Dance in Canada Magazine Number 13, Summer 1977

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Dance in Canada Magazine Number 13, Summer 1977

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One copy of Dance in Canada Magazine Number 13, Summer 1977

Contains the following articles:
- Editorial by Susan Cohen
- The Terminal City Connection by Elizabeth Zimmer
- Training the Dancer I: The Roots of Today by Rhonda Ryman
- The Bournonville Schools by Sondra Lomax
- Profile: Mikhail Berkut by Eileen Thalenberg
- Graham Training Settles in Canada by Graham Jackson
- Letters from the Field
- In Review
- Noticeboard
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Toronto Vancouver Ballet Terminal City Dance David Earle Susan Cohen Anna Wyman Dance Theatre Toronto Dance Theatre Schools Training Michael Crabb Erik Bruhn Patricia Beatty Marijan Bayer Dance Company Anna Blewchamp Anna Wyman Elizabeth Zimmer Judith Marcuse Entre-Six Dance History Grant Strate Style Auguste Vestris Paula Ross Paula Ross Dancers La Sylphide Lise Brunel Graham Jackson Lawrence Gradus Rhonda Ryman Sondra Lomax Mikhail Berkut Eileen Thalenberg J. Groo Bannerman Tournesol Savannah Walling Doug Gallant R. Bruce Metcalfe Anne-Marie Gaston Marijan Bayer Vincent Dienne John Gruen Donald Himes Terry Hunter Karen Jamieson Karen Rimmer Ted Kivitt Cynthia Lyle Patricia BcBride Ivan Nagy Jean-Georges Noverre Kirsten Ralov Marie Taglioni Kei Takei School of the Toronto Dance Theatre Martine van Hamel Violette Verdy Echoes Momentum Apassionata Poem of Man Konservatoriet En Mouvement Toccata Babar Old Man Coyote and Creation Generation Apart A Diary Trips Klangenfort Deflections Quicksilver Sixes and Sevens Tremolo Two People Costume Culture Shock Eurythmics Benesch Notation Labonotation Stretching Strength Technique Graham Technique Bournonville Technique Tubular Bells Workshops Eighteenth Century Dance Sandra Caverly Paris
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01/07/1977
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Dance in Canada Magazine Number 13, Summer 1977
Dance Collection Danse

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$2. Summer 1977 Ete .fl I .j Education of a Dancer: anatomy, notation Yves Cousineau 171½ Spadina Avenue Apt. B Toro nto Ont. MST 2C3 97 en good reasons to read Canadian Magazines. Body Politic Communique: Canadian Studies The monthly by and for homosexuals in Canada. News, features, reviews, classified, columns -with a gay liberation perspective. 10 issues, $8.00 A bibliographic quarterly designed to promote the use of Canadian materials in classrooms. Each issue deals with a specific theme area. 4 issues, $15 .00 Room ~f1£, own CANADIAN -\':: THEATRE REVIEW Q ;;;,-;; ovo Room of One's Own Two-thirds of each issue is made up of fine photographs. The other third consists of essays on photography, interviews of photographers and reviews of books and exhibits. 5 issues, $7.00 Canada's leading feminist literary quarterly publishes short fiction, poetry and critical reviews by and about women. Great reading! 4 issues, $6.00 Canadian Theatre Review A national theatre journal with the best in dramatic criticism, articles and interviews, a full-length playscript, essays and book reviews. 4 issues, $10.00 Modern Drama Modern Drama IT:) \;:0::1 \<::.:'" One of North America's most influential journals ind ram a and theatre criticism.Well-known contributors from Canada, United States and Europe . 4 issues, $10.00 (institutions, $15.00) .. Performing Arts in Canada The Canadian Forum A journal of drama, music and dance in Canada, including comment, news and schedule information . " The National Forum of the Performing Arts." 4 issues, $3.00 Controversial po litical and social commentary mix monthly with short stories, poetry, original art, and film and book reviews. 10 issues, $9.00 Northern Light Toronto Life A magazine of contemporary poetry and reviews, edited by George Amabile. 2 issues, $3.25 4 issues, $6.25 More than 170 pages every month on politics, literature, humour, art, music , business, travel, culture, food , night life, lifestyles and city living. 12 issues, $8.00 Just some of over 160 exciting Canadian Magazines. If you would like a complete catalogue checkhereC Please enter the following subscriptions. Amount Magazine Name _________ Address ________ Code _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Enclose a cheque or money order OR Chargex □ Mastercharge D Number ________ Expiry Date _______ Signature ________ I ••••••-•••••--•••••---•••-•••••••-~ I Canadian Periodical Publishers' Association 3Church Street Suite407 Toronto M5E1M2 Dance in Canada SUMMER 1977 ETE The Terminal City Connection Elizabeth Zimmer TRAINING THE DANCER I: The Roots of Today Rhonda Ryman The Bournonville Schools · Sondra Lomax PROFILE: Mikhail Berkut Eileen Thalenberg Graham Training Settles in Canada Graham Jackson The National Ballet of Canada Montreal Quebec City September 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 Salle Wilfrid Pelletier Place des A rts September 27, 28 , 29 Le Grand T heatre de Quebec Windsor October 2, 3, 4, 5 Cleary Auditorium Hamilton October 6, 7, 8 The Great Hall Hamilton Place W innipeg October 12, 13, 14 Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall Regina October 16, 17, 18 Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts Saskatoon October 20, 21 Saskatoon Centennial Aud itorium Vancouver October 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 Queen Elizabeth Theatre Edmonton October 31, November 1 Jubilee Auditorium Banff November4 Eric Harvie Theatre The Ban ff Centre Calgary November 5, 6, 7 Southern A lberta Jubilee Auditorium Toronto November l 7-26 O'Keefe Centre 157 King Street East, Toronto,Ontar io M5c lc9 (416) 362-1041 EDITORIAL LETTERS FROM THE FIELD IN REVIEW NOTICEBOARD EDITOR: Susan Cohen DESIGN: Dreadnaught ASSISTANT EDITOR: Mira Friedlander BUSINESS MANAGER: Nikki Abraham TRANSLATOR: Louise Meilleur SUBSCRIPTION AND CIRCULATION: Orry Danes SPECIAL THANKS TO: Ministry of Culture and Recreation, Ontario The Canada Council BC Cultural Fund Jackie Malden, National Co-Ordinator, Dance in Canada Association COVER: Pacific Ballet Theatre, photo by Robert Title Dance in Canada is published quarterly in Toronto, Canada by Dance in Canada Association. The views expressed in the articles in this publication are not necessar·ily those of Dance in Canada. The publication is not responsible for the return of unsolicited material unless accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envel ope. Subscription: $6.50 per year. Single copy $2.00. The publication Dance in Canada is included with membership in Dance in Canada Association. Danse au Canada est publiee trimetriellement a Toronto, Canada par I' Association de la Danse au Canada . Les opinions exprimees clans les articles de cerre publication ne sont pas obligatoirement celles de Danse au Canada. Le redaction n'assume aucune responsabilire quant au renvoi de materiel non solicire, a moins que celui-ci ne soit accompagne d'une enveloppe-reponse affranchie et ad ressee. Abonnement: $6.50 par an. Prix du numero $2.00. Les membres de /' Association de la Danse au Canada recevront d'office le revue Danse au Canada. