From Dance Magazine

By Margaret Willis

It was a brief YouTube clip of her Kitri that set balletomanes abuzz. From the first moment that Bolshoi starlet Natalia Osipova was spotted in a short solo from Don Quixote, the link flew from computer to computer around the world. Her performance commanded the stage with sparkling personality and breathtaking technique. Tossing off multiple pirouettes with a laugh, she flew through the air, her head almost touching her back leg, with such exuberance that audience and fellow dancers alike cheered her on. Via cyberspace, her fame was well-established long before most of her newfound fans saw her in the flesh. Within four years, she rose through the ranks of the Bolshoi Ballet to first soloist. Under Bolshoi Ballet director Alexei Ratmansky, she has been given the opportunity to perform many roles and to develop a partnership with the equally exciting dancer Ivan Vasiliev.

My first live sighting of her was in 2006 in Southampton when the Bolshoi was on a regional tour of Britain. It wasn’t in some high-powered role, rather as one of the shepherdesses in Act II ofSpartacus. But there was something mesmerizing about the way she skipped, light as a feather while clutching her arms around her head, that foretold of a star-in-waiting. That summer, the company returned to London where Osipova, still a corps member, performed the full Don Quixoteto cheers and thunderous applause. The following year, partnered by the 18-year-old wunderkind Ivan Vasiliev, she again set the stage ablaze with her daredeviltry, pyrotechnics, and flamboyance. The tour also showed us more of her talent, and she received the 2007 top female dancer prize from the British Critics Circle National Dance Awards—a great honor considering how many fine and famous ballerinas graced the stages of Britain that year.

As Gamzatti in La Bayadère, she was an imperious, hard young woman who would not contemplate losing the affections of her betrothed to a mere temple dancer. Her whole performance was one of cold, calculating command, and her nuptial pas de deux with Solor was performed with possessive authority. In Ratmansky’s The Bright Stream, she showed a comic streak. In Tharp’s In the Upper Room, she danced with a vitality that was hypnotic for its fearless, slick, and fluid technique—all done with a terrific sense of enjoyment. For this role she received the Golden Mask award in Moscow last spring.

But things could have been very different and we might have been watching an Olympic champion rather than a ballerina. Osipova, 22, started out as a determined gymnast, with eyes on an eventual Olympic medal. A back injury sent her off to ballet classes for strengthening, but she was not a willing dancer. Despite being accepted into the Moscow Choreographic Academy, she felt she was just biding time until she could return to the gym floor.

“When I started ballet, I didn’t really like the classes,” she told me. “I was too flexible. While my limbs flew up easily in class, I didn’t have the control needed. I also realize now that I wasn’t a serious student. I believed that this ballet instruction was just a small period in my life and that soon I would be getting back to the sports world, which I loved so much.” But she eventually realized her back problem would prevent her from returning to gymnastics, and started to accept ballet. “It wasn’t until I performed onstage in a school concert and heard the appreciative applause of the audience that I suddenly realized that ballet was really important for me. I began to work hard. I’d danced a Russian dance and enjoyed wearing a costume, putting on makeup and becoming someone else. But I especially liked the applause—and,” she added with a cheeky grin, “I still do.”

Ballet competitions followed. At 17, in 2003, she won the Grand Prix in Luxembourg. In 2005, as a new corps member of the Bolshoi Ballet, she won the bronze in the Moscow International Competition despite having to cope with rehearsals and performances for two company premieres at the same time. In November 2005, she stepped out of the corps for a night to perform the fullDon Quixote with competition partner Andrei Bolotin, thus winning more fans.

So, after all these hard-punching bravura heroines, what about lyricism? When Johan Kobborg went to Moscow to stage his version of La Sylphide on the Bolshoi in 2007, he selected Osipova as the lead. Suddenly, in place of the powerhouse bravura and fiendishly technical challenges that she relishes, she transformed into a silky Sylph. She skimmed the stage like a smooth stone on a millpond. She offered the lightest of jumps, which exploded like milkweed pods. As her tarlatan billowed out around her, she gave the sensation of her feet not touching the ground. But she was also a sassy Sylph who delighted in teasing poor James. As in all her performances, Osipova immersed herself in her character so much that she was living the role rather than just playing a part.

