Francisco Gella

1. How did you become involved with dance? 

I was a freshman at the University of Washington and had just recently quit gymnastics.  I decided to take a Dance 101 class just for fun.  What was supposedly just for fun ended up being a life altering experience.  That beginning dance class instilled a love for dancing that I knew as a child but never really pursued. It was the beginning of an amazing journey that continues to this day.

2. What are you currently doing in the field? 

Currently I have been teaching and choreographing all over the North American continent.  I also founded and am the current artistic director of Nuevo School of Contemporary Dance which boasts a hybrid curriculum combining the training aspects of the concert dance world with the commercial dance genre.  Although I do take class on a regular basis, my professional dance career ended in 2007.  It was a choice I made to concentrate more on developing my teaching and choreography skills.

3. What is the best advice you have ever received from a teacher or mentor? 

The best advice, which was consistent with many of my mentors and teachers:  to not be afraid of being yourself, to be who you are, and to be accepting of your own individual merits both as a person and as an artist.  This was important in fully developing the confidence and most important, to truly be comfortable with who you are, without judgement, both in life and on stage.

4. What has been your greatest challenge in dance? 

The greatest challenge is to be and truly accept who you are without falling into the trap of always comparing yourself to other dancers/artists.  Everyone is different and it is the uniqueness that we each hold that I find to be the most difficult to accept without having to conform to what is trendy, what is acceptable, and what everyone else is doing.

5. What has been your biggest strength as a dancer? 

My biggest strength is my total and unconditional love for the art form.  This is what has helped me to keep going in the most difficult of situations and especially during times where an individual has to truly face the truth without judgment.

Francisco Gella

6. Would you share one of your career highlights? 

My most memorable career highlight (I want to make a note that there are several actually), was dancing at the Closing Ceremonies at the 1998 Nagano Olympics in Japan.  It was the most amazing experience seeing the entire world come together, watching different races and cultures put their differences aside to celebrate sportsmanship and what makes humanity so beautiful.  I was so emotionally high for several weeks after and saw the world in a more hopeful and positive way.

7. What do you think are the most important qualities for a dancer to have? 

Although having natural facility can be advantageous, it is important to understand that even without amazing and natural physical gifts, through proper training the body can be changed, developed and adjusted to attain proficient and excellent technique.  In addition, I feel another important quality to have is to not be afraid to look at the ugly within oneself and work to make it beautiful.  Sometimes we tend to want to hide our flaws and avoid having to take responsibility and fix them.  Finally, dancers should never be satisfied.  Technique and artistry should always be improved throughout the life span of a dancer.  Once you think and feel you are ‘there’ so-to-speak, it is all over.  Learning becomes difficult and less satisfying if one thinks they have attained perfection, when in reality there is no such thing.

8. Is there any advice that you can give to young dancers? 

To always work hard, to be truly honest with yourself and be realistic with our personal and professional goals.  Also: never give-up.  Anything is possible if you really want it bad enough and are willing to work hard for it.  Finally – never take anything for granted.  Be thankful for each and every moment that we are fortunate enough to fully express ourselves through movement.  Not everyone is granted this talent.

9. What is it that you love about dance so much? 

The physicality of it and the art of it; referring of course to both dancers and choreography that exhibit memorable, unforgettable, and timeless qualities.  Dance is a method of expression and a visceral art form that can never be matched because the main instrument used is our own human body.  And, in my personal opinion, there is nothing like dancing beautiful choreography to the most amazing piece of music.  The combination is pure bliss.

10. What is next for you? 

There are several projects upcoming for choreography.  I am currently working on a commission for Long Beach Ballet.  Now that Nuevo School of Contemporary Dance has become more established and is flourishing, it is now time to concentrate more on my own personal endeavors such as further pursuing choreographic opportunities and to continue to develop my overall skills as a dance educator.  The long term goal is to establish both a youth dance collaborative and finally to create a successful professional dance company.

BIO: Francisco Gella’s career as a successful choreographer and dance educator proves that his philosophy of combining the commercial and artistic aspects of the dance world is sought out by many prestigious professional organizations.

Mr. Gella has choreographed for Pennsylvania Ballet’s Shut-Up and Dance production, and has set pieces on PHILADANCO’s Danco on Danco Program, Danco/II, Ballet East of Austin, Texas, Tucson Regional Ballet, Reflections Dance Company of Washington, D.C., Ballet Pacifica, California Ballet, Long Beach Ballet, the University of Utah Ballet Ensemble and the University of Washington Dance Program. Other choreographic credits include two highly acclaimed duets performed at the Laguna Dance Festival directed by Jodie Gates. His work for South Bay Ballet entitled “Configured Echoes” garnered the Best Choreography Award for the Pacific Region at the National Regional Dance America Conference. Francisco choreographed a solo entitled “Tango en Pointe” which was performed for the Presidential Scholars Gala held at the Kennedy Center. Mr. Gella has been a finalist multiple times for the MacCallum Theater’s Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival and he has also created several award-winning contemporary solos for the Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition. He was recently awarded the Outstanding Choreographer Award at the 2011 Youth America Grand Prix Competition in Los Angeles. Mr. Gella was the assistant choreographer of Patricia Zhou’s solo featured on Dancing with the Stars.

Mr. Gella has been a guest instructor with SUNY Binghamton Summer Dance Institute, Extravadanza in Montreal, Canada, West Coast Dance Academy, Lula Washington Dance Company and School, California Ballet Conservatory, Ballet Pacifica Conservatory, Festival Ballet, Tucson Regional Ballet, Long Beach Ballet Summer Intensive, California Dance Theater Summer Intensive and the Orange County High School for the Arts. In addition, he taught master classes at numerous prestigious colleges and universities while on tour with the Philadelphia Dance Company. Francisco was on faculty for 4 years with Coastal Dance Rage, co-owners Blake McGrath & Shannon Mather’s dance convention which tours all over Canada and the United States.

Mr. Gella has been a company member with the Philadelphia Dance Company aka PHILADANCO, Repertory Dance Theater of Salt Lake City, UT., Spectrum Dance Theater of Seattle, WA., the Chamber Dance Company, Leaving/Ground Dance, California Ballet and Ballet Pacifica. He was part of the National Choreographers Initiative two years in a row, performed at the Closing Ceremonies in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics in Japan, a worldwide broadcasted event, as a principal soloist and was featured in a PBS: Dance in America Special in Daniel Ezralow’s holiday satirical work entitled the “X-mas Philes” (Mr. Ezralow is also the choreographer of Cirque du Soleil’s, The Beatle’s LOVE).

Born in Bacolod City, Philippines, Francisco first began dancing in college at the age of 19 and graduated with a B.A. in Dance from the University of Washington in Seattle. Prior to dancing, he was a competitive trained gymnast for 8 years.

Dalia Rawson in "Graduation Ball", Photo by Marty Sohl

1. How did you become involved with dance?

The first time I ever moved might be considered dancing. I had been either very small or very still while my mother was pregnant with me. She says that late in the pregnancy she had never felt me move or kick. My parents had a season subscription to the Joffrey Ballet in NYC, and while watching the performance in the theater, my mother felt me move, apparently reacting to the music by kicking and rolling, for the first time.  When I was a baby they called me twinkle toes, because I couldn’t keep still if there was any music playing. I was in local dance class by age two, a more serious ballet school at age six or seven, and San Francisco Ballet School at age nine.

2.    What are you currently doing in the field?

Currently I choreograph and set ballets and I teach. I am the Artistic Director of The Rawson Project Contemporary Ballet, a small company I founded in 2010 for which I have created a small repertory of original works. I am also the Ballet Mistress of Ballet San Jose School where I teach all levels of the professional division, and Rehearsal Assistant for Ballet San Jose, for whom I run rehearsals and re-stage works.