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission of the individual contributo r and the Dance in Canada magazine. Tous drois reserves. II est defendu de reproduire route partie de cette publication sans avoir prealablement obrenu le consenrement ecritde tour auteur et de la revue Danse au Canada. Please send notification of change of address, subscription orders and undeliverable copies to: Dance in Canada: 3 Church St., Suite 401, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1M2. ISSN 0317-9737. Second class mail registration number 03874. Return postage guaranteed. D AN CE IN CANADA 2 DAN SE AU CANADA Editorial Susan Cohen In r: ·- i-- e Dance in Canada takes a brief look at the edu a..=on of the dancer today: Sandra Caverly, York UniYer-iry professor, talks about her upcoming notated collection o f the complete Bournonville classes which all dance teachers will thus have available for the first time in history· Graham Jackson gives us an overview of the Toronto Dance Theatre's School, the first modern training institution in Canada to be recognized by a Canada Council grant; and with particular pride, Dance in Canada publishes the first in a series by University of Waterloo Faculty member Rhonda Ryman on ballet technique, how it has developed and been taught. In later articles Ms. Ryman will be assessing contemporary instruction manuals and will present new scientifically-based approaches to training movement. In addition, regular contributor Elizabeth Zimmer looks at a company that is making waves on the west coast, a co-operative, collaborative experiment called Terminal City Dance, and Eileen Thalenberg, a Toronto freelance writer, profiles Mikhail Berkut for us. Berkut, a recent Russian emigre, sensitively, eloquently and thoughtfully shares with us the difficulties of being uprooted from your country, a difficulty no less painful in a profession whose vocabulary is universal. By the way, we welcome a number of new contributors this issue: Rhonda Ryman and Eileen Thalenberg, both well known but new to these pages; the young Toronto writers, Sondra Lomax and J. Groo Bannerman, making their first professional appearance in the magazine; and journalist Doug Gallant from Prince Edward Island. Notice too the expansion of In Review to include book reviews as well as coverage of some performances from across the country. Once again let me remind you that Dance in Canada publishes in the language of origin, English or French, and that we will be returning to our complete bilingual format whenever sufficient funds become available. Centre of Movement Offers an exciting fall program in movement studies, composition , dance and mime. Special classes are offered for professional dancers. Programs for children. Dans ce numero, Danse au Canada jette un bref c d'oeil sur le systeme d'education contemporain du seur: Sandra Caverly, professeur a l' universite York presente sa prochaine serie complete de cours Bour ville. Ce sera la premiere fois clans l'histoire que tou _ professeurs de danse pourront l'avoir a leur disposi Graham Jackson nous decrit brievement I' Academie Toronto Dance Theatre, premiere maison de formati on_ danse moderne au Canada a recevoir un octroi du Con· des Arts du Canada. Et c'est avec juste fierte que Danse _; Canada publie sa premiere serie sur la technique du bal:eson developpement et son enseignement. La serie a e: preparee par Rhonda Ryman, professeur a l'Universite Waterloo. Dans des articles subsequents, Mlle Rym.:evaluera les manuels d ' instruction contemporains _ presentera de nouveaux abords scientifiques de la fo rm tion au mouvement. En plus de sa contribution reguliere, Elizabeth Zimm nous presente une compagnie qui a fait couler de l' en --_ sur la cote Ouest, une troupe experimental e -_ cooperation et de collaboration appelee Terminal Ci, Dance. Et Eileen Thalenberg, ecrivain pigiste de Torow nous trace le profil de Mikhail Berkut. Berkut, recemme,emigre de Russie, partage avec nous, de fa<;on sensib _ eloquente et pensive, !es difficultes d'un deracinement pays natal, operation toujours douloureuse, meme d· une profession au langage universe!. En passant, nous souhaitons la bienvenue a n nouveaux collaborateurs pour ce numero: Rhonda Rymaet Eileen Thalenberg, routes deux bien connues, m nouvelles clans nos pages, !es jeunes ecrivains toronto Sondra Lomax et J. Groo Bannerman qui publient pour premiere fois clans la revue, de meme qu'au journali :_ Doug Gallant de l'Ile-du-Prince-Edouard. A remarquc egalement, !'expansion de la section En revue qui offrira des revues de livres aussi bien que des critiques de specr.:cles a l'echelle du pays. Permettez-moi de vous rappeler encore une fois q Danse au Canada publie !es articles clans leur langu d'origine, anglais ou frarn;ais. Nous retournerons a norrformule bilingue des que nous disposerons des fond necessaires. Angel Ballet Shoes Soft Ballet Shoes • Gym Pumps . Highland Ghillies Leotards • Tights . Tank Tops Gamba Point Shoes Angel Point Shoes made to order Call 961-6978 for information 1080½ Qu een St. W. Toronto ,Ont. MOJ 1HS 532-5767 DANCE IN CANADA r stern f branch 0 . t the end o a s the end. '.2.. ·nal adi- growing a a part that forrndev1ce attache terrn 1 ·na\ n. 1 · Id tail 3· a \ paratus , B\.lD I terrn1 0 rnarnenta e . electr1ca ap d of , . ting usu. ble or to an e,ther en rerrn1na of a wire or ca onnecnons. 4a_- ing line, or ro the end ose of making c rucking or sh1pJ Ii hterage for the purp \as a railroad, t ls dock an beg ls and . hne f . yaru ' e s u ' a ca_rner ith c\assi y1ng offices, stor_ag or passenger airhne) w anagernent . b. a freight serves as fae1hnes , assenger stanons- iderable area orwn or city freight a~at\s central to a ~~~~her hnes. c. a to stanon_t at anY point w1 a juncno~ fa carrier \1ne. at the en o d J:' As Savannah Walling reads the definition aloud, something none of them have ever thought to do before, the other members of Terminal City Dance, scattered around the chilly room, laugh and nod and agree. They are warming up in their small studio, once a corporate boardroom and then a Krishna residence, in the 'penthouse' of an ind ustrial building, near the waterfront, in Vancouver's rai lyards. They do yoga-like stretches, headstands, various Yocal exercises. Outside, traffic roars; train bells clang eriodically. 