Are ballet dancers "regular" people?

 Taking up ballet as an adult, or returning to its practice after many years, may seem like a daydream. However, even the most revered ballet dancers were just people. And those people taught us and coached us by example on stage or in studios. So why not get into a studio and aspire to dance like someone who inspires others with their art! Ballet as we know it today has been traced to the French royal courts, and rendered aspirational depictions of gods and mythic stories based in myths and legends. Even as subversive artists like Loie Fuller, Mary Wigman and Martha Graham began to challenge this Euro-centric form in the early twentieth century, they continued to create works that aspired to transcend their humanity.

The approach to teaching ballet today has mostly shifted to an understanding of the mechanics of how human anatomy and physiology work together as we employ centuries old methods of training. And it is pretty amazing how well these disciplines hold their own under the scrutiny of contemporary medicine. So now Adult Beginner Ballet can begin with identifying the most natural ways our bodies move, and putting those actions into sequences that are the heart of ballet technique.

As teachers, we hopefully take the best from those who taught us. I was incredibly fortunate to have had my training and performance craft shaped by some of the international stars of their generation. And it was the generation that brought "ballet" into Art that reflected human emotions and every day situations. Two exceptional influences on my understanding of ballet and dance were Christopher Gable who was my favorite teacher and coach during the late 70's, and Paul Taylor who was the choreographer/director who took me to the end of my performing career. 

Rehearsing with Paul Taylor for "Prime Numbers" (1997)

Christopher Gable was famously known for his dance partnership with Lynn Seymour at the Royal Ballet in London during the early 1960's. Together they created ballets with Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan which are still actively revived and forever associated with Gable and Seymour. Together they seduced audiences with their musicality and dramatic authenticity, with undeniable ballet technique as their language of expression. 

"The Invitation" (1960) by Kenneth MacMillan - Lynn Seymour & Christopher Gable

"The Two Pigeons" (1961) by Frederick Ashton - Lynn Seymour & Christopher Gable

Ultimately, Christopher Gable would leave ballet for acting and then return decades later to the dance world founding Central Ballet School in London and directing Northern Ballet Theatre in Leeds. I met him during his early return to dance, and he generously trained me to make ballet technique be as precise as diction when speaking. Gable also emphasized that no matter what role we might be asked to perform in a ballet we are still human beings.

Throughout my fifteen years as a dancer with Paul Taylor, I had the privilege of creating twenty-two original dances under his eyes, as well as taking on roles in revivals of some thirty or so dances created before I ever joined the company. Again, Taylor's approach is that even when we were doing "abstract" works, he expected an audience to see us as individuals on the stage. 

The dancers in Taylor's company had varied backgrounds that didn't always mirror Taylor's own. He trained in ballet taught in the Cecchetti style by Margaret Craske and Anthony Tudor, and in the modern dance style of Martha Graham where he gained much of his early performing experience. Taylor loved that ballet taught "line" and a sense of how the body "composes" three-dimensional space, as well as provided skills in turning, physical articulation and speed.

I hope to bring a fraction of the knowledge these two masters offered me to you as a dancer in one of my classes!

Tuesdays at 6:00pm at Taylor Dance West, 9th floor, NYC. Please come dance with me.