What I'm Grateful For

What I am incredibly grateful for is the increasing awareness among our donors of how vitally important it is to support true artistic excellence in our city. Looking back on 25 years, I see that the foundations, many businesses, the city government under Mayor Wharton, and the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce and Arts Memphis are energetically embracing the creative spirit as a way of expressing what we can be as a city and as a community. They also understand how necessary it is to embrace the drive toward dreams—dreams that can inspire and express the community’s soul.

I also am grateful for the leadership of a number of arts organizations in this city, their goodwill, commitment to excellence, and collaborative and companionable spirit, particularly with us. Stax, Hattiloo, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Brooks Museum of Art, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Playhouse on the Square, the National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis College of Art, Collage dance Collective, Theatre Memphis, Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Opera Memphis—such good leadership and I am lucky to count them as friends.

This means that we are increasingly working together to make sure our art forms take a place in civic dialogue and civic progress, and include a wide embrace, so all people get a share at the feast.

I am so grateful that I, the lone Southerner, have been given the amazing opportunity to study with 100 of the finest arts leaders across the world in the NAS Executive Fellowship program. My first round at University of Michigan was exciting beyond words. And it is always affirming to see what high esteem Ballet Memphis is held in, both nationally and in some cases, globally. As we wrestle with questions no one has the answers for, in the middle of such rapid convergence, change, boundaries blurring, economies rising and falling, disparate media, it is my great fortune, and the fortune for Memphians who recognize that cultural upheaval provides great opportunities for innovation and creativity, to be part of this amazing group of thinkers.

I am thrilled that our collaboration with Collage dance Collective was so rewarding for all of us and that Nutcracker was the best ever. It was marvelous to have the Symphony back in the pit. Watching our professional dancers grow in partnerships, like Hideko and Kendall, or Ginny and Brandon, while Crystal and Rafael continue to have so much fun dancing together, is just a triple treat! Our trainees are so good this season and also so very willing to make a difference and be an inspiration, including going into the community centers with our childhood obesity program.

Reflecting also means ways we can see to grow:

There is still not enough understanding or appreciation for different leadership viewpoints and in artistic decision making, particularly the kind that asks for a less patriarchal, top-down approach, and involves expression of community and nest-building, for lack of a better word. That is something I look forward to addressing more, on a national front as well. And as the middle class shrinks and poverty increases across the United States, I hope the arts become a more vital voice in counteracting the fear, divisiveness, anger and finger-pointing, that can become so strident.

The opportunity to find instant information is breathtaking, but it also means that the opportunity for lies to spread to maintain power bases increases. Ultimately, arts groups that insist we be the best we can be, the most concerned, compassionate and committed to aspiring toward high standards, will give the most to all of us in the world.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Reaching and Teaching

Before I moved here I knew that Ballet Memphis made a solid effort to connect with the community, but I could never imagine the reward it would give me once I joined the effort. I took something away from each of the 10 Connections:Kids performances we put on, but I think our first outreach had the great affect on me. I remember the performance vividly. We were putting on a production for about 30 kids in the effort to educate them on the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Having never danced at a community center for such a young audience, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, once the bright-eyed elementary students walked in, their positive energy was contagious.

As the opening commercial played, I peeked around the screen to see the children's faces as Evan was dancing a kung-fu solo with a Pepsi commercial streaming behind him. I saw all their heads turning from the commercial back to the dancing, yelling with excitement whenever Evan jumped close to them. These kids were giving us all of their attention, so when the time came for me to perform to a Michael Jackson commercial with Elizabeth, (a fellow company member) I was ready to give all of that energy right back.

I didn't have to hold back around these kids, they were laughing and clapping as we wiggled our knees to the beat. At the end of the commercial, Karl Condon, Ballet Memphis' artistic director, told us to bring some of the kids onstage to dance with us. After we got a few kids up there, more were reaching out their hands for us to pull them on stage. I was so overwhelmed, I wanted to bring them all onstage. Two little girls then grabbed my hands and pulled me around while they hopped to the music. I couldn't help but smile.

The attention and interest the kids gave me was the most rewarding aspect of our outreach performances. That's what kept things exciting: a new type of audience and a new kind of reaction awaited us at each new community center. After almost every outreach, we would teach our audience a small dance to perform in front of their peers. The commitment the children had to picking up the choreography we presented gave me the ultimate satisfaction. I'm excited to see their reactions to contemporary ballet when we return to return to these community centers to perform in the spring. But most of all, I'm hoping some of the children feel inspired enough to perform for us so we can sit in the audience and cheer them on.

-- Carly Wheaton

Holidays Away From Home

Being away from home during the holiday season is something that has taken me a long time to get used to. My whole family lives in Scotland, and I have not been home for the holidays since 2002. Fortunately, though, I have my Memphis family to help get me into the holiday spirit.

Every year, the dancers who stay in town get together for a big potluck Thanksgiving dinner. Kendall takes care of making the turkey and his famous mac and cheese. (He is quite a master chef.) Julie makes potatoes and a delicious pie.

We usually give the turkey a name; last year I think we called her Birdadette. I am completely useless at cooking, but I am a great assistant and highly skilled with a sponge and some soapy water. Thanksgiving is a fun American holiday, and I really enjoy it before we start our run of the Nutcracker.

For Christmas, I spend the day with Rachel and her family in Olive Branch, Miss. Rachel’s grandmother is from England, and she always makes sure to bake me traditional mince meat pies. She also insists that I use her telephone to make as many long distance phone calls to Scotland as I want. I am so fortunate to have such a kind and generous family to invite me to share their holiday with them. I love them dearly.