'If you want to get a feeling for what it's like, come here .rnd sleep and get woken up by the train at 6 a.m.,' mutters Terry Hunter, who lives with Savannah in an apartment ad·acent to the working space. Despite the pessimism implied in their name (which was ·ancouver' s, back in the eighties, when the CPR arrived), -.,e even members of Terminal City see their work in a 1cive light. Karen Rimmer, on her knees, waggling her 3 DAN SE AU CANADA hips from side to side, observes that the title 'is a very potent metaphor. People in North American cities are operating within a framework of values that is very sick and destructive.' TCD is working co-operatively, seven performers who have known each other as long as forever (Rimmer and Marion-Lea Dahl are sisters, and both mothers), as briefly as a couple of years. About seven years ago, several of them were introduced to contemporary dance at Simon Fraser University, where Iris Garland invited Phyllis Lamhut and Albert Reid to teach. Rimmer, Walling and Menlo Skye Macfarlane followed them to New York, studying and performing for several years. Walling had studied folklore and anthropology before coming to Canada; Rimmer has degrees in philosophy and education; Dahl attended the Vancouver School of Art. Peggy Florin, who studied at Julliard in New York, is the only ballet-trained member of the company, and a fairly recent addition. After spending time in Toronto, she came to Vancouver to work with Anna Wyman and has been with Terminal City since September of 1976. Though they have just completed their first season under their present title, the nucleus of the group has been collaborating on various dance and mime projects for several years. During the summer of 1976, several of them studied contemporary dance in Seattle with Rob and Marcia Esposito, and then returned to Vancouver in September for a workshop called Acting: Exploration and Discovery, led by Polish performer Jerzy Bogawewicz. The stress in this work was on tapping creative sources, getting in touch with the streams of creative energy which live behind defenses; they learned to 'work through' their tiredness, continuing exertion to overcome resistance. D ANCE IN CANAD A 4 The material from his workshop has been incorporated into the company's process; warm-up exercises, movement vocabulary and attitude have been shaped by the young Pole's theory and practice. Inspired by Grotowski, it encourages spontaneity and 'aliveness'. They will work with him again this summer. As they continue their warm-up, and later, at a meeting to discuss the group's future direction, I observe their process, attending particularly to the things they say about what they do. They accept the difficulties of their role-free structure. Says Rimmer, 'You can take on a role, student, teacher, choreographer - and then relinquish it, rather than having the role rigidify around you. I don't want to harden myself into any particular role. The more people develop themselves as choreographers, the more interesting they are as dancers, the more dimensions they have. It's more difficult, but it's also more interesting.' It's also enormously time-consuming. Each member is allowed several hours of company time a week for choreography and rehearsal; they take turns 'leading'. Sessions must be worked around various part-time jobs and child-care responsibilites. There is anxiety about the structuring of time. There is also a lot of trust among them. 'You want to believe enough in what other people are doing that you're willing to take a chance on it,' murmurs Savannah Walling. 'The theme we are constantly working on is interpersonal relationships, between men and women, between artists,' says Menlo Macfarlane, who, with his old friend Michael Sawyer, an actor, writer and filmmaker, joined the group in November. Macfarlane is bulkier than the others, a glowering blond Neanderthal who sometimes resembles an unmade bed. Sawyer, like Hunter, is a DANSE AU CANADA slightly built man. Hunter and Florin, both cui-ly-moppelook and move sufficiently alike that they are sometim referred to as Teggy and Perry. Hunter, at 25 the young member of the group, has a background in music, thea:. and mime. The discussion continues. 'My interest in the interpe·· sonal is an elucidation, a microcosm of a larger thin.: observes Walling, choreographer of Klangenfort, a lo:-'_ duet exploring the crises of dependency in a male-fe ma· relationship, meticulously observed and timed, distilli.., universal emotions from particular acts. Terry Hunter thinks aloud. 'What I'm very much .:-terested in is change ... conflicts and directions abo ~· where people go and how they do things always reso'. around different ways to make change, different roads : take. I have a theme, and everybody can work on rb· theme; can I work with their method of change? And i: don't agree, do I do it anyway, because they're doing mu: or do I say no, I don't agree with it and I won't do it?' Marion-Lea Dahl observes that a group statement ta ·• longer to make than a personal one. She sees their ta 'speaking clearly and addressing ourselves to soc. change. One of the things I've realized this year is ;.. what seems clear to me is often unclear to other people.· The process, then, is a clarifying one, a sense of sear ing alongside six other artists. The product is quite v ous, ranging from evocative ceremonies to commentaon agribusiness in British Columbia. In addition to s ing the choreographic and managerial tasks, the comp.:.. members also take turns supplying live musical accomt='iment, mostly percussive, but including flute, reco::-harmonica and guitar. DANCE IN CANADA On May 15, 1977, Terminal City performs two different concerts in two different theatres. In neither place do they have more than about three hours for a technical dress rehearsal. Nevertheless, their energy is high. They have previously toured this repertoire to Edmonton, the Slocan Valley and Vancouver Island, refining the continuous 100-minute program, deciding to have an intermission, sharpening up the verbal exchanges. The tour, they say, was 'under-audienced.' In Vancouver, at the Cultural Centre, the house is nearly full. When the lights come up, Savannah Wailing is running in place. She continues to do that for nearly 15 minutes. Occasionally her gestures alter; she seems to be fighting, swimming, eating, harvesting, aching, hallucinating in an endurance-athlete's trance. Suddenly the stage space is invaded by a comic wrestling match, every hold a sight gag, with a witty commentary by referee Hunter. The performers wear tank suits and cotton drawstring trousers; knee pads