3.    Would you share a special moment from your career with readers?

That is a tough question, because it is hard to pick just one! I danced professionally with Ballet San Jose (formerly Cleveland Ballet) from 1991 to 2006, and that period of my life was filled with professional highs and lows, technical achievements, and chances to perform roles that I had dreamed of since my childhood. But the memories I treasure most are of those moments that were purely joyful; without pain, without politics, without jealousy, competition, or fear of failure. Dancing onstage allows you to live completely in the present moment and when that moment is joyful, there is nothing better.

My clearest childhood memory of the pure joy of performance dates back to the mid-eighties and San Francisco Ballet’s production of Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As a child in the school who was chosen to perform with the company, I loved every second of that ballet. I remember being thrilled learning how to count Mendelssohn’s music, delighted that you could count three eights as an eight, and a nine, and a seven, in order to more precisely follow the melody. I fell in love with Karinka’s costumes, charmed by her sculptural use of layers in our “bug” costumes, and enchanted by the flowing silk dresses of the company fairies. The second year the ballet was performed I was chosen to be the first bug onstage! The curtain would rise revealing me posing in tendu devant, and I would get to start the ballet with a run and a grand jeté, my favorite step! I can still remember standing onstage at the San Francisco Opera House, counting the music of the overture before the curtain would come up with a rush of cold air and dust. I loved every second of those performances, from the first notes of the overture to the last seconds of the ballet, when all of the child dancers performing as “Oberon’s Retinue” or as we referred to ourselves, “bugs,” used a clever bit of stage magic to appear as fireflies for the ballet’s final tableau.

From my years of performing professionally, many joyful moments also remain etched in my memory. I will never forget my first dress rehearsal as an apprentice in the swan corps. I felt enchanted, and feeling almost magically compelled to dance to Tchaikovsky’s haunting score for Act II the historic steps I had seen so many times from the audience. It was overwhelming enough that I didn’t feel any ache in my feet while standing through the White Swan pas de deux. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for all of the many swan corps performances of my career, which were often a misery. Standing still onstage is very painful, especially when your head is turned in such a way that you can’t even watch the dancing happening right next to you!

Dalia Rawson & Todd Fox in Nahat's "The Nutcracker", Photo by By Bob Shomler

Many of my best memories involve interacting onstage with my fellow dancers, sharing the thrill of performance with true friends. A gorgeous blonde ballerina named Catharine Grow would hold me up on pointe using only the power of her enormous blue eyes during a tricky balance in my variation as the Russian Princess in Dennis Nahat’s Swan Lake. We had worked things out so that she would be sitting on a rock in the correct corner of the stage so that I could lock eyes with her when I had to perform a sustained relevé in arabesque. I could tell she shared my elation each and every time that we held that arabesque and our eye contact even longer than the music should have allowed. Cuban ballerina Patricia Perez and I were often paired together, being of similar height and temperament. In performance, we would egg each other on as only friends can, giving each other the confidence to take risks and push the limits of our technique, often to exciting results! I remember her screaming at me from the wings when I pulled off a triple pirouette both before and after fouettés in Nahat’s In Concert, her way of acknowledging both my achievement and our friendly competition to see who could do the most turns.

I am haunted by the memory of a moment that occurred during a performance of Balanchine’s Four Temperaments with what was then the Cleveland San Jose Ballet in Cleveland’s historic State Theater, probably in 1998. I danced the Melancholic trio with Nancy Latosewski and Shingo Yoshimoto, the realization of a childhood fantasy of doing those famous grand battements. One special moment from those performances stands out in my mind. I needed to get from stage left to stage right after the Melancholic section and before my entrance in the last movement. One night I found myself crossing behind the backdrop, directly behind center stage when the first few notes of the main theme of the Sanguinic Pas de Deux surged forth from the orchestra pit. I stopped and faced the orchestra pit and audience, behind the backdrop, letting the music wash over me. I hadn’t yet put on my warm-ups backstage, so there I stood, feeling vulnerable in just a black leotard, pink tights and pointe shoes. Knowing what was happening onstage mere feet in front of me but unable to see the dancers, I was overwhelmed by the power of the music. I stood there for a while, thankful that I was living my life as a dancer, then quickly hurried to the other side of the stage to put on legwarmers and watch my friends dance before my next entrance.

As my career progressed I danced bigger roles, but the extra pressure of a principal role sometimes seemed to take away the pure joy of dancing with my friends and colleagues. I was always very competitive, (I might have sold my soul to dance Juliet), and relished any chance to dance the great roles I had dreamed of as child. I am proud of what I was able to accomplish in those roles and remember dancing them with deep satisfaction.  But looking back, I cherish the memories of being one of Swanhilda’s friends in Coppelia as much as memories of dancing Swanhilda. I realize now that the joy I drew from smaller roles was as profound as the sense of accomplishment I got from dancing bigger roles.

Now that I no longer perform, I find the process of watching my choreography onstage, or watching the accomplishments of my students, to be satisfying in a new way. As a choreographer, I have the ability to showcase the abilities the dancers that I work who can do things I never could have done myself. I love to choreograph for dancers with extreme flexibility or very long limbs, qualities I never had but coveted. Watching my students perform I get to feel the joy and pride of performance, without the exhaustion and pain of actually performing! I can’t seem to stop grinning when a student I trained pulls off a tricky turn or a difficult jump, or when the tiniest of students finds their mark correctly as a mouse in Nutcracker.  

Dalia Rawson with Rawson Project dancers in August, 2011, Photo by Chris Conroy

4.    What is the best advice you have ever received from a teacher or mentor regarding dance?

Not to give up. When I was auditioning for companies, I remember my teacher Gloria Mohr telling me that I needed to audition for as many companies as I possibly could. Not just one or two or three, but ten or twenty or thirty. There are so many great dancers looking for work, especially women, so you have to put yourself out there over and over again in order to get lucky enough to find the director and the company that appreciates you. Now as a choreographer and director, I find the same thing applies to grant applications and choreographic opportunities. I apply aggressively for every opportunity that I come across. I often get turned down, but sometimes, an opportunity that I thought was out of reach comes through!

 5.    What has been your greatest challenge?

My performing career ended in 2006 when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I had to go through a year of very intense chemotherapy and radiation treatment, culminating in a bone marrow transplant. I knew when I was diagnosed that it would be the end of my career as a ballerina, as I felt that at age 32 I was too old to be able to come back after treatment and recovery to anywhere approximating the level of technique I had achieved prior to my diagnosis. I was also told that tumors in my spine had caused damage that would make it dangerous for me to perform further strenuous physical activity. (This turned out not to be completely true as luckily my spine has healed quite well, and though it is not perfectly straight anymore, limiting my flexibility, I am perfectly capable of hard exercise.) Once treatment had finished, I struggled for a period to find a way to thrive as a non-dancer. I missed the daily camaraderie of company life, the ritual of class, the challenge of rehearsal, and the thrill of performance. I had never known anything else and felt lost.

Though I struggled for a few years internally, I went back to teaching as soon as I could, and began to find great joy in interacting with young dancers and being with them as they discovered for themselves what it means to love to dance. I choreographed for the Ballet San Jose School, and discovered a passion for choreography. I think a real turning point for me was when I decided to take surfing lessons! I spent a month learning to surf in Santa Cruz, and that led me to believe that new and exciting things were still possible for me. I eventually choreographed a ballet for Ballet San Jose, and started my own small company.

Recently I had my five-year checkup with my oncologists, and am pleased to say that I am officially “cured,” no longer “in remission.” Though my illness, treatment, and the subsequent changes in my life were a serious challenge for me, I am now once again busy, fulfilled and happy. At night I still dream of dancing, and of performing, but when I am awake I am happy to face new opportunities and challenges, and excited to explore and develop my love of dance further as a choreographer and a teacher. 