I fondly remember a few holiday traditions from my childhood in Scotland. My birthday is December 13, and that was the day my Mum would let me put up the Christmas tree. Christmas day was spent at home or with my uncle and his family.

Scottish people love New Year’s Eve. We call it Hogmanay, and it is really just another excuse for our families to get together and party again. On New Year’s Eve we would get up early and eat breakfast, then my grandmother would come over. She is quite superstitious and believed that the whole house had to be cleaned and organized from top to bottom. She would say, “Ye canny go in tae the New Year wae yir hoose lookin’ a mess!” (I dare you to try and decipher that, ha!)

So we would spend the day cleaning, and then around 4 or 5 p.m. we would take a bath and my mum would put us to bed for a nap. She would wake us up around 10 p.m., and we would get ready for the big dinner she had made while we were asleep. We would eat stew or a steak pie (definitely not Haggis!), and my grandfather would eat mushy peas drowned in vinegar, which always grossed me out.

When the New Year arrived or "The Bells," as we called it, we would wait for friends or family to come over, and we would play and party until the wee hours of the morning. I am so thankful that I still have these memories after so long.

I would like to wish you a very happy holiday season. I hope that it is filled with love and happiness. If all your family can't be together, then please be sure to tell them that you love them and that no matter how far away they might be, that you will always be together at heart.

Happy Holidays.

-- Steven McMahon

My Experience with Connections:Kids

Joining Ballet Memphis this year as a trainee has given me so many opportunities to learn and grow. I was surprised and gratified to learn that those opportunities don't occur only in the ballet studio. Coming from Chicago, I received something of a crash course in understanding Memphis' neighborhoods, people and social dynamics through Connections:Kids.

I think it's safe to say that all of the members of Connections:Kids cast were a little dubious about traveling to some of Memphis' more unsavory neighborhoods to perform at community centers for inner-city children. We weren't sure how they would react to a group of obviously physically fit, fairly privileged teenagers and young adults telling them how to be healthy and what to eat.

Personally, I worried that the message our program was meant to communicate, about the benefits of proper nutrition and frequent exercise, would be a tough sell. i was worried that the kids wouldn't find anything to identify with in our performance or would be turned off by how different we seemed to be.

However, I was pleasantly surprised from the get-go by how enthusiastic our audiences were. From the start, the kids were fully engaged in our performance. The "oohs" and "aahs" were contagious as they watched Marcelino lift a girl above his head in a full-press lift. The kids were even more amazed by Bryn's multiple fouettes en pointe, and the fact that she wore her nose ring along with her tutu and pointe shoes was a source of amusement as well.

They clamoured to be part of our breakout groups after the show, where we taught them snippets of the choreography we had just performed. They kept coming back for more hugs, and they loved to show us their own dance moves. We even had a group of girls perform a fully formed routine that they had choreographed themselves, complete with counts and vocal accompaniment.

Connections:Kids may have been designed as a teaching tool for kids in underserved Memphis communities, but it taught our dancers something as well. I wasn't the only cast member less than thrilled to drive to neighborhoods in Memphis that prompt the warning "lock your doors and take all of your valuables inside with you." But at every single performance, we were greeted with appreciation and genuine excitement. Regardless of our perceived socioeconomic differences, the kids truly made the effort to connect to us as dancers and to the work we performed.

We had one performance in a center where a child had been shot and killed in the community a few days prior, and our audience was dramatically reduced because most of the children were attending the boy's funeral. Despite the somber circumstances, the center's director went on about how grateful he was that we had brought our art to share with his kids. I couldn't help but gain a little perspective from this experience.

What we do as dancers can't change the realities of everyday life. Many kids in Memphis will be lucky if their families have enough money to buy fresh fruits and vegetables every week, and the only exercise they might get will be in a gym or schoolyard. Some can't afford a ballet lesson, let alone a pair of pointe shoes. I know it sounds corny and maybe even self-congratulatory to say that sometimes the most we can do is inspire them.

But I have to say that with the kids I met during Connections:Kids, the inspiration was a two-way street. They greeted us with open hearts, full of affection, energy and eagerness to learn, and as a performer, you can't ask for a better audience than that.

-- Elizabeth Mensah

My Memphis Story

It's the week of Thanksgiving, and as always, it's a time to reflect on the things in our lives that we may take for granted any other week of the year. This year, I can't help but be grateful that I'm in Memphis. It's been at the front of my mind during my commute to work each morning as I've passed the beautiful trees dressed in the vibrant colors this season has brought. I think it has been an exceptionally lovely autumn and has made me appreciate the beauty of my hometown more than usual.

This city is special to me and I am blessed to call it my home. Not many dancers are as fortunate as I am to have been born in a city with such a fabulous ballet company. When my parents enrolled me at Ballet Memphis (then Memphis Concert Ballet) as a 5-year-old, I'm sure they had no idea that their choice of ballet schools would basically design the course of my life. I loved growing up in the school and all the opportunities that came along with being a Ballet Memphis student. I remember watching and admiring the professional dancers.

As a Junior Company member, I got to dance with the company in many of their mainstage productions. I'm sure had I not loved every second of those experiences, I wouldn't have chosen to become a professional dancer. As a junior at White Station High School, I knew that I wanted to dance professionally, but not just with any company. I wanted to be a part of the company I had grown up adoring. I remember discussing with my parents that I could try it for a year and if it wasn't for me, I could always go to college and choose a different path. That first trial year as a 17-year-old apprentice was followed by six additional years that seemed to fly by.