are frequently necessary. Dahl performs a delicate solo, a resting-place in the otherwise frenetic opening section. Then Wailing and Florin, like big sultry leopards, prowl into the space chanting, 'I want money. I want power. I want everyone to look at me.' Their seductive gyrations are counterpointed by the rest of the group's reluctant procession, muttering 'I'm afraid,' cowering, trying to obliterate themselves. Hunter's survey of agribusiness in the province is laced with references to children's games, little songs ('this little piggy went to market ... ') and a mime of chickens. The movement looks like work-scything, picking-human, animal and mechanical. The time is theatrical, but the task is real. They touch us in places we usually hold private, by touching each other in powerful, sometimes brutal ways. In Klangenfort, the dancers enter through the audience, dash into it when the going gets rough, and otherwise work, moment to moment, off the energy in the immediate environment. Though every turn and lift and pummel is carefully planned, though the choreography has been set for weeks, the work looks improvised because it is fresh and alive. Some other works, much to the dancers' trepidation, were being altered right down to the day before performance. Perhaps the most 'traditional' piece in the present repertoire is Rimmer's Generation, a lyrical, precisely visualized work for three dancers who work solo, in pairs, and only occasionally together. Rimmer's attention to line is striking, especially in a section where two dancers begin in a "dog stretch" with hips in the air, and slowly float down and across the stage in an uninterrupted phrase which leaves them, centred, bracketing the third. Choreographed in silence, it has been performed to a Purcell string quartet and to improvised percussion and flute. At its conclusion, the dancers appear to be adrift in a wind. There are slow moments in the performance, sections which seem naive or undeveloped; this may be weakness or a deliberate attempt to vary the dynamics of the event. Audience members are sometimes bewildered. They complain that it isn't pretty, or that it's 'too personal'. They are, it seems to me, asking a pineapple to be a bunch of grapes, wanting to smooth off the very rough edges, the irregularities, which give Terminal City its special place in the Vancouver dance community. Because there is no hierarchy in this group, we get seven 5 DANSE AU CANADA fully engaged adult intelligences sending us messages movement. They make few concessions to traditional sex roles, except to explore them microscopically in the stunning Klangenfort. They are concerned with power and energy, emotion, idea and movement: these things have no gender. The problems they are having are not internal. There is no power-tripping; conflicts and doubts are aired and resolved. As I say, the working process is time-consuming, but critical. Terminal City's problems are larger ones, involving the company's - and its members' - interface with the community and the world. How well are serious social concerns served by touring this quirky repertoire around western Canada? How long can college-educated performers, now in their late twenties and early thirties, survive on minimal incomes garnered from part-time jobs, while they spend 30 hours a week together rehearsing and creating, contributing $20 a month each to the studio rent, paying baby-sitters, accruing no unemployment insurance? During their final rehearsal, they seem to be beginning to blur around the edges. I have a hunch that they are not eating very well. Two days before the Vancouver opening, they are tired, coming down with headaches, stomachaches. Once, in an unguarded moment during a runthrough, I perceive that they resemble the children in Lord of the Flies, creating an entire civilization out of nothing, ungoverned, leaderless, a bit frightened. But they come through marvellously. Hours after their last performance, they will disperse, to plant trees for the summer, to recuperate and plan in an island hideaway, to study and teach in New York and Toronto. They have decided to work together for at least another year. The vital, sibling-like connections among them, the high level of trust and caring, allow them to take risks and grow in remarkable, unpredictable ways. Most of them are professionals who could survive anywhere in North America. They have chosen to work here in Vancouver, and to work together, without grants or subsidies. They are interested in communicating, with audiences and with each other. Sharing with us images of comfort, of violence, of mutual conflict and support, they are striving not for novelty, but for the discovery of personal truth. York-Eglinton Centre, 1669 Eglinton Ave. West Adult Program · Register Sept. 19 & 20, 4. 8 p.m. Children's Program- Register Sept. 17 & 24, 10. 4 p.m. FOR INFORMATION ON TIMES AND STARTING DATES, CALL: Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology at 675-3111, Ext. 506 o~ Humber ARE NOT JUST FOR DANCING Take any one of our famous Danskins, wear it under an evening skirt to the theatre, slip your jeans over it, exercise in it, or dance in it. We've got more new styles and colours of Danskins in our new fall colour fashion supplement than ever before and we can't tell you how many fashionable women order them by the dozen. MAllABAR eatre ance snaps 375 Hargrave St., Wpg., Man. 3050 Portage Ave., Wpg., Man. 993 McPhillips, Wpg., Man. 899 Fort William Rd., Thunder Bay, Ont. 10520 Jasper Ave ., Edmonton, Alta. Yes, please send your new Fashi ,... Supplement. Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Address City MailTo: MAUABAR Box56 Winnipeg Please circle areas of.interest: Dance, Theatre Make Up, Thea:~e Equipment, Costumes . 