In her debut as Giselle last fall she was a peasant girl with gusto rather than a demure seamstress. Her mad scene was so vivid that she received a phone call from her mother in the intermission, checking if she was all right. As a Wili, the ballerina born to balance on pointe evidenced fluidity and grace while remaining strong in character.

So where does she go for technique polishing and filigree detailing of all these roles? Osipova never hesitates to praise her coach Marina Kondratieva, who is the complete antithesis of the young dancer. The soft-spoken, introverted, and gentle Kondratieva was a Bolshoi ballerina of the ’60s and ’70s much loved for her lyricism, phrasing, and musicality. It was a surprise to everyone that Osipova pleaded with her to take her on. Kondratieva guides her pupil in the ways of long held Bolshoi traditions, regularly reining in Osipova, who would rather bring out her personality onstage than dance by the book. “Marina Viktorovna is a genius in explaining everything to me,” says Osipova. “We work out every minute detail from eyelash to fingertips.”

The pretty young Russian with raven-black hair and heavy mascara-ed eyes is a glutton for hard work, a perfectionist who demands 100 percent of herself even in rehearsals. She will ruminate over anything that she feels was not her best, and her brow will furrow with displeasure. But after some walking to and fro, she continues, no matter how tired, until the steps are perfected. Dance is a propelling force inside her and nothing can stop it—not even the virus and high temperature she suffered on her debut as Medora in Le Corsaire in April. Despite this, she danced full-out in a role well-suited for her with partner Ivan Vasiliev, who was also making his debut as Conrad and who won plaudits for his macho, comic bravura.

These two dynamos make for an exhilarating pairing. Anything can happen, and they set the audiences cheering. Osipova turns on a dime in her speedy multiple pirouettes and devours the stage while reaching the heights in her flights across it. Vasiliev, in true competitive spirit and with a great sense of fun and joy, will match her, streaking like an arrow in airborne jetés and spinning like a top in his jaw-dropping turns. The two of them have become the darlings of the international ballet world, not to mention they were each a Dance Magazine “25 to Watch,” she in 2007, he in 2008. During the festival of Ballet Nacional de Cuba in the fall of 2006, they challenged the Latins’ renowned virtuosity to flash their unique brand of excitement to crowds who erupted with enthusiastic and passionate cheering.

While we can anticipate many more sparkling jewels in Osipova’s tiara to be unveiled in the next few years, it is her bravura that her devoted fans want to see most. She is often invited to guest with many companies—usually performing “Kitri, Kitri, Kitri” she laughingly states—bringing the house down as in St. Petersburg, where she repeated her 32 spot-on fouettés at the Kirov. She admits that her life as a gymnast would have been very short-lived, so she’s happy how things have worked out.

“Ballet is my destiny,” she declares solemnly.

Margaret Willis, a contributing editor to Dance Magazine based in London, has been covering the Bolshoi Ballet since 1977.

From Dance Magazine

By Julie Kent

One of the few American stars of American Ballet Theater, Julie Kent is known for her luscious and limpid quality. She is a favorite of audiences for her portrayals of Giselle, Odette/Odile, Cinderella, Kitri, and many more roles, both classical and contemporary. She has starred in  the films Dancers (opposite Baryshnikov) and Center Stage (opposite Ethan Stiefel). Here Kent answers the question Why do I dance?