I spent 2008-2009 with The Trey McIntyre Project, but following that year, I came home to Memphis to heal a shin fracture. After taking a year off from ballet completely, I returned to Ballet Memphis and felt more at home than ever. The two years away from this company, made it so evident to me where my heart wanted to be. I am so deeply connected to this city and this ballet company. I feel that they both have greatly formed important parts of my identity.

Now, as I'm in the middle of my ninth season with the company, I love running into people that I went to high school with or other girls that I grew up with in the Junior Company who have since gone in different directions. Just this morning, while having brunch at Brother Juniper's, I ran into an old friend, reminding me that Memphis is just a very big small town. I love that I have a history here with family and friends. I've always thought it a great privilege to dance for people I know and who know me. With Nutcracker just a couple of weeks away, I'm remembering my Saturday evening show last year, where so many of my friends and family were at the Orpheum to see me perform as the Sugar Plum Fairy. I think I had nearly 70 people in the audience! It was a magical night, but I always feel a bond with our Memphis audience because I've been performing here for so long now.

I am so thankful to call Memphis home. And I'm equally grateful to have found such a wonderful home with Ballet Memphis. What better time to ponder all of this than during Thanksgiving. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday this week and will take a few moments to think about all the wonderful things our city has to offer, especially Ballet Memphis. See you all at Nutcracker.

-- Virginia Pilgrim

Nutcracker in Today's Society

Recently, a large headline in The Commercial Appeal jumped out at me:

NEW RESEARCH FINDS PEACE BREAKING OUT IN THE WORLD

Honestly, how many times has any headline news been so wonderful? It reminded me of one of the reasons why we might see far more dismaying items about humanity than we do hopeful ones. I recently saw a study showing that human beings are more drawn to sorrow than happiness. We look for sadness, or for fear and anger. This may be because for so many thousands of years we had to protect our caves and our grains and our children from marauders of some kind. But, if the trends the research cited in this recent article continue, we may soon find that we are, as a species, choosing hope over cynicism, creativity over destruction, and love over the violence and discord our fears can engender.

I truly believe that when you choose to attend something beautiful, excellent and idealistic, as you do when you buy a Ballet Memphis Nutcracker ticket, you are coming down on the side of peace, hope and optimism. If there ever was a story that celebrates the capacity of our innocent childlike nature to triumph, to imagine a beautiful world where dreams come true, it is in this ballet. The world of giving, of sharing, starts at the beginning of the story when Clara is given her party dress, and it goes on until the curtain descends. A lovely party is given for friends and family. Gifts are passed out to all the children. A fallen rose is passed on to a shy teenage girl. Gingerbread cookies are available to each departing guest. And when the Nutcracker is broken, he is given care by Herr Drosselmeyer's bandaging him, and of course, by even more of Clara's love.

And when Clara is given a struggle to overcome in the Battle Scene, she does so, and then journeys to a more perfect world, where all await to dance their particular culture’s dance in gratitude for the young child’s bravery, and celebrating her affection for her Nutcracker. Weapons have been cast aside in favor of dancing, frankly. If that isn’t looking forward to better, more peaceful times, what is?

In this wonderful time of the year when many people of many faiths gather their loved ones together, Ballet Memphis is honored that you chose our Nutcracker as a place to experience these moments of hope, of peace, of delight, of real human beauty. We would love for you to gather with us elsewhere as well, in the rest of our professional company’s performances this season, in our nurturing Ballet Memphis School and our excellent STOTT PILATES® classes, in support of our reach into the community with our Stax mentoring, Youth Villages work, Dance Avenue programs in the public schools, and our childhood obesity dance program with community centers.

When you leave this theatre, we hope you will return throughout the year to the feelings you brought here and left with, when you stopped to choose what is hopeful about human beings giving joyfully to one another, so that the peace of this season will continue to grow and spread in our lives and throughout the world.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Nutcracker: Through the Years

Being a part of Ballet Memphis’s production of Nutcracker is one of the best experiences that I have ever had. Auditioning is just step one of the process. For me, auditions are nerve-wracking yet very exhilarating; year after year I audition, but each time it is just as difficult. When I walk into an audition hundreds of thoughts rush through my mind all at once. I hear thoughts telling me to relax or focus, while at the same time I am asking myself if am I doing my best and is my best good enough? I personally believe that auditions are the hardest part of a production process.

Step two: Cast list. Waiting for the email or waiting to see the cast list takes patience. The day that I finally see the email notifying me of my role in Nutcracker is always an exciting day. Although it is a disappointment if I do not get the role I want, I have realized that it is an honor to be a part of the production, and every role is important. The roles that I have received in the Nutcracker have been polichinelle, soldier, party girl, supernumerary, and this year, angel. Although the role of angel seems to be a promising new favorite, I would have to say that being in the party scene has been my favorite thus far. In the party scene, some of the boys and girls are privileged to dance with the company members and interact with them. Something that makes Ballet Memphis so special is the relationship between the company dancers and the students. Being in a production in which there is an opportunity to dance with the professional company is incredible.