Dalia Rawson with Stephane Dalle in Balanchine's "Who Cares?", Photo by Patrick Tower

6. Do you have any advice for dancers who want to go on to a professional career?

If you know that you have to dance, there is a place for you to dance. It might not be the place you imagined for yourself, but it is out there. You have to keep trying, keep reaching, and not set any limitations on your dreams.

7. Do you have a special routine that you go through prior to a performance?

When I was dancing I was very strict with myself, almost superstitious. I would get to the theater hours early, only eat and drink specific things, prepare my shoes ritualistically, do Stephane Dalle’s floor barre, take class, and do my hair and makeup. Besides the floor barre (which is amazing, check out his website), the most effective thing that I did preshow was a lot of visualization. This helped with nerves, and I think it also positively affected technical aspects of my performances. Thoroughly thinking through any upcoming dance, visualizing myself executing it perfectly while reminding myself of what I had to do to achieve anything technically tricky was a very powerful exercise.

Now it’s better! Barring unforeseen pre-show calamities that need my attention, I can usually go out to dinner with friends, and maybe even enjoy a glass of champagne.

8. Do you have any advice specifically for women in dance?

I would advise women especially to place a high value on their friendships with other dancers. It is really easy to let competition and jealousy get in the way of real friendship, but those connections are very valuable, and really important!

9. What do you enjoy most about your life in dance?

I can’t imagine my life without the ritual of class, the challenge of creation, and the thrill of performance. Now I want to pass these experiences on to my students, and celebrate them through my choreography.

10. What is next for you?

2012 will bring exciting new challenges! Ballet San Jose has recently announced a partnership with the American Ballet Theater, and I am anticipating great opportunities for the school as well as for the company. Students from our upper levels recently took a master class from Kate Lydon from the faculty of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, who visited our school with other ABT representatives in order to introduce our faculty, students and parents to the ABT National Training Curriculum. It was a pleasure to watch the children I have taught for the last ten years successfully share their talent with such a respected member of the international dance community. I am so proud of what we have accomplished so far at Ballet San Jose School, and really excited about what the future will bring.

The connections that will develop between our school and faculty on the west coast and ABT in New York through this partnership will be priceless. The students will certainly reap the benefits of further opportunities that will become available to them as the partnership with ABT for both our company and school develops.

The faculty of the BSJ School will soon be training to receive full certification in all levels of the ABT National Curriculum. I am looking forward to learning new skills through this program, and am inspired to have the chance to augment my abilities to teach a new generation of dancers. The curriculum consists of a comprehensive set of age-appropriate, outcome-based guidelines, consistent with the best practices in the fields of sports psychology, child/adolescent development, nutrition and training. These guidelines will provide an invaluable asset to the BSJ faculty when dealing with some of the common issues we in the dance world face, such as nutrition, the prevention of eating disorders and the maintenance of a healthy body image, as well as injury prevention. A medical advisory board collaborated on the development of the program and I believe the curriculum’s focus on the health of the whole dancer, not only their physical health but their mental and emotional health as well, will make the curriculum a great fit for our school, where providing personal attention and a caring atmosphere have always been among our highest priorities. I look forward to taking the steps that will make our great school exceptional, and anticipate that the ABT partnership will give me and the rest of our talented faculty exciting new tools with which to craft fine artists and valuable new connections through which to provide greater opportunities for our students.

In the summer of 2012, I will continue working on “No Longer Human,” a ballet I began working on with Ballet San Jose dancers funded by a Fellowship from the New York Choreographic Institute. An Applied Materials Grant from the Arts Council Silicon Valley provides funding for the completion of the choreography, as well as the construction of costumes for this work, which is a contemporary story ballet based on a Lithuanian folk tale set to an electronic score.

I always have new projects in the works for The Rawson Project Contemporary Ballet! I’m on twitter and facebook and have a frequently updated website, if anyone wants more information about my choreography or my company, or wants to keep up to date with what’s next!

Dalia Rawson, Photo by Scott Belding

BIO: Recently awarded a Fellowship by the New York Choreographic Institute, Dalia Rawson is a contemporary ballet choreographer based in San Jose, California. From 1991 to 2006, Dalia performed a wide variety of leading roles as a dancer with Ballet San Jose, formerly Cleveland Ballet, under the artistic direction of Dennis Nahat. Rawson danced principal roles in Nahat’s The Nutcracker, Coppelia, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the heroine in comedies including Graduation Ball and Rodeo, dramatic roles in ballets such as The Lesson, Romeo and Juliet, and Carmen, principal and soloist roles in Balanchine works, and principal roles in modern masterworks including Donald McKayle’s Rainbow ‘Round my Shoulders and Martha Graham’s solo Frontier.

In January 2006, immediately following Ballet San Jose’s annual run of The Nutcracker in which she danced both leading roles, Dalia was diagnosed with advanced Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, ending her career as a ballerina. After a year of intensive treatment culminating in a Bone Marrow Transplant and five further years in remission, Dalia was recently officially pronounced cured of this disease.

Rawson returned briefly to the stage as a modern dancer with Moving Arts Dance during the company’s final season in 2010/2011. However, she now finds greater fulfillment as a choreographer and director. Currently, Rawson is Ballet Mistress of the Ballet San Jose School, Rehearsal Assistant for Ballet San Jose, and Artistic Director of The Rawson Project Contemporary Ballet. Her choreography has been performed both by Ballet San Jose and the BSJ School. Rawson’s ballet Fém debuted to critical and popular acclaim at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts as part of BSJ’s 2008/2009 season. For her own company Rawson has created a repertory of award-winning ballets that have been performed locally and nationally at choreographic festivals, competitions, showcases, community events and charity fundraisers. She often works in collaboration with her brother Cliff Rawson, the Boston Conservatory trained composer and lead singer for the internationally acclaimed, post-punk band Ladycop. Their collaboration has lead to the creation of edgy, topical ballets that have appealed to a wide range of today’s audiences.  For more information about the Rawson Project, please visit www.rawsonproject.org

Maximo Califano in Pirates of Penzance, Photo by John Gerbetz

1. How did you become involved with dance?

When I was a kid I was a gymnastic athlete. I was part of a renowned gymnastic team and I used to compete in tournaments. One summer, our instructor was absent for a couple of months and I had to stay home without any physical activity. For that reason, my mother decided to enroll me in the Superior Institute of Arts at the Colon Theater, one the most important educational centers and classical theaters in the world.

At the Institute, I learned classic ballet and many other disciplines related to dance. After several years of intense studies, I graduated as a professional dancer and I was chosen to join the ballet company. During my years at the Colon Theater, I was involved in major and international ballet and opera productions and I had the chance to learn and to share the stage with the most important artists in the world.

2. What are you currently doing in the field?

I am currently a principal dancer with Ballet San Jose. After working in many important ballet companies around the globe, I chose to work with Ballet San Jose due to its diverse repertoire, its high artistic level and its international troupe. Our ballet productions are first-class and highly entertaining. Here, in the heart of the Silicon Valley, I feel at home and I am happy entertaining our beloved Bay Area audience.

3. Would you share a special moment from your career with readers?

In 2008, the Company performed an 8-city tour of China. It was called the “Goodwill Tour from Silicon Valley”, and it represented the first international tour of the Company since its move from Cleveland in 2001. For 5-weeks, I performed all the principal roles in mayor ballets and in important Chinese theaters. I was amazed by their rich culture, beautiful cities, modern theaters and hospitality.

