came about through taking different art courses and through my mother. Also I learned through working with the greatest people. I mean, I worked with Igor Yousekevitch.
Q: You were his last Juliet, I believe?
A: Yes.
Q: And for dance.net members who don’t know who Igor Youskevitch is …
A: Igor Youskevitch was one of the greatest male dancers of the 20th century. I think right before Rudolf Nureyev, he was the top male dancer in the world. And working with him and working with people like Elena Stepanenco, who was my ballet mistress. She danced [i[Giselle[/i] for President Nixon when he visited Russia – she danced the part of Giselle that night.
Q: And you also danced Les Sylphides for Igor Youskevitch?
A: Yes.
Q: And this was through which company?
A: My mother’s company and Manhattan Ballet.
Q: And I believe I read in your company’s bio that Igor Youskevitch had ties to Folkine..
A: Yes, Igor Youskevitch learned Les Sylphides and all Folkine’s roles from Folkine himself.
Q: Oh, dear! Well, that’s carrying on tradition. And did you use this same choreography. Repeating it exactly.
A: Yes.
Q: That is so impressive. How important do you feel this passing on of tradition is to the young girls that are coming up? Should they go out and do their own research if the schools are not teaching it?
A: You know, it’s unfortunate. The schools in America are wonderful, but in other countries they’re funded by the government. Ballet was mostly funded by the government which was predicated on the monarchies funding it to begin with. I feel they should do research on their own. Since we’re on this subject, we are planning – and in serious talks about – about a film. The story of the film would be based around ballerinas in the 19th century. It would be in a story form, of course, but it would cover these many of these historical aspects.
Q: That would be wonderful. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for it happening. In terms of the company, how do you run it? Do you do fund raisers? How do you go about it?
A: My Board of Directors provides basic funding. Then we have corporate sponsors. We do have fund raisers. We don’t have a school. I wish we could. That’s why we’re so excited about Bridge for Dance. It would be great to work with them and, hopefully, it would become a company school. And, of course, we do have ticket sales. That adds to finances.
Q: And do you have the final say about everything? For example, the costumes. Do they have to be approved by you?
A: I am the Artistic Director so I do have a say on it. We have a new Executive Director now who’s also involved.
Q: And who is that?
A: Jonathan Kness. He’s been all around the world. In fact, his parents were principals with The Metropolitan Opera. His mother, Joanne Grillo was the definitive mezzo soprano for 28 years and his father was a principal tenor. He’s been all over and has that European flair so he’s helping me.
Q: And your dancers, your partner – what is his name? And has been with the company for a while?
A: Yes, he’s fabulous. My partner’s name is Sergio Amarante. He’s from Argentina and has danced with Julio Bocca. And we have many other beautiful dancers.
Q: And do you hold auditions?
A: We do rarely hold auditions. We have a good group soloists and principals – there are about 12 people that I can draw from. We usually get referrals, but for younger children we like holding auditions to give them a chance.
Q: And you’ve danced with your partner for how long?
A: Five years.
Q: Five years! Well, then you know each other’s idiosyncrasies and how to get out of each other’s way. [laughter]
A: Oh, yes! [more laughter]
Q: … finish each other’s sentences, that sort of thing! Now does he dance elsewhere?
A: Yes, for other companies. New Jersey Ballet is one. And Bocca. And another principal is Alexander Ananska. He’s also is a soloist with The Metropolitan Opera Ballet.
Q: I would like to get in a question about technique vs. artistry since the subject has come up a few times on dance.net. What is the ideal percentage of artistry and technique? And do you think artistry can be taught?
A: I don’t know if there is a percentage. There are people that are just such breathtaking technicians that I admire. It’s an art in itself. And for a soloist, there is nothing that’s going to be pure in my mind, but the principal roles … can you teach artistry? Of course, you need technique to be able to execute steps, you can’t change choreography. I think we need to develop artistry as much we can. I feel it’s an innate thing. Some people are just born with it, but it needs to be developed like anything else. In other fields, people have talents. What I like to do is bring out the talent in each dancer and not make one dancer fit into doing everything. That is going to limit a person. Oh, I just thought of a better way I can explain this concept. I never understood why ballet didn’t have different names for different dancers in the sense that in opera you have a name for every different level of voice. And you need them all! You have operas for mezzo sopranos – like Carmen, but there are dramatic sopranos for productions like Faust. I know Mozart’s The Magic Flute is coloratura. So there are all levels of soprano – lyric soprano, dramatic soprano – forget mezzo – all within just the soprano range. In other words there are three different levels. The tenor as well. The have tenor, spinto tenor, counter tenor. Now I don’t know why ballet doesn’t have different principals. There should be dramatic, lyrical and technical – although I don’t like to use that word technical though. It’s almost like saying the dramatic and lyrical dancers aren’t technical. But the point is that we should bring out different dancers for different roles. Not that one girl is supposed to dance everything there is.
Q: I see. So you’re saying the one closest to the middle or the most homogenized would be selected because she would be most apt to be used for everything. As opposed to having one person that does something amazing, but can’t do something else.
A: For example, a very tall girl – and I’m not saying it’s true for all tall girls because there’s nothing that’s 100% in this world – but generally, petit allegro is more difficult for them because they’re longer-limbed. Are you going to force someone like that to do something they’re not capable of doing? It doesn’t make sense.
Q: I see. What you’re saying does sound like a good idea.
A: I mean there are so many roles. And I’m not saying that anyone should be locked into typecasting, but why can’t dancers be worked within the range of their gifts or talents instead of making them feel badly about something that they can’t do?
Q: Right. Because usually you go into getting another type of dancer, but if you did that you could include everyone.