The rehearsal process, step three, is one of my favorite phases in producing a show. I love seeing the growth and development that occurs over the course of a couple of months. Step four: performance time. Before a performance, the Junior Company takes warm-up classes backstage. The warm-up classes put us all in the Christmas spirit as we dance to various Christmas classics and attempt the fun yet challenging combinations that go along with the music. The dressing rooms are always full of laughter and enthusiasm. Some dancers sing along to Nutcracker music while helping others with their hair, make-up or costumes. For many of us, we thoroughly enjoy the student performances, hearing Mr. Condon interact with the students each year before the show reminding them of the ballet etiquette in a fun manner. I love to watch from the wings because you get to see the show from a different perspective, and being a dancer you notice things that the audience might not be able to see or recognize. Performing on stage in the Orpheum and seeing the entire show put together is very rewarding. The last performance always brings bittersweet emotions, and everyone is trying to make it his or her best performance. While some know that they will not be back until the following year, others realize that this is their last opportunity to perform Nutcracker on the Orpheum stage.

-- Mollie Marshall
Mollie, a 9th grader at Hutchison, is in her third year with the Junior Company. She's been with Ballet Memphis since she was little, and is currently in Ballet 8, the top level. This year will be Mollie's fifth year to perform in Ballet Memphis' Nutcracker.

Balancing Act

I have been a dancer with Ballet Memphis since 2004. I met the man of my dreams in Memphis, and we got married on July 3, 2010; we just celebrated our one-year anniversary!

It has been hard balancing my professional dance career, teaching Pilates and ballet, choreographing for the Company and the Junior Company, and being a supportive wife.

Matthew, my husband, is in theater, working as a freelance lighting and scenic designer. Some months he works on three or four shows at a time and is rarely home. And now that I am teaching Pilates before and after my own class, I work 12-hour days sometimes, so I’m not home very long at night.The great thing is that he absolutely loves dance and loves to design lights for dance, and we have a mutual respect for one another’s art.

Usually, when I have a Ballet Memphis performance, he is also in the middle of putting on a show, so we are constantly missing each other. But when time permits, he is at every show/rehearsal of ours, and the same goes for me for his productions.

I will admit, performing in a theater all the time, and then on your day off going to the theater to see your husband’s show is difficult, but then I get to sit back and enjoy his talents. We usually make a date night out of it by going to dinner before the show and trying to catch up on each other’s lives.

The best part of having Matthew as my husband is that we are a team. He is my constant support system, my own personal foot masseur, and my very dearest friend to go to with my problems. And to know that there is someone rooting for you in the audience is a wonderful feeling.

-- Julie Niekrasz

Playing a Part

Working on a character role is something that I find incredibly challenging and welcoming at the same time. It produces different obstacles when performing a role. You not only have to execute the steps properly but also understand who your character is and the way that they would perform the choreography. On the other hand, dancing a character role gives you guidance in how the steps should be done because the work is often initiated by the role you are playing. Your direction is truly derived from within.

Dancing the role of the Nurse in Steven McMahon’s Romeo and Juliet was truly a gift. I was given the foundation of who my character was and the choreography by Steven, but was given the freedom to develop her and her relationship with each of the women playing Juliet. It was one of the first times on stage that I really felt like I was performing a character role that I continuously could grow and feed. Being in control of the evolution of my character from the beginning of the ballet to its tragic end created a new experience each time I stepped foot onto the stage.

The role of Cupid in Trey McIntyre’s The Naughty Boy is another character role that I find intriguing. Cupid is a mischievous, somewhat androgynous character who likes to take part in a little friendly meddling in the relationships of four different couples. The character is an interesting duality of both masculine and feminine qualities, not a far cry from my strengths as a dancer. The part is technically very difficult but is made easier with the fact that the style of the choreography and the character coincide with one another. I was fortunate to be involved in the creation of this part when it premiered in 2004 and had the opportunity to perform it here in Memphis and at the Joyce Theater in New York in 2007. I am very excited to have the opportunity to revisit this work at a different point in my life and career. Like all things that we do in dance, character role or not, it is our life experiences as human beings that so strongly define who we are as artists.

Pictured practicing The Little Prince at First Congo during one of Ballet Memphis' Open Rehearsals.

2BLoved

A little prince and a naughty boy...don't you think we can all say we understand something of both? The ability to be elegant and the ability to make mischief? Throughout the history of art, there are countless times where the youngest ones tell us what we need to see, hear, and do, in order to understand and value life. Often, it is the most innocent who are the closest to what is most meaningful.

Pairing these two pieces is no accident. In The Naughty Boy, Cupid is manifesting our yearning to make sense of our loves, our relationships, those extraordinarily momentous happenings that bring us together. Is it happenstance? Is there a plan? Even if we do not have the answers, there are certainly times where our hearts soar and life feels like a lark. Cupid shoots a weapon but is love a wound? After all, our hearts are pierced. The initial love potion is strong, and delightful, but a wound, nonetheless. And our Cupid in this ballet has a tongue-in-cheek twist--he's a girl! There are no hard answers here. Our assumptions, our secure and comfortable boundaries, must be set aside if we are going to romp along with this ethereal creature. Choreographer Trey McIntyre planted a coonskin cap on his all-girl Tennessee Cupid, and takes us on a mad dash, pell-mell through a work created on Ballet Memphis that only wonderfully trained professional ballet dancers can execute. It was a hit when we premiered it in Memphis in 2004 and it was a hit when we performed it in New York in 2007. We are pleased to bring it back as we launch our 25th main stage anniversary season.