4. What is the best advice you have ever received from a teacher or mentor regarding dance?

Maximo Califano by John Gerbetz

The greatest challenge in my career was jealousy and dealing with the lack of education and culture of some people. I highly respect and appreciate knowledge and experience.

6. Do you have any advice for dancers who want to go on to a professional career?

The dancer’s career is very short and it is important to pursue it from an early age. My advice for future dancers is that they should focus on dance 100% and they should obtain the best dance education available. I recommend a ballet school that has its own professional company like Ballet San Jose School because students have a chance to participate in professional ballet productions and see how the company dancers work.

7. Do you have a special routine that you go through prior to a performance?

My routine before a show consists of a quick warm- up, an hour make-up, and some warm tea with a protein or an energy bar. I also check my partners’ tutus or costumes to see if they are properly closed so that my fingers don’t get cut while we are during pirouettes.

Maximo Califano and Alexandra Meijer in Dennis Nahat's The Nutcracker, Photo by John Gerbetz

8. What are your favorite ballet movements to practice and why (turns, jumps, etc.)?

My favorite ballet movements are the lyric ones. I prefer the dramatic and artistic side of dancing where the language of movement is used to express feelings, thoughts or ideas.

9. What do you enjoy most about your life in dance?

Dance keeps me fit, happy and young. I like dancing because every time I am on stage, I portray a different character. It is always changing and challenging; dancing never bores me.

10. What is next for you?

Next for me is a Ballet San Jose Nutcracker performance! I am running late!!! See you at the theater!

For those located in the area, Maximo’s Nutcracker schedule  is:

Sat Dec 17 at 1:30 he is dancing Tsar Nicolas
Sat Dec 17 at 7:30, Tsar Nicolas
Tuesday Dec 20 at 7:30, Tsar Nicolas
Wed Dec 21 at 1:30 dancing  the Mouse King
Thurs Dec 22 at 1:30, Mouse King
and Friday, Dec 23 at 11:00am he is dancing Herr Drosselmeyer.

BIO: Maximo Califano is a principal dancer in Ballet San Jose, serving the Bay Area audience. He graduated as a dancer from the prestigious Superior Institute of Art at the Colon Theater in Buenos Aires, Argentina and his career spans America, Europe, and Asia. He has performed for major national and international ballet companies and been featured in ballet magazines, newspapers, and on television shows.

Alexsandra Meijer

1. How did you become involved with dance?

I suppose you could say my mother has always loved dancing. Even in her sixties she loves to salsa. So when my parents made us kids participate in all sorts of after school activities of course dancing was among them. My father thought that ballet was an excellent form of discipline, and he hoped that we would learn to move with grace outside the studio. It wasn’t until I discovered ballet’s athleticism, musicality and story telling that I started to understand its beauty.

2. What are you currently doing in the field?
I am dancing as a Principal with Ballet San Jose.

3. Would you share a special moment from your career with readers?

Without a doubt the greatest moments in my career are linked to roles like Swanilda and Odette/Odile, however one of my most cherished moments on stage didn’t involve being the lead in the ballet let alone my face even being seen. It was a little known ballet by the late SFB director Lew Christensen, named Il Destratto. Towards the middle of the ballet the lights suddenly go out and the stage is left completely dark. As Haydn’s music continues, slowly a pair of arms consisting of only an upper torso eerily emerges floating in midair. Some of the audience gasps while others giggle at this unexpected twist. Then shockingly a pair of legs bourrée from the wings on the other side of stage completely void of an upper body. As we perform a sort of “Dueling Banjos” pas de deux assisted magically by our men dressed all in black, as not to be seen, the audience starts to chuckle. Now, I have performed in many comedies in my time on the stage, and as always when the audience starts to crack up I know my timing is right and it brings a lightness to my heart. However what I could never have imagined was the intensity and roar of pure, whole-hearted, gut wrenching, explosive laughter that swept the audience. As I sailed offstage upside down in the splits, I couldn’t contain this infectious laughter. I was truly grinning ear to ear and it was at this moment that I felt that I had caught a glimmer of what comedians like Dave Chappell and Dane Cook must truly experience.

4. What is the best advice you have ever received from a teacher or mentor regarding dance?
Try to take something away from every situation even if it is what not to do.

5. What has been your greatest challenge?

Meijer & Acosta

As a child I was told that for a female dancer to truly earn the title of Ballerina, she must first complete the roles of Odette/Odile, Giselle, and a third virtuosa role that consists of something along the lines of Juliet. However, from an early age I have always been plagued by a suppleness in my ankles. I was of course held back from receiving pointe shoes while the other girls my age furthered their studies. When I did eventually earn my pointe shoes I never really felt that I could catch up with the other girls confidence in pointe work. I thought I would never be able to preform the role of Giselle as I could not perform the iconic hops on pointe in the first act variation. I couldn’t plié on pointe with one foot let alone dream of hopping on pointe while doing a rond de jambe en l’air. In school I would go into a studio by myself and simply practice plié on pointe while grasping the barre. Once professional, my first year as the Tzarina Tatiana in The Nutcracker I was a little shaky on these walks moving upstage in plié on pointe. Dennis Nahat immediately changed the choreography so that I rolled through the entire foot. He said “it looks better anyway”, but I was devastated that I couldn’t do what was asked of me. I worked extra hard and the following year I did the true choreography.

Over time I completed Odette/Odille, Juliet, the Firebird and Swanilda among others, but never Giselle. Eventually Giselle ended up in our season and this was my chance. I poured my heart and soul into the character, researching her as well as studying film of great Hollywood actresses’ mad scenes, but I felt a constant apprehension regarding the hops. Dennis immediately wanted to re-choreograph the diagonal for me, but I pleaded with him to give me time to figure it out. I had practiced every day including the time before the season even started, but I was still struggling. My fellow dancers watched day after day as everyone in the company, including the boys, tried to help me. Some said not to worry about it and do something else, but I had already set my sights on the goal.

It was finally the day of the show and I still had never completed the diagonal flawlessly. I tried to put the hops out of my mind and focus on the character, but I asked the conductor to play the music of the diagonal much slower than he had for the other casts. Just before the solo I tore my shoes off backstage and put on a fresh pair of hard shoes in order to tackle the hops. I danced the solo with utter joy and love as a young girl. As I walked to the upstage corner to start the hops I took a deep breath as I knew this was it. I could sense the entire company sitting on stage holding their breath watching me. I could see my Albrecht and the rest of the cast standing in the wings nervously waiting to see what I would do. Would I change the choreography or would I do the hops? The tension increased as the music retarded to an agonizingly slow pace. I stepped up to pointe to begin. As I methodically moved down the diagonal the anticipation spread. Would I be able to finish all of the hops? Halfway through the sequence I knew I owned it. For the very first time I executed the hops on pointe with perfection. The audience was already clapping as I tore into the final circle of piqué turns, but it was the hushed squeals and muffled screams onstage combined with cat calls and clapping from offstage by those who had helped make my dream a reality that gave me a feeling of exhilaration like no other. This was truly the excitement of live theater.

6. Do you have any advice for dancers who want to go on to a professional career?

Some extraordinarily talented dancers have fallen by the wayside because they have pushed themselves too hard or too soon. Injuries can be heartbreaking, but your body is your medium, you must understand it and listen to it. Take extra time to treat it with respect. This might be as simple as rolling something out after a long day when all you want to do is go out with friends. Spend a little extra money on your body or you might not get the chance to make any money at all.