It is a profound question…why do I dance?
It is like asking, “Why do I breathe? Why do I laugh? Why do I cry?” It’s so natural, so intricately connected to every aspect of my life for as long as I can remember. Whether I was floating around the house in my mother’s wilted tutu as a young girl or regarding my sister with great reverence as she donned her leotards and tights for ballet class, dance was always there.
But dancing and performing are different things. Dancing is just that—expressing your feelings through movement. It is for everyone; it is for your lifetime. Performing is an exchange; it has many layers and many complexities that can be exquisitely rewarding and challenging. Performing a dance is as personal as any art form could possibly be. You, yourself, are the instrument. Your body is the voice and you have to be willing to give yourself completely to finding the right voice for every role.
This commitment starts very early. In my own life, it was an easy sacrifice of my time because I loved it. But, as often happens, there does come a time when one struggles, when one wonders if the right path has been chosen, when excitement about what is to come is sometimes matched with anxiety. But this is not exclusive to dancers. This is a part of discovering and defining yourself. In my own life, I found that these periods of struggle serve a purpose. They strengthen your character and help develop a deeper understanding of yourself, even if in retrospect, you realize you made mistakes. In the end every decision, every conflict, and every accomplishment become part of what you bring to the stage—if you are willing.
But the rewards are immeasurable. Not only the gratification of striving to create something of profound beauty and then developing the freedom to express it fully, openly, and generously, but the entire journey—the people who come and go, the music, your partners, the audience, the theaters—this all becomes your life. And if you are lucky enough to share it all with one other person, as I am with my husband Victor Barbee, ABT’s associate artistic director, then it becomes part of your family, as it now is for us and our 3-year-old son William. I imagine that he will say in years to come that in his life, dance was just always there.
Natasha Makarova, whom I greatly admire, once quoted in a note she wrote to me that “beauty could save the world.” It is a dancer’s privilege to spend a lifetime aspiring to contribute something of true beauty to our world.

From Pointe

By Sara Leshen

You saw her on the cover of the February/March 2008 issue; now read a personal interview with Venezuela-born Tulsa Ballet dancer Karina Gonzalez. Find out how she got her start, what it was like to participate in a ballet competition and more.

How did your ballet career begin?
I danced at the School Foundation Gustavo Franklin, starting when I was 7 years old. After I graduated from the school, I wanted to find a good company where I could get experience. I heard the director of Tulsa Ballet was coming to do an audition in Caracas. I thought, “This could be a great opportunity!” Then the audition came and Marcello Angelini offered me a contract. My family and I were so happy.

What is one of the favorite roles you’ve danced with Tulsa Ballet?
My favorite has been Juliet in Michael Smuin’s Romeo and Juliet, because I always dreamed of dancing the part. The role is incredible. To have the opportunity to perform this ballet was amazing because the ballet allows you the freedom to be yourself. It is a combination of technique and artistry, and you can enjoy every step that you do throughout the entire ballet. I really loved it, and I hope I will be able to perform it again.

What was it like to compete in the New York International Ballet Competition?
To be in NYIBC was a great experience. To compete with so many great dancers from all around the world makes you believe in yourself and push yourself to be better each day that you are there. No one came knowing what they were going to dance and perform, so it’s really difficult, but you learn to become your own coach.

What do you enjoy doing outside of dance?
When I am not dancing, I really enjoy staying home, waking up very late, going to the movies, playing with my cat, Garfi, and calling home to talk with my family. Most of all, I try to relax in the short time I have free.

From Dance Magazine

By Lynn Colburn Shapiro

Jan Erkert is a dancemaker, teacher, and head of the Department of Dance at University of Illinois, Urbana/ Champaign. As artistic director of Jan Erkert & Dancers from 1979 to 2000, she began exploring the concepts of yield/push and reach/pull to differentiate qualities of effort and the focus of energy. This exploration of directing energy became the basis of her teaching philosophy. While a professor of dance at Columbia College Chicago from 1990 to 2006, she received the 1999 Excellence in Teaching Award. Author of Harnessing the Wind: The Art of Teaching Modern Dance, Erkert is a popular teacher in the American College Dance Festival Association of both students and faculty. Her naturalistic movement style evokes the primitive, with a seemingly effortless ballet underpinning. Lynn Colburn Shapiro observed Erkert’s classes and spoke with her during a June guest residency at The Dance Center, Columbia College Chicago.