Ballet Memphis Artistic Associate and former San Francisco principal ballet dancer Julia Adam has reshaped and restaged her The Little Prince for us. Based on the French classic by Antoine de Saint Exupery, how timely this story is! The narrator, a pilot who has crashed in the desert, finds his days there far from barren. The Little Prince has arrived from a very small and fragile planet, and he sees things so much differently than a world-weary grown-up. Things are not what they seem. With a simple message like that, when a hat is really an elephant swallowed by a boa constrictor, we are being told not only that things are not what they seem, but sometimes there are deeper messages we are missing while we are rushing around. And we are being asked if we are taking care of a small piece of the world given to us, as the Little Prince has done on his planet? We actually are living in a time when so much evidence points to the need for us to take care of our earth, yet there is a loud national cry against this very apparent truth. Today, I fear the Little Prince’s tenderness toward his rose would meet a chorus of fear and denial which might even overwhelm those who beg us to take responsibility for our actions on our planet.

Our Little Prince innately is drawn to accepting the world around him and is curious about other worlds. The geographer tells him that flowers are not recorded, "because they are ephemeral." I find this a particularly poignant place in this narrative, to hear the thought that things that are "ephemeral" are discounted. In reality, isn't everything on earth ephemeral? And our art form itself, one moment of beauty after another, seized and released as the dance unfolds before our eyes, is overwhelmingly so. Is there not something tellingly true about valuing each moment given to us, because that is all we have within each moment we are alive? This ephemeral quality, this moment by moment miracle, is a reason to value beautiful dance.

When the Little Prince "tames" the Fox, and makes him a friend, he learns how beautiful and how painful attachment can be. (Remember Cupid's arrows?) As he thinks of the rose on his planet he has loved, nurtured, and protected, his heart has been pierced by what he has loved. The fox teaches him a concept which great artists, and great spiritual leaders are deeply tied to---"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye...It is the time you have wasted on your rose that makes your rose so important...You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."

Think of the many things we love–and tame–in our lives. Do we waste our time on beauty? On the life earth gives us? The Little Prince knows that far away, unseen to him, are his planet and rose he loves. He believes in what he now cannot see. If there is one sacred thing that artist bring to our lives, it is the belief that there are worlds, people, things, and ideas we have not yet seen, things we cannot see. Our imaginations, fueled by love, justice, and curiosity, can be a part of creating these things, or illuminating them, or discovering them. We vividly picture deep within our hearts what we believe might be possible---and we write it, we sing it, we paint it, and dance it.

As we commence our main stage 25th anniversary season with these two beautifully crafted works by these internationally respected choreographers who have been closely associated with us over the years, let's promise to value what we cannot see, except perhaps in our imagination, our dreams, our hopes. Let's remember to waste time on the things in life that won't be "recorded" because they are "ephemeral." Art and heart sound very similar, don't they? Let's touch each others' hearts; let's use art to help us see what cannot be measured, but is incalculable.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Pictured top left, Ballet Memphis company members Crystal Brothers and Travis Bradley, as well as former company member Dawn Fay perform The Naughty Boy in New York in 2007.

Reaching the Community, One Child at a Time

This year, Ballet Memphis, in conjunction with the Junior League of Memphis and ArtsMemphis, started Connections:Kids, a new program that will focus on healthy movement and nutritional education to combat the everyday media influences. Karl Condon, our Associate Artistic Director, writes about some of his outreach experience with Connections:Kids.

I pulled up to the Whitehaven Community Center and immediately scouted for the rental truck, found the rear entrance, and scoped out the space. It was our third performance of Connection:Kids and “Yes!”, we were dancing in the gym! Boys were still playing some round-ball, but we could load-in shortly. We kicked out the floor and set up the large movie screen as several young ladies watched with interest, shyly dancing a jig and a jump so we could see, and I spoke to some young boys to ask if they would dance with us today, the answer being vehemently “no!”. I thought I had just found my first ‘volunteer’.

The clock hit the top of the hour and we were ready to perform. Although we had a small audience at first, it quickly grew with the wide open doors and corridors giving ample access, and the loud music garnering interest. Evan danced a wonderful minute-and-a-half solo to a witty cola commercial, and got the kid’s attention quickly. I strode into the space, iconic red labeled soda in hand, (I tell the kids I’m not picking on any particular brand), and called my young new friend up to join me. I handed him a box of sugar and a spoon, while I held a plastic baggy. I asked the audience to yell and stop his generous scoopings when they thought the sugar in the baggy equalled the sugar in the drink. “Six!” “No.” “Eight!” “No.” “TEN!!” “Well if it was a can, it’d be ten, but this was a larger bottle.” “Stop!”, came the final shout at twelve teaspoons full. Sure the teaspoons were generous, but it makes for an effective demonstration.

We danced our “Cola Montage”, the beautiful dancers clad all in white to “pop” under the dimmed lights and in front of the rear projected movies. The choreography breaks into a free-for-all with the ten professional dancers working into the audience for a spontaneous dance party to the music of Michael Jackson, on the Marley floor. It’s loud. It’s bordering on out of control. It’s just the way I like it. I kept the children in the space, taught them the choreography from the funny Jimmy Fallon commercial, and they performed for the company dancers. All of a sudden they weren’t so shy any more.

Our “Burger Montage” was next on the menu and the expected ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs’ when the dancers did the ‘splits’ were delightfully right on cue. We recited and learned the words to the Big Mac song, and shared a little interactive time, just a few things about exercise, play, good health, and being happy. Time was moving swiftly and we continued on to our final dance.