7. Do you have a special routine that you go through prior to a performance?

In the dressing room I put my pointe shoes on barefoot without any padding or tape. Then I cover them with heavy thick socks and slippers to keep my feet as warm as possible. After I have finished my make-up and I am completely ready the last thing I do is take the shoes off again. I give the bottom edge of the pointe a few good whacks on the floor to make them quiet. I then put the shoes back on with all of the trimmings. This silly little routine helps to warm the shoes, break them in, and mold them to my feet so that with the first step on stage I feel connected to the floor, but the shoes stay clean and as hard as possible in order to make it through an entire act.

8. What are your favorite ballet movements to practice and why (turns, jumps, etc.)?

As a child I always felt that port de bras distinguished a student from a seasoned veteran. So I guess growing up I tried to give port de bras a lot of attention. I would often repeat the exercise on the side doing only the port de bras. At this point I tend to focus on whatever an upcoming role calls for, this is usually a turn sequence.

9. What do you enjoy most about your life in dance?

The best part of being a dancer is the camaraderie in the family-like atmosphere within the company and with the choreographer, designers, stage crew, musicians, and everyone else.

10. What is next for you?

There are still so many roles that I would love to dance.

BIO: Alexsandra Meijer joined Ballet San Jose In 2001. Her repertoire In Dennis Nahat’s ballets Include Tsarina Tatiana and Maria Tannenbaum in The Nutcraker, the role of Odette/Odile In Swan Lake, the title role in Romeo and Juliet, Swanilda in Coppélia, the title role in Giselle, the title role in The Firebird, Long Tall Sally in Blue Suede Shoes, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the featured female dancer in Ontogeny, Grand Pas de Dix, and Mendelssohn Symphony.

Principal roles under other choreographers include Juno In Michael Smuin’s The Tempest, Karen Blixen (The Woman) in the world premiere production of Flemming Flindt’s Out of Africa, Sanguinic in George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, the featured female dancer in Lew Christensen’s Vivaldi Concerto Grosso, the role of The Lover in Smuin’s Shinju, and Caroline In Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden.

She has had the pleasure of dancing a wide variety of styles by famous choreographers, including Julia Adams. Val Canparoli. Agnes de Mille, Leondine Massine, Twyla Tharp and Yurl Posikov.

During the 2008/2009 season, Meijer was thrilled to have the opportunity to create a new work for the company, The Way We Fall, featuring music by Loop!Station.

She continues to perform guest artist roles at various festivals as well as with a variety of different companies. She has also performed extensively throughout China including the prestigious Shanghai Grand Theater during the company’s China Goodwill Tour 2008.

Meijer was born and raised In Southern California. She received her training at Mann Dance Theatre, the Orange County High School of the Arts, and completed her Cecchetti training under the direction of Marnell Himes-Ushijima. She was awarded the National Foundation for Advancement In the Arts scholarship and won the Disneyland Creativity Challenge Award.

Time passed and he found himself answering the questions in depth, and after we talked a bit, we decided we would break them down into monthly posts, so that readers could get a closer look at his journey through the dance world. Today is his first post…answering question 1…stay tuned next month for more!      -Catherine

Todd Fox

1. How did you become involved in dance?

I was born in Miami Florida and from a very early age my mom exposed me to dance.  She taught ballet for a magnet arts school in Miami called PAVAC, Performing and Visual Arts Center, and used to drag me around to all the classes she taught.

As I got old enough she made me learn ballet by taking one of her classes each week with her other students. At that age I wasn’t at all interested in studying ballet, I thought it was boring and I hated wearing tights. All I ever wanted to do was go ride my bike with friends or play video games but my mother was insistent, VERY insistent. She eventually presented me with an effective ultimatum, take one ballet class per week or I wouldn’t receive my weekly allowance.  So, I studied ballet like this on and off for most of my young life, I went through the motions but never really took a serious interest, it was all just to appease my mom and of course get my allowance.

When I was 13 my family moved to New Jersey and in Somerset County where I attended public school there was a Vocational and Technical School (vo-tech) which had a performing arts program offering dance. There were lots of girls in the Vo-Tech dance program from mine and several neighboring schools with no guys at all. At that age the thought of spending my day dancing around with lots of girls and being the only guy had amazing appeal and much to my mom’s complete jaw dropping shock and surprise I begged for her to let me enroll.

Enrollment in the program meant you spent half a day in regular academic school and the other half studying dance at the vo-tech.  In order to enroll you had to attend an audition so with the bit of ballet training I had from my mom I did and was accepted. At that time the vo-tech dance program syllabus was primarily modern dance with the majority of classes centering on Graham and Horton techniques.

Modern dance was completely different from the ballet my mom had taught me and much to my surprise, I really started to enjoy studying dance every-day, especially with all the girls. Only 2 ballet classes a week were given for 1 hour each class with teachers from the resident companies in New Jersey at that time, Princeton Ballet and New Jersey Ballet.

One day in ballet class, a teacher from Princeton Ballet, Karen Russo, taught me how to execute a semi-advanced jump commonly performed by ‘male’ ballet dancers, entrechat six. I could barely do a proper double pirouette back then but Karen showed me a way of breaking down the beats of an entrechat six into two separate movements and after lots of practice I was actually able to do it. Being able to execute an entrechat six was the first time I ever really took notice of balletic movement geared towards ‘male’ dancers. I remember it well because as a young male dancer it gave me an increased sense of identity and as a result I started to become more interested in learning ballet.

Then the bug really bit…. As part of dance education we would watch videos and one afternoon we watched a ballet video (VHS) of Rudolph Nureyev performing the pas de deux from Le Corsaire. Watching that video of Nureyev performing the Le Corsaire pas de deux changed my life, he completely redefined what I thought a male ballet dancer could look like, it was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. From that point on I wanted to be a ballet dancer, I was obsessed with ballet and began accumulating as much video as I could to learn more about male ballet technique.

Nureyev was my idol, I would try to mimic everything about his dancing from what I saw on video; the way he jumped, his movement dynamics, the way he ended variations, his stage presence, his incredible physically, everything. This new found obsession quickly took over every aspect of my life and it got to the point where all I would think about at school was going to take class or watching ballet. Unfortunately, the vo-tech dance program’s ballet class offerings were just not enough to satisfy my ambitions. I desperately wanted to learn more and would always attempt things like double tours, turns in second, or coupe jetes in the back of the studio during modern class which never went over too well with the teachers. It got to the point where the teaching staff at the vo-tech finally suggested to my parents that if I really wanted to get serious about training to become a male ballet dancer I should audition for the School of American Ballet (SAB) just across the river in New York City.

At the end of that year I auditioned for the year round training program at SAB, was accepted on scholarship and that was where my true formal training as a male ballet dancer began…

Todd Fox

Throughout his professional career Contributor Todd Fox has performed with ballet companies around the world including Ireland’s Cork City Ballet, South Africa’s Ballet Theatre Afrikan, Yugoslavia’s Serbian National Theatre Ballet, Scotland’s Ballet West, Venezuela’s Ballet Metropolitano de Caracas, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, Isle of Man’s Manx Ballet, and the USA’s Cleveland San Jose Ballet, BalletNY, and Joffrey II Dancers.

Described by the New York Times’ Jack Anderson as, “most notable for his effortless jumps”, Mr. Fox’s performance repertoire includes such favorites as Albrecht in Lavrovsky’s Giselle, the Angel in Rudolph Van Dantzig’s Four Last Songs, Pas de Cinq in Rudolph Nureyev’s Sleeping Beauty, The Fool in Agnes de Mille’s Three Virgins and a Devil, Stanton Welch’s Orange, George Balanchine’s Apollo, Valse Fantaisie, and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Escamillo in Roland Petit’s Carmen, Gerald Arpino’s Kettentanz, and Antony Tudor’s Continuo.