1 DANCE IN CANAD A 7 DAN SE AU CANADA Rhonda Ryman Training the Dancer: Past, Present and Future I The barriers are down. Twentieth century ballet has become the property of the masses as a result of rapid commu nications media such as the printed word, camera, inema and open master class. In the past, candidates for entrance into the Ballet Academy were hand chosen for cheir physical attributes and personality; today any and e,·ery child has the option of studying. The few elite ballet masters of the past received and passed on the secrets of rheir art by word of mouth and personal demonstration; today's teacher must assimilate a mass of depersonalized info rmation from published manuals, magazine articles, overcrowded master classes with numerous teachers and .:ountless films. The technical challenges by twentieth century choreographers place greater demands on the artist than ever before, not only on the few top artists but on every member of the corps de ballet. The corps is no longer background o rnamentation; each member must be a technician in his own right. The outcome of these changes is that today a great number of less physically and aesthetically perfect bodies are being trained in a less personalized manner to perform at a higher level of technique - a technique which many eople strongly suggest is alien to the natural usage of the uman body! Dame Margot Fonteyn, however, defends her art, saying that it is not the technique but rather its -1pplication and execution which leads to problems: - :e techn ique of classical ballet is designed in such a way - ·:zt dancers who execute it perfectly should never suffer .. :, , ·. But since the necessary physical perfection rarely ··i.n it is an advantage for us to understand how best to • -~ · :.l'ith our limitations. (DUNN, 1974) Written documentation of Western social and theatrical dance technique dates back as far as the mid-fifteenth century. From these technical manuals, information can be gleaned as to the nature of the physical movements involved, and also the way in which the dances were instructed. During the Renaissance, European folk and court dance apparently evolved side by side, influencing each other with respect to steps and music. The origins of classical ballet can be seen even in the earliest manuals describing fifteenth century basses danses. L' art et instruction de bien danser, first published anonymously in Paris (1488 ?), counsels that the dances be performed serenely without gesticulation and as gracefully as possible. The primary movements consisted of transferences of weight in various directions, according to specific time and space patterns. Italian court dances of this period, the hallo and bassadanza, also emphasized grace, as described in the works of Domenicho da Piancenza and his followers. In addition, these dances called for dexterity and lightness in their more intricate use of time and space. By the mid-sixteenth century, the rise of the era of court ballet, those characteristics still prevailed, although the basic stepping, springing or stamping movements had become expanded. This widened vocabulary is discussed in Thoinot Arbeau's Orchesography. Here, simple locomotor movements, such as jumps, are embellished by leg gestures (e.g., the 'caper' or 'capriole') and the rhythmic components are more intricate and varied. At this point in time, Italian manuals such as Negri's Le gratie d' amore begin to discuss body attitudes involving the functional use of arms to facilitate turning movements. DANCE IN CAN ADA 8 DAN SE AU CANADA The Italian style seems to have been much more ornate and vigorous than the French, since it included more gestural embellishments, stronger leg movements and more rigidly erect eportment. This acrobatic or at least athletic predisposition may have been inspired by travelling bands of Commedia Dell' Arte players. Although the dances required considerable lightness, coordination and endurance ' dancing masters tutored their aristocratic pupils for up to three hours daily!), they most likely did not demand the rigo rous physical preparation we know today. By the advent of the seventeenth century, resemblances to the technical practices of today are more readily discerned. M ovements became increasingly complicated and involved a higher degree of expertise and training. In 1661, Louis XIV founded the Royal Academy of Dancing in Paris, and the art of dance began to evolve a theoretical basis. Professionals began to replace aristocratic practitioners and women took an increasingly active role in court entertainments. Describing the method for ladies, F. de Lauze, in his Apologie de la Danse, stated the following: Many masters consider that it is not necessary to oblige a lady to turn her toes outwards, and this is founded merely in that, as they are not subjected to view, it matters not what action they have. He goes on to say that 'turnout' is a functional practice which enhances freedom and grace in the legs, and therefore should be practised by both men and women. De Lauze suggest that difficult leg movements, such as beats, might be practised with the aid of a table for support. Using a table, and eventually a 'barre', to help maintain equilibrium and concentrate the attention on leg gestures, became a standard practice which is used even today. In the eighteenth century there was an increasing rift between the kind of dance enjoyed at court entertainments and balls and that performed in theatres. In Rameau's The Dancing Master, the author reminds us that he is dealing with court dance and that the movements performed onstage, although based on the same technique, are more complicated. He lists five basic positions of the feet (first codified by his contemporary Beauchamps), various steps ('pas'), and small sequences ('temps'), and describes the subtle accompanying wrist and elbow gestures. Rameau's teaching emphasizes balanced movement. He continually stresses the importance of moving with the body held erect, allowing the motion to proceed freely from the hip and executing smooth transferences of weight from foot to foot. One of the integral positions of eighteenth century dance was known as 'the equilibrium' and was accomplished by balancing the body on the ball of one slightly out-turned foot, while the other foot hung freely beside the heel of the supporting leg. Many movements were performed on the quarter point (with the heel slightly off the floor) and required considerable strength and control in the calf muscles. This might account for the appearance of males with bulky calves and slim ankles in many lithogr;iphs of the period, although it is understood that artists often tended to idealize their subjects according to the fashion of the time. In 1721, the English dancing master and essayist John Weaver published his Anatomical and Mechanical Lectures upon Dancing which attempted to link a proper study of anatomy to the teaching of dance, and to suggest the importance of symmetry and proper body placement, Eighteenth Century Dance: The equilibrium, picture~ Rameau's THE DANCING MASTER. encouraging use of the natural opposition of the li Weaver also emphasized the distinction between 'C mon Dancing' and 'Stage Dancing' saying that the softncs used in the ballroom could never be perceived in theatre. The steps and gestures, he advised, must be e. gerated and embellished, and the springs must be ru_ and more dynamic. Despite the increased us of o plastic poses and gestures, the balance between dynamic and the static elements of dance was maint This condition was reflected in the dance notation sy used during the early eighteenth century, called Feu Notation. It was a means of recording