The kids are too young to remember the Saturday Morning Public Service Announcements I chose for the last montage. They are pithy and border on obnoxious, but are perfect for the dances and our message. Bryn performed her fouettes with aplomb and no one fell off of the seated grapevine lift in the ‘Square Dance’. The dancers introduced themselves, told where they were from and we all took a few questions from the children. Four of the professionals then broke the children into groups and taught them simple choreography which they performed for each other in front of the screen. I had a chance to mingle with the adults while everyone was so diligently working, accept some compliments and hopefully strengthen our relationship with the Center and its Director. The youngsters in the audience were given a homework assignment to create something for us, a song, dance, or commercial, to perform for us when we return. I can’t wait until the Spring!

--Karl Condon

Restaging and Reteaching a Work

One of the works in 2BLoved is Naughty Boy, a fast-paced favorite of many in the community. Since performing it last, however, we have many new dancers and a new, more intimate theatre. Ballet Mistress Tamara Hoffmann gives a glimpse inside the challenges of restaging such a piece.

What are my biggest challenges restaging and reteaching a work? It is an overwhelming amount of work!

Restaging or reteaching a work that has been done before is perhaps one of the most time consuming processes in dance. If there are nine dancers in a piece, and it is 25 minutes long, you have to make sure everyone knows exactly what, when, and where they are doing their steps for the entire piece.

In Naughty Boy, there are 4 different couples who dance as a pair, and at various times as an ensemble. There is also a soloist Cupid role who interacts with all the different couples. In 8 counts of music many, many steps can happen, and with several different people, you have to know the music, the steps, and the arrangement of the different bodies on the stage.

It is an enormous amount of information to learn, and teach. The dancers are very helpful in the process, and have to be quick on their feet (in more ways than one.) Someone has to have the overall knowledge of the entire piece and its many components or it can be chaos!

In dance, we have a very large vocabulary of steps that is understood by all professional dancers, but there are endless additional body movements and gestures that don't have names. They have to be learned in great detail.

Especially in more contemporary ballet based work, the movement possibilities are endless. It is a much faster pace than a classical piece like Swan Lake, which is also incredibly difficult – in its own right. However, in Swan Lake, there aren't as many different movements packed into a phrase of music.

Once the dancers know the steps, we work on the execution of the total piece. Like any professional athlete, the physical component has to be worked on and constantly perfected. Dance is an art form, and is made up of so much more than just difficult physical movement. It's made up of nuances, musicality, movement quality, emotions and the overall artistic vision. It's combining the two that makes coaching fun.

When choosing a particular dancer for a piece, I find that it is helpful to knowing their particular style and body. I know what individual dancers may excel in or struggle with in a movement or phrase, and that affects how we cast the ballet. Once we cast the overall ballet, we focus on a dancers' specific role. From there, I can anticipate problems with certain skills and just give that
section a little more rehearsal. Of course, there are always surprises.

In Naughty Boy, Stephanie Mei Hom is cast in the lead role of Cupid. It is a whimsical, playful part, but it requires incredible athleticism and complex musicality, which she has! Hideko Karasawa is also learning it. She has the technique, but now we
will work on more strength and her delivery, as well as finding her own personality.

Crystal Brothers and Rafael Ferreras are cast as the lead couple and dance one of the most difficult complex pas de deuxs I have ever seen; they are incredible together. With his strength, and her agility, it is truly magic! We are having lots of fun putting it together. Virginia Pilgrim and Brandon Ramey are also learning it, which makes another wonderful partnership.

We've been working on this piece for several weeks now, many hours a day. We can't wait to show this piece to you in a few short weeks!

--Tamara Hoffmann

A Dancer's Perspective

My first season with Ballet Memphis has been full of fun, sweat, and dancing. I had a lot to do in this first show (Connections:Food, our annual fundraiser and season kickoff) so I really got to work with a bunch of the dancers. It was a wonderful introduction into this thriving family of people. Everyone is very committed and open-making for a fast, engaging work process, which I love.

I really enjoyed that I was able to not only dance with my colleagues but also be part of their creative process. Travis Bradley’s piece, which was inspired by diamonds, was a wonderful challenge for me. I got to dance a long duet with Kendall, and I learned so much. I have done a lot of partnering but when the woman is replaced with a man, things change. You have to find new was to share weight and balance your force in a different way. I was so happy that Travis pushed me in this new territory and trusted me to navigate it.

Julie Niekrasz was a pleasure to work with on her piece. She created a very real world for us to dance in and guided us to define our own characters in it. I found new ways to connect with my fellow dancers. I also got to finish the piece with a gorgeous duet with Stephanie Hom. It was so effortless to partner with her, and I was able to lose myself in the “home” we had created between our shared space.

Matthew Neenan is a person I have wanted to work with, and I feel fortunate that our paths crossed here in Memphis. This piece was different in that I was more of a lone character. With the other dances, I felt I was defined by my relationship with my partners whereas with Matthew and I created a person outside of others. I had a great time during the process and in performing Matt’s piece. As my first performance with this amazing company, Connections:Food was perfect. I got to know my fellow dancers and ballet supporters while having a great time dancing.

--Dylan G-Bowley

Pictured top left, performing in Julie Marie Niekrasz's On the Inside, opposite Stephanie Mei Hom. Photo courtesy of Christopher Blank. Pictured bottom right, Dylan came to Ballet Memphis from TMP.