Theatrical credits include the Off-Broadway production of Life’s Too Short to Cry, National Tours of Dreamgirls, Cinderella starring Phyllis Diller, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out of Their Shells Tour!, and most recently Todd originated the role of Police Chief Louis Renault in Warner Brothers Theatre Ventures’ original production of John Clifford’s Casablanca The Dance. Television appearances include performances on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, the RTÉ broadcast network reality series Ballet Chancers, The Drew Carey Show, and in the Emmy nominated broadcast of Blue Suede Shoes.

Since 1998 Todd has worked as an agent/manager specializing in the representation of high profile guest artist ballet dancers from around the world. He has successfully negotiated contracts for many clients governing a wide array of live performance engagements and film.

Lucas Segovia

1.  How did you become involved with dance?

I took my first ballet class when I was 16, after a friend of mine invited me to one of her dance shows. I liked it very much, and I gave it a try. I never stopped since then.

 2.  What are you currently doing in the field?

I am currently dancing with The Joffrey Ballet, where we just finished a new production of Don Quixote and we are about to start working on Nutcracker, among other pieces in the season. The company has a wide repertoire, so we are always working on different things.

3.  Would you share a special moment from your career with readers?

One of the most special moments so far for me was receiving an award in Buenos Aires, my hometown. The “Premio Clarin” is a very important award and it was a dream for me to get it.

4. What is the best advice you have received from a teacher or mentor?

The best advice I got was from my mentor. I was about to leave the country into the unknown and he told me “live and work like there is no tomorrow and have the strength to accept your decisions.” I’ve been trying to follow that path ever since.

5.  What has been your greatest challenge?

One of the biggest challenges for me was to perform in the farewell show of a huge ballet dancer, in an open air stage on the main avenue of Buenos Aires. I was really nervous because I was being seen live in front of more than 400 000 people, further than I could see, and broadcast live on national TV. And I had to dance a solo piece… Luckily it all went very well.

6.   Do you have any advice for dancers that want to go on to a professional career?

The only advice I could give is to work very hard and never look back. This career is wonderful but short, and you have to work extra hard to make every day of it worth it. And never look back, because the past is gone, and by looking back you miss what is coming.

7.  Do you have a special routine that you go through before a performance?

I usually make sure to be at the theatre on time but not too early. I want to be as fresh as possible for a performance. I usually take a warm up (a short ballet class) and I put on the make up and the costume and try to be on stage at least 10 minutes before the beginning of the show. Last, I make sure to have a moment of calmness before going on. 

8.  What is your biggest strength as a dancer?

I think that my biggest strength is that I find inspiration in what I do, so no matter how I feel I’m still eager to work. I don’t mind waking up early in the morning to go to the gym before going to work, and working a lot is not an issue for me.

9.  What do you enjoy most about your life in dance?

I enjoy, I am pleased and very grateful to do what I like and do it as a living. The opportunity of being on stage is an experience that I find very unique in many ways, and I try to make the most out of it every single time.

10.  What’s next for you?

I can’t tell what is next for me because planning, unfortunately, doesn’t work well for me. I can plan a whole life, and I do, but I always find that life is full of surprises, and I have to be open and ready for them.

BIO: Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lucas started training at 16 and danced with Ballet Municipal de Santiago, Chile and Ballet Contemporáneo del Teatro San Martín in Buenos Aires before joining Julio Bocca´s Ballet Argentino at 19 as a soloist, later becoming a principal dancer for the company.      

Under Julio Bocca’s leadership at Ballet Argentino, he performed an eclectic repertoire by many choreographers including Balanchine, Alvin Ailey, Bigonzetti, Tharp, and Stekelman, among others. He has toured around the globe, performing in major theatres of USA, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Russia, Cuba, and many more. In June 2006 he appeared in a gala with Cirque du Soleil in Buenos Aires, performing a piece created especially for him by Chet Walker.  In December 2007 he danced with Paris Opera´s Etoile Manuel Legris in Julio Bocca´s farewell for more than 300,000 people.  They were the only two dancers performing a solo piece.      

In 2008, he joined The Washington Ballet, and was later awarded with the Premio Clarín, the most prestigious Argentinian award as “Outstanding New Dancer.”      

During the 2009-2010 season he joined Chirstopher Wheeldon´s Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, dancing pieces by Christopher Wheeldon and Alexei Ratmansky and performing at venues such as New York City Center, London´s Sadler´s Wells, and Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam.      

Lucas joined Joffrey Ballet in July, 2010. He has appeared in Balanchine´s Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Robbin´s The Concert and Wheeldon´s After the Rain.

Melanie Doskocil

I think I pretty much begged my mom to put me in ballet classes since I was little. I used to have this lamp when I was a child that was a Degas dancer painting on glass with a bulb behind it. I used to plug it in and dream of being one of those ballerinas.

2. What are you currently doing in the field?

I retired after a 17 year professional career and now am teaching classical ballet and directing a ballet school.

3. Would you share a special moment from your career with readers?

The last job I took was a European tour as part of Mia Michael’s R.A.W. Her company had disbanded and she hired 10 of us to represent her on this 6 week tour. It was tough! She was mean; brutal in fact. She looks like a pussy cat on SYTYCD, but she unleashed her demons on us through that rehearsal period. Everyone cried, everyone wanted to quit. One dancer actually told me he wished he would break something in rehearsal so he could quit with dignity. Dancers came to me (the old lady) and begged me to let them quit. I did more fast talking through that period than I ever had. I motivated, I cajoled, I cried myself and I wanted to quit, but I couldn’t, wouldn’t, let myself or Mia or the tour company down like that. In the end, we all ended up taking our dancing to a new level. Moving beyond our self imposed limitations. Luckily for us, Mia decided not to go on the tour. So we went to Europe without her, danced to packed houses, standing ovations, and shouts for encore! and never had to hear her belittle us again. For some reason I actually remember this time as one of the greatest things I ever did with dance. I feel like I over came major obstacles with that project.

4. What is the best advice you have ever received from a teacher or mentor regarding dance?

Probably what Alonzo King taught me about pushing through your self-imposed limitations. That moment, that lesson, has stayed with me my whole life. I wrote a blog post about it a few weeks ago. The link is: http://balletpages.blogspot.com/2011/09/lines-and-limitations-ask-yourself-this.html

5. What has been your greatest challenge?

My greatest challenge as a dancer was getting over myself. I thought I knew it all and thought I could do it better. Ugh! Those are the worst kind of dancers to work with and I was one of them.  Retiring was the best thing for me. I lost my identity as a dancer and had to figure out who I was all over again. It was very humbling. Now that I teach I am still humbled every day. It is a remarkable responsibility to be a teacher of anything. Kids are putting their trust in you to give them what they need to make their dreams come true. I honor those dreams every single day.

6. Do you have any advice for dancers who want to go on to a professional career?

Never let anyone tell you you can’t. My teacher told me I would never make it as a professional dancer because I didn’t have the right body type and I wasn’t nice to look at on stage. I decided to prove him wrong. I was one of only two dancers (both ironically named Melanie) from our studio that went on to be professional dancers. Maybe that was his plan…but there is a lot of dance out there and a lot of ways to earn a living as a dancer. If you want it, go for it, but you’d better be ready to work hard!

7. Can you tell readers a bit about your blog, Ballet Pages, and how you got started on that?

I started writing first to vent. I just needed a place to anonymously spew about all the ridiculous things that happen when you direct/own a ballet school. Then Nichelle from Dance Advantage saw one of my better posts and we started talking. After a few conversations I decided I wanted to have a more productive online identity. I took down my spewing posts and started trying to write things from the perspective of a ballet teacher and retired professional dancer. I decided I wanted to be helpful, to offer up what I am learning and have learned to others. It is tough being a dance teacher in a small town, having very few peers or places to go for inspiration. I went looking online for inspiration and decided to try to contribute some of my own.