movement, an merely the positions through which the movement pas Eighteenth century technical innovations were gr facilitated by costume reform. For example, cl an Marie Camargo was able to execute the intricate foo required in various 'beaten' jumps when she shortenec skirt above her ankles, wore undergarments and rem the heels from her shoes. These and similar innova precipitated the invention of various technical feats su the 'entrechat six', 'gargouillade' and various 'pirouett Audiences were greatly awed by the dancer's phy prowess. Marie Salle shifted public attention temporarily a from glitter and technical 'tricks'. By appearing \Vi her panier, skirt or bodice, with her hair loose a adorned, she focused on the natural simplicity and gra the human form itself. Writing about the ideas Salle implemented 30 years before, Jean Georges 'o warned that the integrity of ballet would be 2:re'.it!!IV' DANCE IN CANAD A 9 The Tourne Hanche threatened if the trend toward acrobatics continued to overshadow the physical expression of human sentiments. In his Letters on Dancing and Ballets (18 0 3) Noverre admires 'the skill of the human machine' but advises that it must also reflect each artist's unique qualities. Both Salle and Noverre were concerned with maintaining balance in dance, advocating that the elements of physical technique, aesthetics or style and expressive spirit must be developed symbiotically in the true artist. Like Weaver, Noverre encourages the ballet master to study anatomy since this knowlege will .. render clearer the precepts which he will impart to the students he wishes to train: from that moment he will distinguish with ease the natural and habitual defects of physique which so often impede a pupil's progress ... It is due to this lack of study of their pupil's physique which i•aries as much as their physiognomies, that we owe that swarm of bad dancers which undoubtedly would be less numerous, if care had been taken to place them in a suitable calling. _-overre's Letters give us a unique picture of the peculiar ~ea hing methods of the early nineteenth century. He op,. ses the use of a strange contraption called the "tourne · nche" which seems to have beer popular at the time. n_· machine was used to improve turnout by strapping -1--e fee t to a movable platform which was then twisted D AN SE AU CA~ ADA open toward 180°. Of course i ucceeded only i::. '-";"=~~ ing the ankle and knee joints an ·d linle to open hip joint where correct turnout must occur. The French Revolution precipitated further chan the late eighteenth century. The atmosphere of grm .concern for social and political democracy inspired a return to the classical tunics of the Greek and Roman rep lies. These were shorter and lighter than the elaborate Renaissance version of this same garb. By the turn of the century, light gauzy costumes were introduced which revealed the human form and freed the breathing, making possible a more dynamic way of moving. Marie Taglioni's costume for La Sylphide, tight-fitting bodice leaving the neck and shoulders bare, bell-shaped skirt reaching midway between the knee and the ankle, pale pink tights, and satin shoes, came to characterize the Romantic ballerina. The noted dance historian, C.W. Beaumont,related this costume innovation to the Romantic preoccupation with the supernatural. In addition to freeing the limbs for a wider range of movement, it idealized the female form, distinguishing the theatrical artist from the pedestrian theatre-goer. This change in costume was accompanied by an expansion of the technical vocabulary to include broad, bounding leaps, especially for men, and delicate balances on the tips of the toes for women. These practices allowed the d_ance to appear to transcend all normal physical limitations and to create an illusion of easy weightlessness. In response to this, the audience's expectations changed: it looked for the extraordinary and the sensational. A sound theoretical basis was necessary to prepare the dancer for these expanded physical demands. In 1820, the Italian dancing master Carlo Blasis, often called the first pedagogue of the dance, published An Elementary Treatise Upon the Theory and Practice of the Art of Dancing. This manual is the first published work dealing specifically with theatrical dance technique and forms the basis for Blasis' magnum opus The Code of Terpsichore (18 3 1). Blasis methodically describes the positions of the arms and legs, and various attitudes, arabesques, jumps, pirouettes, etc. He advocates a rational methodology for dance instruction, advising the dancer that 'keen observation and an analytic mind can be of great service to you.' He cautions about the dangers of trial and error learning, stating that 'a bad habit once acquired is almost impossible to eradicate.' He also emphasizes that the need for balance and control is fundamental: 'you should spare no effort to acquire steadiness and perfect equilibrium.' Like Noverre, Blasis reiterates that each dancer's physical structure must be carefully examined, not for the purpose of determining whether or not he can dance, but rather to discover how to overcome various limitations or to direct the performer into certain types of roles, i.e., serious, demi-caractere or comic. He prescribes anatomically sound ways of working with the 'knockkneed' or 'bandy-legged' dancer, which can still be applied successfully today. Despite this analytical approach, the illustrations in several editions of the Blasis books depict anatomically impossible body configurations, such as arabesques in which the leg is hyperextended 90° completely at the hip joint! In an attempt to idealize the form of classical ballet technique, the natural limitations of the body are overlooked and even denied. DANCE IN CANADA 10 DAN SE AU CANADA with the manner of execution of these steps and po ..,~. nn.... he advises that they must be applied according individual needs of the student. He points out that i ·: the amount of practice of these exercises but the their execution and application that determines the p ress of the individual. As I've mentioned, Bourno choreography is preserved today by the Royal D Ballet, and is characterized by lengthy passages of pe : grand allegro involving crisp, precise footwork an : cessions of quick rebounds which give the impressio the dancer barely touches the ground. The ballon elevation required by his choreography greatly irn r the level of male allegro work, and precipitated the range of leaps developed by Russian male danseurs. Bournonville's fundamental classifications were f .... refined by Cecchetti in his Manuel des exercises de d~ theatrale apratiquer chaque jour de la semaine al'us.l mes eleves, published at St. Petersburg, 