Food for Thought

This Saturday at BRIDGES we bring back what many people think of as the best event in Memphis–Connections: Food. It's also the beginning of our 2011/12 celebration of 25 years of innovative, inspiring, professional dance. In nourishing our bodies and souls, this creative event sets the “barre," so I asked the choreographers to think about the concept of design. As they have worked with their chefs and others, look what has resulted:

You will be treated to an appetizer inspired by diamonds---did you know that long ago, they were thought to have been bits of stars that had fallen to the earth? First, enjoy Karen Carrier’s outdoor signature “Bling Bling” cocktail, Apalachicola oysters, steamed shrimp in lime sauce, steak crostini, and more. Remember Perry Como’s Catch a Falling Star and Put It in Your Pocket? This is one song Travis Bradley used to capture a choreographic gem of purity and innocence that makes your heart smile and has inspired the wonderful first course, Diamonds in the Raw, of sashimi, blue fin tuna gravlax, ponzu brown butter, jeweled wasabi tobiko, candied lime zest and shiso mint sorbet by Chef Mindy Son.

Julie Niekrasz thought about how the wallpaper watches what would go on in a room over the years. (And she chose as one of her songs Unchained Melody with the Righteous Brothers singing.) So Chef Chef Shaggy Duffee from Bayona in New Orleans created Homespun, duck paillard, swiss chard carbonara, cracklin’ and grappa-macerated cherries.

The main course’s work, choreographed by rising new creative dance maker Matthew Neenan from Philadelphia, is a response to a painting by Arshile Gorky, "Water of the Flowering Mill.” It is a fiendishly fiery, rollicking concoction, and when you see what our dancers are given to do, you will know once again why our company is honored nationwide. And former Memphian Ellis Dixon has designed a rich pallet of costumes to accompany the espresso dark-chile chocolate and black pepper roasted lamb loin, butternut squash parmesan and garlic mash, and negroamaro fig demi-glace by Chef Jason Severs.

Kendall Britt’s work closes the evening for the dessert course, based on what he thought of as the way human beings can design their own happiness. And, zydeco composer and artist Marcella Simien wrote the music for this warm and gently happy work…accompanied by Chef Jenny Dempsey’s fudgey euphoria: dreamy chocolate fudge, red sea salt, white chocolate red peppercorn gelato and rose sugar.

I can't wait to take my seat at the table, hopefully, beside you.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Dancing Through Life

I started taking ballet lessons with Dorothy Gunther Pugh at Memphis Concert Ballet when I was in the first grade. I do not remember much about those early years, but my mother tells me I was Mrs. Pugh's shadow. While the other children would wait patiently for her to demonstrate the steps, I would follow closely behind, too excited to notice I was the only student chasing her across the room.

I love dance; it has always thrilled me. I even love watching other people dance, because I believe dance is a part of all of us. I was fortunate to find ballet as a vehicle for my artistic expression. While growing up in the Ballet Memphis School, I was encouraged to use my imagination to develop my passion. I was taught to work hard with integrity and discipline.

There were five years of classes before I was allowed to audition for the Junior Company. The day I was accepted I remember thinking, "This is the greatest day of my life." I was right. In the Junior Company I was introduced to the beauty of performing. Being part of the Junior Company gave me the opportunity to share all that I had learned and loved with others. While working with Ms. Parke, I learned the importance of connecting to others through my dancing. She gave me countless insights on using movement to convey story and emotion, and always pushed me to explore and work on my own.

After graduating high school, I was offered a trainee position with the company. I did not know at the time that I was stepping into a new world of possibility, but what a beautiful experience it has been dancing with Ballet Memphis. I continue to be inspired by my fellow dancers every day. Their commitment and talent is life-changing, and I am always amazed at their generosity on stage, how they give so much of themselves to the work. Ballet Memphis is unique and I cannot imagine my life without it. It has become my second home, where I am pushed to love more, give honestly and never give up. I am grateful that Ballet Memphis is also a place where I can pass my experience along to someone else who might also find hope in its beauty.

-- Rachel Shumake

Pictured top left, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Memphis Redbirds game. Her red pointe shoes were from The Wizard of Oz. Pictured bottom right, Rachel appeared on the front cover of Ballet Memphis' 25th Anniversary season mailer.

Designing My Happiness

I'm incredibly honored to be choreographing my first commission piece for Ballet Memphis. It's a lot of hard work and extra hours spent outside of the studio thinking about a concept and figuring out ways to make what I want to say 'danceable'. I'm collaborating with a local musician and artist on this ballet. Fille Catatonique is the eclectic sound of Marcella René Simien. Her original music and art work, as well as stories, coincide with my theme of the design of happiness. We are both young people and artists figuring out our paths in this world. It's been even more eye opening to share thoughts and ideas back and forth with someone who is so talented, and in another artistic field.

I fell in love with Marcella's music over the summer and it was obvious to me from the beginning that I would use her works and catalog. Her voice is so full of love and pain and sorrow, all things we experience on our road to happiness.

--Kendall G. Britt, Jr.

A question for the AD ... “How do you acclimate new dancers to the Ballet Memphis family and to the larger community of Memphis?”

I start the assimilation process by watching each dancer carefully during auditions. I am not just watching technique and body type. I am closely looking at faces to see what I can discern about a personality—how one listens, observes, processes, thinks and puts personal spirit into his or her presence. After auditions, I always have conversations with the people I’ve kept in whom I feel are of interest. I also talk with them about the things that make Memphis an interesting city, still being honest that we have challenges to work on as a community. So the first parts of assimilation begin the moment a dancer walks into an audition. When it comes time to offer contracts to my first choices, I learn more about these dancers through additional conversations. I also encourage them to talk to dancers in the company about who we are, how we work, what we believe in.

