Master Teacher

Perhaps it was because of my training in music, that early on in my dancing career I was frequently given teaching assignments. Certainly, it was because of recurring knee problems that I became interested in the scientific and kinesiological aspects of teaching dance. Within weeks of removing grand plies in fourth position from my own daily regimen (at the suggestion of Beatrice Tompkins of the New York City and Joffrey Ballets), my knees stopped aching. A few years later, when I was teaching at the American Dance Festival, I attended my first kinesiology lecture (given by Sally Fitt of UCLA and the University of Utah). Sensing the wisdom of her words, which at the time were considered controversial, I stopped giving grand plies entirely and began to devise other stylistically appropriate exercises to provide the benefits of the grand plie without exposing my students to its risks. I do give the occasional grand plie now (but never in fourth), usually near the end of the barre and only to those who have mastered their foot and ankle alignment.

My most formative ballet teachers were Anatole Vilzak, Igor Schwezzov, Edward Caton, Eric Bruhn, Benjamin Harkarvy, Robert Joffrey, Arnold Spohr, Audrey de Vos, Kirsten Ralov, Vera Volkova and Asaf Messerer. These teachers, who represent the finest of the English, Danish, Russian and American School, along with those teachers who exposed me to more contemporary styles, Robert Moulton, Betty Jones, Clay Talliafero, Matt Mattox and Martha Myers, also taught me about the dynamics involved in teaching dance. And as I think back, I realize they all brought a sense of joy and nobility to their teaching which still sustains me.

These teachers, also, all encouraged my musical sensibilities. The success of the courses and master classes I have given in music for dancers, I owe to them, for they taught me not only the many things in music that were there for the dancer to hear, but how to communicate through movement, what they hear.

While I was still a principal dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and just beginning my choreographic career, I made several cross-country tours assisting Walter Terry (dance critic of the New York Herald Tribune and the Saturday Review) in the presentation of lecture-demonstrations on various aspects of theatrical dance. Walter's great love of the art of movement and his ability to get directly (and with humor) to the heart of a matter encouraged me to learn and enjoy more about dancing. Over the past few years I have found myself invited to teach for the National Association of Regional Ballet, the American College Dance Festival the Cecchetti Council, and all sorts of dance groups as well to present lectures and the occasional paper. Here is a list of some of those that I have enjoyed presenting.

Teaching Ponte to Late Beginners, was a paper and workshop at the Symposium on the Science and Somatics of Dance at the University of Utah. This was published in IMPULSE, The Journal of Dance Science, Medicine and Education, Volume 3, October 1995.

Teaching and Teaching and Teaching Ballet: A Somatic and Student Centered Approach, was a paper and workshop presented at the Dance Science Symposium at the University of California at Irvine.

At the University of Iowa I was a guest in residence giving master classes in Ballet and Ballet Pedagogy.

At Iowa State University and the University of Houston I have given master classes in Ballet and in Choreography, Improvisation and Performance.

On the 1997 Distinguished Lecturer Series at the University of Arizona I spoke on Carmina Burana: The Ultimate Metaphor and Training the American Dancer.

I regularly give guest classes at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. This past fall I presented a Teacher Training Workshop there for the Dallas Independent School District in which I worked with teachers certified to teach dance in the public schools

In October, 1998, I will present a paper on the nurturing the Appreciation of Dance, in the " New Trends in Dance Teaching" portion of the "Continents in Movement" Dance Conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

This summer, as every summer, I will be spending the month of June teaching for the David Taylor Dance Theatre Summer Intensive in Denver. With me will be Milton Myers teaching modern.