Why did you have the students roll across the floor? It’s based on movements of infants. Yielding to gravity––not flopping, but finding the yield and push––the students begin to discover that yielding isn’t always about the places in your body you’re thinking about. I’m asking them to wake up their nerve cells and touch sensations.

If I yield in a grand plié, I also have to reach. I ask the students to imagine the same yield and push related to a jump, to see it in their mind’s eye. I want them to feel the oppositional pulls of earth and sky resonate in the bones, and let weight and momentum carry the impulse.

How does your use of everyday gesture figure in teaching technique? I start pedestrian and lead them into more skilled, stylistic actions. They know how to walk, and they know how to swing their arms in opposition. They’ve all practiced that. Then I can begin to guide it. The more advanced the class, the less the pedestrian actions––although when I teach professionals I go back to pedestrian. I see it as a full circle, and they have to work like hell to do it.
How can students apply your concepts to other aspects of their training? For example, the concept of yield: In improvisation, I have them first write in a notebook about their lives. Where do you yield in your life, and where don’t you? Then we practice yielding with each other. Yield is an idea full of life and psychology as much as an actual physical force. By flipping back and forth from everyday life to physicality, students can take the concepts beyond my classroom.
You have such strong ballet technique. What do you tell students without that background? My whole learning trajectory after ballet was for connectivity, flow, and understanding. I had to give up ballet temporarily to find that. I remember teaching when I got out of college, saying to students, “Throw it away! Throw it away!” And one of them asked, “How do you throw it away if you don’t have it?” I had to build students up while unleashing them, get the spine and core working first, the legs later. If I get the spine connected, the rest comes from that––like a starfish. I’ve learned to do that through Body-Mind Centering, anatomy, kinesiology, yoga, and Alexander Technique.

If you do one form too much for too long, you get frozen into that style. That’s why we do ballet day after day. You get better at doing ballet, but it can stifle creativity.

How does your choreographic process carry over into your teaching? Idea-based exploration is no different in technique than in choreography. I did a piece about love. Where does it reside in the body? Is it in the heart? In the stomach? What comes if I move from the heart or the stomach? When you do a spiral, think of actually twisting your heart. The image of moving your heart first is really different from moving in a muscular-skeletal way.
How does your class prepare a student for the stage? I make them stand still for a God-awful three minutes! You have to be able to be still. You can’t be present if you’re fixing your hair, scratching your nose, or pulling up your tights. All dance training is about focus and concentration. You need to have presence in the body to be that absolute, charismatic thing onstage.

I see very accomplished dancers who aren’t grounded in themselves. They somehow manage the steps and have the outward form, the adoption of style without the principles behind it. Or I see peripheral showmanship. They’ll do a modern split leap but there’s nothing inside. The everyday gestures get dancers back inside themselves. The great ones, like Baryshnikov, embody a sense of technique from the inside out. That’s where I’m going. I want that to be dancing.

Hello my friends!

I have had my share of injuries, as every dancer does.  I sprained both ankles while skiing, on different occasions, when I was very young.  The doctors told me I had to stay off of it for six weeks, but obviously I wouldn’t have that.  I went to my chiropractor and he put the bones back into place, tied the ankle up with athletic tape, and I walked out of the office and was dancing within a week.  I can’t say it was smart, but I couldn’t bear to take time off of dancing.

Now, most professional companies make you sign an agreement that you won’t do crazy sports like skiing and snowboarding while you’re on a contract, but injuries do commonly happen in the studio.  Just last year, I was in class and landed wrong coming down from a jump during petite allegro; I ended up pulling a ligament on the outside of my left ankle.  I could still take barre, but my foot doctor wouldn’t let me turn or jump for a month since I would run the risk of tearing the ligament.  It was actually great having a chance to get down to basics and re-train myself so that when I did start jumping again, my technique had greatly improved.  The only problem was, I had shows coming up and had to jump back into rehearsals immediately.  It’s hard to be careful when you’re doing intense choreography as opposed to class work.  That ankle still gives me trouble every now and then.