8. What advice do you have for new dance teachers?

Don’t let parents push you around! The kids are always great, but sometimes the parents have ideas of their own. Stick to your guns. They are paying you for your expertise. In the long run your biggest parent fans will be the ones that respect that you run a tight ship and don’t compromise on your principles. The second thing would be to never stop learning…the minute we think we know it all, we’re sunk.

9. What do you enjoy most about your life in dance?

Honestly, it’s teaching. I enjoy teaching much more than I ever did dancing (and I loved dancing!) professionally. See number 5…those are my best reasons.

10. What is next for you?

I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface as a teacher. My students that I started with here at Aspen Santa Fe Ballet 7 years ago are now of an age to start looking at pre professional schools. I have a couple of students at Interlochen Arts Academy, one at The Walnut Hill School and now, one leaving in a month to attend the Bolshoi School in Moscow. I think what is next for me is to continue being the best teacher I can be; to keep growing and learning so that I can give my students what they need to reach their dreams. And to blog about it as I go!

BIO: Melanie Doskocil is the author of the blog Ballet Pages and is the School Director for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. She has over 20 years of professional dance and teaching experience. She began her professional dance career in 1989 with Ballet Arizona and continued on to dance with Oakland Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theater, City Ballet of San Diego, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Mia Michaels RAW, and Odyssey Dance Theatre. Ms. Doskocil began teaching in 1995, for City Ballet of San Diego, under the mentorship of Steven and Elizabeth Wistrich. She continued teaching and began directing at Center Stage Performing Arts Studios in Utah, where she created their pre-professional ballet program. Melanie has mentored with master teachers Jean-Philippe Malaty, Tom Mossbrucker, Hilary Cartwright and the excellent faculty of Marcia Dale Weary’s Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She is thrilled to now call Aspen her home and cherishes every moment she spends teaching the students of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet.

Ryan Wenzel

1.     How did you become involved with dance?

Completely by accident. I never danced or saw any professional dance when I was growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. A friend of mine in New York has been a fan of New York City Ballet for years and convinced me last year to join him at a weekend matinee. It was an all-Robins program: Dances at a Gathering and West Side Story Suite. I didn’t love it at the time – I was intimidated by it – but I was intrigued, so I bought books about Robbins and George Balanchine and devoured them. By the end of New York City Ballet’s next season, I was hooked, and I started seeing other types of dance as well.

2.    What are you currently doing in the field?

I write Bodies Never Lie, a blog mostly about the New York dance performances I see. I also work full-time as the online communications manager for Henry Street Settlement, a nonprofit organization on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that includes the Abrons Arts Center.

3.    Would you share your thoughts about where you think dance is headed as an art form?

I have no idea. At this point I’m working overtime just to figure out where dance has been!

4.    What gave you the idea for your blog?

When I started writing it last December, the blog served as a journal. I was seeing so many dance performances – sometimes as many as four or five a week – and I wanted to keep a record of what I had seen and what I thought about it.  I didn’t mention the blog or show it to anyone for months, but when I did it had a positive reception, so I kept sharing it with others.

5.    What is that you enjoy so much about watching dance performances?

I’m still figuring that out. I think I like watching dance because it’s mysterious: I have strong reactions to what I see, and it’s challenging for me to articulate why I react the way I do. That makes it fun, though. I’m also a lover of music, and some of my favorite dances have helped me hear new things in the work of my favorite composers, such as Bach and Stravinsky.

6.    When you write about dance, how do you go about capturing what you have seen through the written word?

Writing about dance is hard. I don’t think I do it particularly well, but it’s getting easier. The key for me is not to be intimidated by what I’m seeing – to just take it in and start writing about the overall experience rather than individual steps. A friend gave me a good piece of advice a few months ago: “You can only write from where you are.” I try to keep that in mind, and avoid trying to sound more knowledgeable or experienced than I am.

7.    Do you have any favorites in terms of dance companies or current dancers?

New York City Ballet will always be close to my heart because they helped me discover dance. My favorite principal dancers there include Sara Mearns, Tiler Peck, and Robert Fairchild. Alina Cojocaru (of the Royal Ballet) and Natalia Osipova (of the Bolshoi Ballet) blew me away when they danced with American Ballet Theatre last summer, and I seek out performances by Mark Morris Dance Group, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and Paul Taylor Dance Company.

8.    What about choreographers? Does anyone stand out?

I admire the work of Mark Morris, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and Christopher Wheeldon, but my favorite choreographer is probably George Balanchine. The first two Balanchine works I saw (Concerto Barocco and Symphony in Three Movements) sealed my love of ballet. I’m not sure I can go 24 hours now without saying “Balanchine.”

9.    What do you like most about being involved with the dance world?

I’m really amazed by how passionate dance fans are. They’re a small but enthusiastic and knowledgeable group. I enjoy seeing many of the same people at performances, and I’ve started to make friends with some of them. I’ve also had fun connecting with other dance fans through Twitter. You meet people across the world whom you never would meet otherwise. I think it gives us all a sense of solidarity, which I need sometimes, since my friends tend to think I’m a bit obsessive.

10. What is next for you?

I just plan to keep seeing dance and writing the blog, and ideally more frequently!

BIO: Ryan Wenzel discovered a passion for dance in early 2010, and since then has seen as many performances in New York as he can afford. He enjoys most forms of dance, but is particularly fond of Balanchine ballets. Ryan grew up mostly in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and graduated in 2007 from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. His first job out of college was as an online editor for Details magazine, where he conducted scintillating interviews with movers and shakers such as RuPaul, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Kevin Bacon. He now works as the online communications manager for Henry Street Settlement, a not-for-profit agency on Lower East Side that includes the Abrons Arts Center.

Ryan lives in the East Village with Oscar, his five-year-old Boston terrier, who also loves watching dance but isn’t allowed inside most theaters.

Michelle Kranicke

My mother was an enormous ballet fan, and as a child she took me to see many performances.  Although it wasn’t love at first sight, it took me awhile to develop a love for dance.  I actually did not begin taking ballet class until I was 13.  But once I fell, I fell hard. I grew up in Chicago and there were always ballet companies touring and performing in the city, so I was fortunate to see many of the classics.

2.      What has your dance career been like?

It has definitely a lot of work, but it has also been extremely rewarding.  It’s a gift to be able to grapple with aesthetic ideas all day.  I have had the privilege of working with so many talented dancers.  For some dancemakers the performance is the best part, but for me I love the rehearsal process.  I love watching ideas unfold and then really honing and developing those ideas.

3.      What are you doing currently in the field?

I am actually stepping back and taking a good hard look at my dancemaking process.  I am going back to the fundamentals of my own creative process and trying to take those fundamentals apart.  I am really looking to extend the art form, to push against the boundaries of dance and extend ideas about movement as far as possible.  I am using proximity and stillness, and trying to move dance from a predominantly visual experience for the viewer into  an aural or kinesthetic experience as well.

4.      If you had to describe Zephyr Dance to someone, what would you say?

Zephyr Dance is a movement based ensemble creating landscapes and atmospheres that challenge the audience to see dance from a new perspective.  A Zephyr dance builds from an idea that resonates on many levels—-physical, emotional and intellectual.  Within a dance piece one will see intricate, distinct gestures, strong lines and tight groupings and formations set against seamless meditative movement that opens out to engulf space, then reforms elsewhere.

5.      What do you love about working in dance?

I love the challenge.  The challenge of going back into the studio after a premiere or a tour and trying to work to discover something new.  I am constantly moved to investigate what the body and movement can reveal, and how putting those investigations and ideas together creates a whole that is more than the sum of the parts.