1894. It recor - • set daily practices conducted by Cecchetti at the Im Ballet School and, like Bournonville'sEtudes, uses a ht: evolved technical vocabulary of French terms. So, Italian and French technique and style had superimposed on Russian physiques and temperamenc the late nineteenth century to evolve the form knm,~ classical ballet. If the French developed the practi 'adage' (slow, sustained movements), and the Italians.: tributed 'allegro' work (jumps) and 'pirouettes' (spinr. turns), the Russians perfected 'pointe' work ('toe clan ,.., _ and male virtuoso jumps (such as 'tours en l'air' ). In : words of Mme. Nicolaeva Legat, wife of Johanssen' -cessor, the Russians ' ... embellished the Italian style c dering it more plastic and less acrobatic; they softene lines and improved its technique, thus making it harm ous and balanced.' Nicolas Legat adds that a majo r .... sian contribution was the extended use of the upper a and shoulders. He describes this practice, known 'epaulement', as ' ... a feeling with regard to line _ posture'. In addition to softening the lines of the 'epaulement' serves the essential function of integra movements of the arms to the torso via the active use of:· upper spine and shoulder girdle, especially in tur movements. Its functional, as well as decorative, value reflected in the strong yet supple upper backs of Russia-trained dancers. Many authorities consider that the pinnacle of Rus classical ballet technique was reached in the ballet Sit .. Lake. This work, as produced at St. Petersburg in 18 was a choreographic collaboration of the Frenchm Marius Petipa, and the Russian, Lev Ivanov, set on Italian ballerina, Pierina Legnani, in the dual role Odette-Odile. The second act, in particular, epitomizes· ideals of classical style and technique. Just as the cost of the Sylphide came to characterize the Romantic lerina, so that of the Swan Queen came to characterize· Classical ballerina: the dropped waistline accentu ate :· verticality of the torso; the bared shoulders, neck and aand the full tutu skirt reaching above the knees ac -tuated the lines and movements of the limbs, allm, them an even greater range of movement than before _t broader arm gestures, higher leg extensions); the s ::-=, blocked satin toe shoes made possible a more stable ::ance on the tips of the toes. The technique emphasize perfect geometrical relationship of arms and legs aro · the central vertical axis of the torso. Static qualitie , =as purity of line, muscular and emotional restrain C The prominent French school of the early nineteenth century was that of Auguste Vestris the younger. In contrast to the rigid, perpendicular back and geometrically angled limb positions of the Italian school, the French school was characterized by relaxed elbows, curved lines of the torso and limbs, and a slightly abandoned, less controlled way of moving. Vestris' teachings were passed on through his Danish pupil, August Bournonville, and eventually influenced the Russian school through Bournonville's pupil, the Swedish dancer/teacher, Christian Johanssen. The latter firs~ ·c ame to Russia with Marie Taglioni in 1860 and eventually became professor of the Class of Perfection of the Maryinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg. The Italian school of Blasis was passed on through his pupil and successor, Giovanni Lepri, and influenced the Russian school through Lepri's pupil, Enrico Cecchetti, who first came to St. Petersburg in 1897 as a dancer. The teachings of Vestris have been preserved by the Royal Danish Ballet who have maintained in their active repertoire a ballet called Konservetoriet. Choreographed by Bournonville as a memorial to his great teacher's work, this ballet has been described as 'a living museum piece' of the technique and style of the French Romantic Ballet; it is an actual reconstruction of 'Friday's School' in the Vestris syllabus of set daily lessons. Bournonville's major treatise, Etudes Choregraphiques, published in 1861, was directed to his friends and colleagues, professionals who were well versed in the balletic terminology of the day. The manual listed five fundamental positions of the body, seven fositions of the arms, five attitudes and arabesques, as wel as combinations of barre exercises, adagio, petit allegro, pirouettes, beats and grand allegro. Although Bournonville does not deal specifically DANCE IN C ANAD A 11 D ANSE AU CA- ADA rea raking balance on the tip of one toe for females, ere idealized as opposed to the dynamic qualities, such as a and exuberant gestures, of the Romantic era. From this description, it is evident that Western theatri-' -_:. dance of the nineteenth century is visually dissimilar ,; its fifteenth century antecedent, the court dance of -an e and Italy. Although the emphasis on graceful ements and erectness of the torso persists, the main · is no longer on simple transferences of the body's ' / _ t. The isolated arm and leg gestures of the late - ::ie:eenth century are so intricate and stylized that they --ea en to distort the balance between limbs and torso. - the state of classical ballet by the twentieth century . .\£::er t he Russian -Revolution of 1917, teachers and ◄ .l:' -ers dispersed to all parts of the world, introducing -~,.,,_"""..a.l ballet technique to people of widely differing ::- ·s·ques and temperaments. The noted dance historian, .er Brinson, has observed that the unique blend of the --ic discipline superimposed on each country's physical -.:: emotional nature has given rise to numerous national ◄ ::ise 'ecole' or schools of dance. That is, the particular mechanical skills allowed within the balletic a.m.ev,ork has been adapted to the somatotype and amic qualities of each particular nation. This blend has ced the unique twentieth century form of classicism · rhe choreography of Robbins and Balanchine in erica, de Valois, Ashton and MacMillan in England, Petit and Bejart in France, to name but a few. e basic costume of the twentieth century dancer (skin: eotards and tights) reflects these changes. The frills ... a o rnments of the last century have been stripped .;s :o reveal and accentuate the total human form more , : e,·er before : the dancer is seen as a totality from the .: of the toes to the ends of the fingers and top of the a . The curved lines of the arms are extended to The ethereal quality of the nineteenth-century ballerina. _ en the overall lines of the body and increase the e of its surrounding space. Thus, more than ever the - ·gue demands the full, integrated contribution of dance manuals have appeared, listing in detail the position rv body part. The twentieth century dancer is striving of the feet, arms and head and the combinations of these :egain the