Last week, I was landing from a pirouette and when the foot in passe came down, my pointe shoe slipped.  I didn’t have time to shift my weight forward and, before I knew it, I was on the floor with a throbbing ankle.  It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what happened, but when I came down, my foot beveled and all of the weight went to my right ankle/inside of my arch.  It tweaked my knee a bit, but the biggest problem was the outside of my foot.  All the way from my pinkie toe to the top of my ankle bone, the tendons were strained.  I was limping for the next few days and am still waiting to get into the foot doctor.  I’ll have to take a bit of time off to make sure I don’t injure it further.

The only way I get through injuries and recoveries is by seeing the bright side of it.  Yes, I can’t do certain steps for a while and have to take time off, but at the same time, it gives me a break and lets me get back to basics with my technique.  No, its’ not much fun, but it helps me cope.  I’m sure all of you have had to take time off at one point or another due to injuries.  What did you do to get through it and get back into the groove?

Hello Everyone!

What motivates you?

I have many motivating factors.  Whether it be with my kids, my husband, with my daughter’s dance or son’s sports, it’s requires motivation.  It is about completing a job well done.  I always reach for higher expectations than I could go for.  There is no job I take on to do half way.  I think that in life when you give more than you have to, you will almost never regret putting the effort in.  Even if the outcome isn’t what I expected or hoped for at times, it still makes it all worth it.

Of course there are always the wins.  The times where you reach high…almost too high and you surprised yourself.  There is never shame in shooting for the stars, even if you fall short.  There is only shame in not trying hard enough.

So now I ask…what will you reach for next?  How high will you strive to climb with that dream?

Competition season is upon us, and this is such a great experience for dancers, but it can also be very stressful.  I have come up with a list of competition essentials to help dancers get through this crazy time.

#1 – Get plenty of sleep.  If you are not well rested, there are greater chances of injury and forgetting choreography.  Get at least 7 hours of sleep the night before you compete so you can be refreshed and ready to go in the morning!

#2 – Always eat something.  Your body depends on food to give you energy.  If you are performing all day, you are going to need plenty of energy to perform your best.  Make sure to eat plenty of fruits and light carbohydrates.  Stay away from junk food and heavier foods that may make you feel too full.

#3 – Always have an extra pair of tights.  You never know what can happen when dancing on stage, and there is always a chance that you will get a big run in your tights during a performance.  If those are the only tights you have, you will be stuck with them for the rest of the competition.  Another mini tip: Have clear nail polish on hand; if you put this around the run, it prevents the hole from getting bigger.

#4 – Make sure to wear blush and lipstick.  The lights on the stage can make a dancer look very pale.  Wearing lipstick and blush will bring color to your face and not drown you out on stage.

#5 – Warm up and stretch properly.  A dancer should always warm up and stretch before any type of dancing to help prevent injury.  Many dancers forget to do this during competition because they are very busy with costume changes and running their choreography back stage.  Try to arrive at the facility early so you give yourself plenty of time to warm up and stretch.  This will lower the risk of injury during the performance.

#6 – Relax and stay confident.  Try not to panic before you go on stage;  just let all of your hard work and practice show in your performance and you’ll be fine.  The more confident you are in yourself, the better you will be;  for competition and for the rest of your dancing career.

Competing is a great experience for a dancer; it can teach you many things that you can use now and throughout the rest of your life.  But most of all, have fun!

Hello Everyone!

My name is Shelli, and I’m here to answer your dance questions! But,  I guess the best place to start is to give you a little history about myself.