6.      What do you find challenging about working in dance?

The most challenging part of working in dance, apart from the economic reality, is advocacy. People are often apprehensive about attending dance concerts because there is the notion that they have to understand what the choreographer was trying to communicate with the movement.  I often compare dance to music, telling people that just as you do not go hear a classical music concert or a jazz concert and try to understand the reasoning behind each note, the same theory applies to dance.  The audience brings its own experience, and in an audience of 200 there can, and usually are, 200 different ideas of what a dance is about.  And that’s as it should be.  I don’t know any of my colleagues that feels the audience is obliged to understand what the impetus of a work was.

7.      Can you describe a special moment from your life in dance?

One of my proudest moments was the excellent review Zephyr Dance received in 2005 in the New York Times.  That particular New York tour was one of our most challenging, but waking up and reading the review in the paper was incredible.  But aside from public accolades,  I am truly grateful for Zephyr company members.  I work with an incredible group of open-minded, intelligent, adventurous women.  The fact that they are ready and willing each rehearsal to dive into a new exploration is really very special.

8.      Where do you think dance is headed?

I think this is a very exciting time for dance.  There are a lot of dancemakers working and discovering new territories in movement.  There is a lot of energy and excitement in the field right now.  Technology has allowed a whole new audience to discover the art form.  And dancemakers  are using technology more and more to find alternate perspectives to a traditional theatrical experience.

9.      What advice would you give to someone who wants to have a career in dance?

You need to absolutely LOVE it.  A career is dance is an incredible amount of work and you need to find the gratification in yourself and your passion for the art form, and not in the applause of the audience.  Especially because for most of us we spend more time in class and rehearsal than we will ever spend on stage performing.  And the audience can be fickle, what is embraced one day is often thrown aside the next in pursuit of the newest trend.

10.  What’s next for you?

Zephyr Dance will be performing its fall concert, SMEARED SURFACES, November 17 & 18 at 7:30PM and November 19 at 2:00 PM at Holstein Park, 2200 N. Oakley in Chicago.  Tickets and information can be found at www.zephyrdance.com or by calling 773-489-5069.

BIO: Michelle Kranicke is the founder and artistic director of Chicago’s Zephyr Dance. Over the years she has choreographed more than 25 works for Zephyr’s repertoire and has been nominated three times for a Dance Achievement Award from the Chicago Dance and Music Alliance. In January 2006 Michelle was awarded a Lab Artist grant from the Chicago Dancemakers Forum to underwrite the research and development of Just Left of Remote. Her work has been presented by the Dance Center of Columbia College, Chicago; Mulberry Street Theatre, New York; Cunningham Dance Studio, New York; The Art & Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, FL; North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND; Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR; Margaret H’Doubler Theatre, Madison, WI; and more.  Michelle has been commissioned three times to create work for Illinois Wesleyan University’s student repertory dance company. From 1996-2000 she was commissioned to create and perform new works annually for Chicago’s Next Dance Festival (an artist-curated and produced festival known for commissioning and presenting ground-breaking contemporary dance). In 1995 Michelle created, and Zephyr produces, Dancing Across State Lines, a regional touring initiative designed to introduce Chicago audiences to exceptional contemporary dance by smaller neighboring dance companies while boosting touring opportunities for Zephyr and guest companies.

Since 1996 Michelle has been involved in cutting edge education work using dance to teach the core curriculum in the Chicago Public School system and is valued for her expertise in curriculum development, working with artists and educators nationally and internationally. In April 2005 Michelle was invited by the Scottish Arts Council to teach the dance workshops at the professional development retreat for Arts Across the Curriculum, a three year research project based on collaborative planning and teaching by teachers and artists. In 1997 she helped pioneer the first arts integrated education residency at the college level for Illinois Wesleyan University’s May Term, giving students a physical experience of their course curriculum. Her work has been cited in two books written about the arts in the classroom, Renaissance in the Classroom: Arts Integration and Meaningful Learning, G.Burnaford et al., and LEAPing Toward Change: A Portrait of Teacher-Artist Collaborative Instructional Practice in the Elementary Classroom, Kelly Stokes, Dissertation, Temple University.  She created Zephyr’s Dance is for EveryBODY project, a comprehensive community outreach program based at Holstein Park under the auspices of the Chicago Park District’s Arts Partners in Residence Program. She has been a guest artist at Illinois Wesleyan University, Eastern Illinois University, and Ohio Wesleyan University, and taught residencies and master classes in modern dance in Chicago and throughout the United States. Michelle currently teaches Dance Appreciation during Illinois Wesleyan University’s May Term program.

Pam Zeidman with Debbie Allen

1. How did you become involved with dance?

I started dancing at age 9 because I kept waking up with dance moves running through my head and needed an outlet.  My mom enrolled me in jazz and tap – a perfect fit for me.  I started choreographing and teaching the neighborhood kids at age 12 – putting on dance recitals in my garage with the parents sitting in lawn chairs on the drive

2. What are you currently doing in the field?

Currently I am the Midwest Program Director for American Dance Training Camps, an instructor for Trilogy Performing Arts (Lake Zurich, IL) and Christian Youth Theatre (CYT).  I am also an adjudicator with Spotlight Events.

3. Would you share a special moment from your career with readers?

I’ve had many “special moments” in my dance career, but probably the most memorable was when I got to meet Debbie Allen after I choreographed “Fame – The Musical.”  I’ve always admired her rise to “fame” and respected her passion for dance.

4. What is the best advice you have ever received from a teacher or mentor regarding dance?

Mme. Peff Modelski, a wonderful fount of knowledge, has imparted some simple truths to me:  “Don’t tell the brain you can’t do something.” “Fear and dance don’t live in the same house.” “Use your body parts for what they are made for.”

5. What has been your greatest challenge?

My greatest challenges have come recently as I’ve reached the ripe old age of 50 and find my body not responding the way it use to and having to make adjustments to compensate for it

Pam Zeidman

6. Do you have any advice for dancers who want to go on to a professional career?

My advice for dancers who want to pursue a professional career in dance is to have a back-up plan in the event something goes wrong.  As with any professional athlete, one wrong move could mean the end of a career, and then what?  Also, become a triple threat!  Dancers who can sing and act are more marketable.

7. How do you feel dance has changed over the past decade?

In the past decade I’ve seen dance become more physically demanding.  Young dancers really have to be nice to their bodies if they want to have longevity in this business.  That means maintaining a healthy diet and getting enough rest in between dance classes.

8. Where do you think dance is going?

With reality shows like “So You Think You Can Dance,” “America’s Got Talent,” and “Dancing with the Stars,” I could see dance becoming more and more popular on television.  I’d really love to see a melding of all the arts with the return of variety shows.

9. What do you enjoy most about your life in dance?

I think the thing I enjoy about my dance life is the way it surprises me.  Opportunities that have come knocking have pushed me beyond what I ever thought I could do.  Watching my students blossom and grow is wonderful to watch as well.

10. What is next for you?

What is next for me??  To continue to choreograph musicals.  I love the theatre and have always dreamed of choreographing a Broadway show someday.

Pam Zeidman

BIO: Pam Zeidman is a successful and dynamic teacher, and award-winning choreographer with over twenty-five years of experience motivating and inspiring dancers of all ages and levels. Pam is a workshop presenter, master teacher, writer, and adjudicator.  She has been a studio manager for two top dance schools in the Chicago area.  As a choreographer, some of her musical theatre credits include:  “Fame – the Musical,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Aida,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat,” “South Pacific,” “Damn Yankees,” “The Wiz,” “Pippin,” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”  Currently, Pam is the Midwest Program Director for American Dance Training Camps, and teaching in the Northwest Suburbs. 

Trained in all areas of dance, Pam specializes in Musical Theatre, Jazz and Lyrical.