A: Yes, you’d have more dancers and I think we should have more dancers. We would all benefit from having more.
Q: Yes, I remember seeing a special performance of Nutcracker performed by NYCB for school children. Most of these children had never even seen a ballet before and they loved it! It just proved to me that ballet should be readily available for everyone! You think they wouldn’t take to it, but they did. And what you’re talking about goes along with this.
A: We have done so many performances for children. I love working with children. We were in the Duchess County school system – doing a fundraiser. The children loved it! They understand it. It’s actually a perfect art form for them because you don’t have the spoken word. It makes it easier for them to relate to.
Q: Well, I also think that children of that age almost enter a magical type of world when they see it. I think they get into the fantasy of people on stage in costumes really being what they are pretending to be. I think as adults we sometimes lose that ability to believe.
A: It should be seen at a very young age. Well, my own experience as a three-year-old was that I thought the dancers were flying – I didn’t think that they were real people! I just wanted to see it and I could sit there with no trouble. It should be encouraged and it would be more readily received. Having said that, I think ballet should be more inclusive. My company has different body types. I don’t have one of these companies that have one body type. I think it would be a boring world if there were one body type or one hair color, so we have different sizes and shapes.
Q: In terms of the roles you perform, you do Swan Lake. What is your approach to doing the role of Odette/Odile? Do you think of it in terms of acting? How do you get into the roles?
A: I was very blessed in being able to study with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I studied with John Franklin Robbins who actually became director of the Royal Canadian Shakespeare Company. He’s worked on many BBC broadcasts. He’s fantastic. I did this because I felt that if I was going to be lucky enough to dance the great roles – I should understand how to act. That’s something I really excel at – the acting. That’s one of my gifts. Other people have different gifts, but even if it isn’t your gift, I think you should be studying drama. You will improve that part of yourself. What you find is that when you use ability, your technique actually flows better. When you’re starting to become the role, there’s a calmness that will come and will grow and that only produces better technique and execution. So what am I thinking when doing the roles? I’m thinking that Odette is probably one of the purest things on earth – the pas de deux in the second act is like a prayer. And let’s face it, Odile is a witch. She is not nice. She is a sensual creature. She is there to destroy someone. I’ve never seen it danced better than Maya Plitskaya. I’ve never seen anybody do the Black Swan like her – and she doesn’t do one fouette turn. Not one. She does a ménage of pique turns in a circle instead of the 32 fouettes that are commonly seen in this country. In Russia, they were always given a choice – in fact, all over Europe. They want the artistry. I believe in making the artist happy. If the artist is happy about she’s doing, the audience will pick that up. If they’re worried about anything, it will not be as good of a performance. So if you have someone that can comfortably do 32 fouette turns, give it to them, but that is not what Swan Lake was about. The Swan Lake originally peformed in 1877 had two personalities. It’s supposed to be two different women. When they melded it, it worked brilliantly in the dramatic sense. To see this one women go from this pure creature – the sweetest thing on earth – to this horrible witch who is only encased in a beautiful container. These are the most important things in Swan Lake. When everything gets reduced to turns and technique, you have – in my opinion – nothing.
Q: Since you were a professional dancer and are a professional dancer, what advice would you give to a girl in 1. Getting proper training; 2. Developing herself and 3 Making her dream come true – whatever that dream is.
A: The first thing I would like to say is to make sure to eat properly. I am very concerned about this. No matter what, they must be sure to get proper nutrition. Doing this will avoid injury – at a young age or later in life. That’s the most important thing. Starving is not a good idea. Next, I think they should go to school that brings out their personality as well as their technique. They should be proud of themselves. This is not easy what we’re doing, but it is very beautiful. You need extreme intelligence and focus and commitment. They should be respected and nurtured for wanting that. And those are the most important things in dance – and in life, but this road is very difficult, but very rewarding. I don’t minimize that. It’s something that very few people will experience, but it’s very worthwhile.
Q: And they can use what they learn in different ways. The discipline they develop can be put to use for things other than dance. Now in terms of your company, do you have any upcoming events that you’d like to tell us about.
A: Oh, yes, I would. We’re very fortunate in performing at the White Box Gallery, which is a spectacular art gallery at 449 Broome Street. As you may have guessed, I like eclectic atmospheres. I don’t like to put ballet in just one setting and people are going to agree or disagree. We’ve been in all kinds of gorgeous theaters like Carnegie Hall, but this will be a Grand Salon format. The dates will be August 11th and September 8th. There will be different ticket prices because there will be reception afterwards and people will be able to view the dancers closely and the artwork that’s been inspired by the company. We are hoping to have a tiered level – from the stage to the audience to the reception to the cobblestone street outside.
Q: What will you be performing?
A: Excerpts from
Swan Lake, the
Sylvia Pas de Deux and an original dance called
Havana. Interweaving the dance will be operatic vocals by Jonathan Kness. Everything will make sense and be enhanced by the museum’s starkness.
Q: Can they go to your website for all the information?
A: Yes, they can.
Q: Okay, so you heard it dance.net members. They have two performances at The White Box and there’s the original Nutcracker later in the year so we have a lot to look forward to. Well, on behalf of dance.net, thank you again for agreeing to be interviewed. I know I’m very excited about seeing you and your company perform.
A: You’re very welcome.
If anyone is interested in learning more about The Metropolitan Repertory Ballet’s upcoming performances, please visit their website at
www.metrorepballet.com.
I also hear that chicgalleria.com is running a contest to win two tickets. That means if you’ll be in the NYC area on August 11th, you may be able to attend for free! Please check their website
chicgalleria.com for the details. The information should be up in a few days.
I have astma too sometimes but very rarely it gets in the way of danceing. 