To begin, I wear a LOT of hats in life.  Like most moms, I am completely twisted and pulled in all directions, at all times.  I am a mother of 3 amazing kids (I know we all say that…but they really are).  My kids are very close in age but for the next month I don’t get to look completely insane and tell you that my kids ages are 21, 21, and 19.  Until my baby turns 20 March 2^nd.  Then the head scratching begins when I say my kids are 21, 21, and 20!  So yes, I did have twins (boy & girl) and a 3^rd just 15 months later.  They are a dancer/business owner, a senior at Chapman University (Graduating with top honors), and a sophomore at Idaho State who also plays football for them!

But aside from a mother of 3, I am a wife of 23 years, a business owner for the last 20 years and the matriarch of my entire family. I am also a grantie (yes that’s spelled right) of 5 nieces, mother to my 4 dogs, 3 cats, 3 bothers, 1 sister and sometimes my Husband & my father.  I am also partner in a dance wear business with my daughter, and the PR & Special Projects Manager for Discount Dance Supply.

So what does that have to do with my knowing anything about dance and dancers?  Well, I guess it begins with my daughter.  She’s an amazing young woman who has navigated her way thru the maze of being a student, a competitor, a protégé, a professional, a teacher, a judge and a business owner…all in the world of dance.  So without a conscious effort dance and the dance world have been a very big part of my life for 15 years now.

What I would like to accomplish with blogging is to talk.  About every possible subject in the world of dance I can  speak with relative confidence about.  I know that as a mother of a dancer, there were so many moments that I needed a friend…a confidant…an advisor who knew the road I was on.  Hopefully I can provide some of this to you.  I have been through it all as a mother of a ballerina and now out there watching it all from different angles in the business world of dance and competitions.  So feel free to comment back to me…ask questions…give me your thoughts.

I want to leave you with some questions to begin the conversation….

What’s your goal in dance with your child?  What motivates you?  What motivates them?

Hello everyone!

I want to give a little thought to competitions, primarily how you cope when things go wrong.  A few weeks ago, I watched students from my studio compete in a competition, and most of the transitions from piece to piece were smooth and seamless, but the tension built up when one of my friends was about to go on and they turned on the wrong music.  The announcer said “Attention judges:  the next number will be …” The next girl stepped onstage and took her pose, but her music was wrong as well.  They had switched it with my friend’s piece!  Then came the awkward part where the announcer asked the dancer to please leave the stage.  My friend had to wait through about five dances before they straightened out the music and went back to her.  By that time, there is no telling how much her adrenaline and nerves had built up.  She did fairly well, but you could tell that she was past her peak as far as stress levels go.

I once fell during the Medora variation from Le Corsaire, right at the beginning of the piece.  When landing from a jump my foot slipped behind me (slippery stage + pointe shoes = disaster) so I catapulted forward and fell right on my face.  The audience gasped, but for some reason my mind was so calm and set on giving them a show, I bounced back up and didn’t miss a beat in the music.  The crazy part is, I look back and remember that performance as one of my favorites.  After that fall, there was nothing worse that could happen, so I just danced my heart out and the audience cheered at the end.  It felt great!  I find nothing more invigorating than giving a good show.

In my years of competing, I have had several experiences with mixed music, costume malfunctions, and falling flat on my face onstage.  The question is:  how do you cope when something goes wrong?  For me, it all comes down to mental preparation.  A few years ago, my parents gave me a motivational cd series called the Psychology of Winning.  That it my top choice when I need to get in “the zone”.  It’s not necessarily about winning, but having a mindset that anything is possible.  After all, you become what you think about most of the time.  I always perform best when I take a few minutes to be in a quiet place by myself, close my eyes, listen to my ipod, and get in “the zone”.  How do you prepare for competitions and deal with mishaps?  Embarrassing stories welcome!

-Lizzy

In July 2009, Dance Teachers from all over the country converged on New York City Dance Teacher Summit’s recital costume preview and fashion show…and the time has come again! The conference is a 3 day line up of 900 of your fellow dance teachers, 3 motivating days of dance in NYC, World renowned dance instructors and much, much more.

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