With new and returning company members alike, I just try to keep the exchange of ideas open—to talk with them about values of thinking; giving our talents to our community in ways that are meaningful; and why particular roles they are dancing matter in our human conversations. That is, after all, what performance is: a conversation about life with our audience. And as public people, we have to possess sort of a sixth sense about what matters to others because we serve them, even if we aren’t “talking” when we dance. Whether onstage or off, we are still talking with our bodies, and we have to be intuitive and feeling enough to “hear” what others’ responses are to us.

I always want dancers to understand that they live in the world, not to think that dance is the world. We have talents we bring to others, and we need to be curious, thoughtful and respectful of people who may be different or have chosen different ways to be in the world.

This photo was taken the first day of contract before all the dancers took their first class together. It's been a great two weeks thus far, and looking forward to a wonderful anniversary season.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Reaching Further

For some, an anniversary is a time of reflection. Although it is for us as we celebrate 25 years, we also see it as a chance to lift Memphis higher, and reach even further into our community. During this special season we are embarking on an unprecedented nine tours from Florida to California; beginning a new Connections: Kids series to help battle childhood obesity; taking our FUSE program into STAX Music Academy; and even starting a new Pas de Brew free studio event for our patrons. But not unlike our other seasons we're also presenting six new works, including ones from Julia Adam, Matthew Neenan, Steven McMahon, Travis Bradley, Julie Niekrasz and Kendall Britt. Take a look at our 25th season, and let us know your thoughts, buy a season ticket, attend a performance or an outreach, even volunteer. We know we wouldn't be where we are today without all of the patrons, donors, students, corporations, dancers, staff, choreographers and more; but we also know that when we work together, we reach further.

Earth and Sky

Source

As we bring our glorious professional company and creativity to, yet again, a new venue—the grove at Memphis Zoo’s Teton Trek—what better way to celebrate than to connect our thoughts and minds to the natural world around us. Stopping to think about how distinctly valuable and vital the earth is to who we are, how we have been formed and what future we leave to our descendants is imperative, and can help us stop and be grateful for our bountiful surroundings.

With the three choreographers whom I engaged in making these new works based on water, earth and sky, I was most specific with Mikelle Bruzina. Last June, when Ballet Memphis performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., I happened to take in a startlingly beautiful exhibit at the Renwick Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Museums. The exhibit was called The Art of Gaman and was based on the amazing art that Japanese American citizens made while interred in camps during WWII, two of which were just across the river in Arkansas. While that chapter in our history is a shameful one, what I saw was the indomitable spirit of survival and perhaps even gratitude for the earth around them.

These citizens created impressive work from stones, seeds, pipes, sticks and nearby materials on the ground. It was breathtaking yet poignantly sad and wonderful. The will to survive, to stay grounded and sane, was seen in their engagement in creating beautiful objects from their surroundings. Mikelle’s mother and grandparents were in one of these camps, so her sensitivity and
history were perfect for this project. So, as you see our Hideko born aloft like a bird, think about this: the earth is what grounds us, even as we reach upward in flight for hope, release, light and freedom.

Petr Zahradníček has actually studied meteorology, so the fact that he chose clouds to think about was no surprise. He uses their formation, change and dispersal to express his fear that human beings might realize too late that we must cherish and take care of our earth and its atmosphere. The very breath that gives us life is gently at the base of this abstract and tender work.

Julia Adam looks at water in her own inimitable and interesting way. As water touches us so often, you will see divining, sailing, swimming—and be reminded about how taking a plunge might mean a myriad of different possibilities, both real and metaphorical. As water lays in various pools around us, or flows through our earth, how can we not think of the timeliness of this new work?

Across the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese people are trying to deal with an environmental disaster of huge proportions. The river we live beside has crested to new flood levels, and the sky has been gray and twisted into tornadoes that have damaged huge swaths of land, buildings and lives all around us. Yet we gather together with family and friends to think carefully and enjoy fully the better side of who we can be, dancing again to tell our stories and explore our connections to each other and to our world.

Staying Power Part 2

He has told the story of Romeo and Juliet’s passionate and youthful love for one another, one that eliminates the separate self and expands into a new entity, an exaltation of existence beyond and bigger than who they are separately. This is, in my mind, one of the most important stories we share in our human life. We repeatedly search for something that is bigger than we are, call it God, the divine, the greater consciousness, infinite belonging, whatever you choose. When we have lost touch with it, as we inevitably do in our human fallibility and frailty, some form of deep sadness, and far too often tragedy and suffering, befall us and those around us. In the brief space of this story this is the journey we take together.

Ballet can be so beautiful. Its idealistic form and vocabulary is in almost continual consummation. Dancers and audience become one in our Romeo & Juliet, vividly present in the moment of life and death, reaching deep within to go beyond limitations. Indeed, the journey is exhilarating and often exhausting. It is not a place in time or space for people who do not want to feel the bare, the acute that puts us starkly in touch with life and death, just as this story of Romeo and Juliet does.

In this, our ballet, human mutability, utter ecstasy and destructive tragedy confront us, leaving us what? I hope with the belief that we must identify our worst in order to support our best. I hope with an understanding that we must continually try harder to forgive. I hope with the reminder that we must build a world where our young are given love’s expansiveness, not the constrictive fear of those who are different or those with whom we disagree.

Enter if you dare—to be delighted or to be profoundly shaken. But if we do not enter its world, we cut ourselves off from our self, from one another and from the promise we could each fulfill before our own story ends.