balanced use of the limbs and torso in order to positions into poses or 'enchainments' of steps. They have y explore the widest limits of technical achievement described the superficial position of the body, emphasizing o create a bold, dynamic and adaptable style of that it must be maintained erect and under control. They have not, however, explained exactly what is involved in ·ement. Tl e growth and development of classical ballet techni- the erect postural stance. Nor have they dealt with the exact bodily actions required to put the body into the as been traced from its earliest roots as fifteenth ury social dance to the twentieth century theatrical numerous positions and alignments. These manuals were admittedly intended for dancers which we know today. In its early stages, technical who had first-hand experience with the subject matter. als suggest that the traditional method of instruction - _ rimarily by imitation. One dance master personally They, therefore, assumed a great deal of 'a priori' knowledge on the part of the reader and dispensed with detailed : red one or a few aristocratic students in the same er as he himself had been tutored. Since the dance descriptions by using the widely understood technical ter;,.·as also a choreographer and dancer, he was able minology. In other words, traditional technique manuals were pose and execute the particular step based on the more concerned with describing what the position or step g of his teacher. The student would then imitate looked like on the surface, once it was perfectly under~ p:-actise the step until he had mastered its execution. stood and achieved, than how the body must act in order to t...e-;L--nm~ was therefore basically a trial-and-error experiproduce the end result. In addition, the words and phrases . The imagination and intuition of the individual -e master was his basic tool, since few fundamental used by the masters of the past were vague and connotative. They most often succeeded in being poetic as opposed .:al rules had been codified. the time of Blasis, however, dance masters have to accurate, artistic as opposed to scientific. e increasingly aware of the importance of a sound ED . NOTE: The next article in this series takes us into the tlJl=o:-encal fo undation. Nevertheless, in the search for twentieth century, evaluating the usefulness of the most ciples, the basic tool of each was still largely prominent technique manuals currently consulted by rceptivity. From Blasis' day onward, numerous today's ballet teachers.) ~-,: : or DANCE IN CAN ADA FEMALE. 12 DANSE AU CANADA v>111.r,n'10 ,-l -c I r,' ~ / + A I I '-----" -+- I f ' ~ A female variation taken from the finale of Bournonville's KONSERVETORIET I i I) I \5 \ + -+II• ('Friday's Class'). i)Jlt 4T Wt ti Bournonville's choreography emphasizes softness of line, not high extensions; artistic subtlety, not acrobatics. , DANCE IN CANADA 13 D ANSE AU CANADA Sondra Lomax pRESERViNq ~iSTORy: SANdRA CAVERlyNOTATESTHE bouRNONvillE scHools · ons. Classical ballet is full of traditions. From fifth _ : ..:on to barre exercises to tutus, the rituals of class and ~ ...:o. ance have been practised and preserved over the -~-:- ~es. Dance historians wrangle over research on bal. :-aditions and try to reconstruct past works; choreog-3r her ' notes and iconography are studied for traditional :q: and positions; and even movements from La Sy!- ri2 and Sleeping Beauty are discussed and disputed as to - :- authenticity. anks to dance notation, films and videotapes, more - .: more of the traditional choreography of the great - - - 1 sis being preserved, but what about the actual ballet :e- ni ues and styles? The Russian, French, and Italian Cec herti) styles, in very modified and mixed form, are in 2 read use in dancing studios throughout Europe and . · -h America, and technical manuals and dictionaries of : e reps, arm positions, etc., have recorded the styles in ~-:i·. In isolated Denmark, the nineteenth century tradi- n of the Boumonville school had been maintained in - - o r pure form over the last century, but it is even now in ◄ er of being lost. , en the great Danish ballet master August Bournone died in 1879, his works might have disappeared with - , ur his students kept alive his training through an oral ~.1dirion, devising a syllabus of six weekly classes which - tud ied from the time the dancers were eight until they e~ retired from the company. This syllabus was handed _ \"11 from one generation to the next which helped to ;·eserve the unique Bournonville training, characterized _. ..:ancers with brilliant beats, effortless jumps, and fast, ~ ... e footwork. B:.it oral traditions can easily lose authenticity by means ~ :- man error and forgetfulness. To safeguard the Bour- - ··Ile technique, Sandra Caverly, associate professor of :1~e at York University, has written a book entitled The : :, rnonville Schools which will be published by the Marekker company in the spring of 1978. The book is a of over three years of research by Caverly and will ·e the Bournonville weekly classes in dance nota• - 0 Ca ·erly's association with the Bournonville style began - -:.. ummer of 1974, when she traveled to Denmark on a r::-term Canada Council grant to study at the Royal chool in Copenhagen. The Bournonville classes, -· - eir long combinations and continuous series of --:---- were like a new language to Caverly, who had been - -e.:: in the Cecchetti style at the National Ballet School. So she began notating the steps to teach to her ballet students back at York. Armed with pencil and manuscript paper, Caverly crouched at the back of the Danish studio, notating movements in between dancing each combination in the two-hour long classes. Her manuscripts caught the eye of Kirsten Ralov, a Bournonville expert and exRoyal Danish Ballet dancer, who coaches the Boumonville works for the company. Ralov, who was concerned about the preservation of the Bournonville classes, asked Caverly if she would notate the entire enchainements. Caverly agreed and soon began collaborating with Ralov whose astute mind had retained the actual Bournonville classes from her childhood training. For over three years, Caverly worked intensively with Ralov during summers and Christmas holidays in Denmark, New York, and Chicago, wherever Ralov was demonstrating the Bournonville technique. From her nota- DANCE IN CANADA I N1 RO 14 DAN SE AU CANADA ------l II 0.. ...... t I--- I- ~ ~ ---1 Wednesday's Bournonville Class: Enchainement 19. Postures reached during enchainements appear to embrace the audience. DANCE IN CANADA 15 ~on of the Bournonville school's centre exercises, Caverly •armed the building blocks for the four-volume book ·ni h w ill capture the nineteenth-century style in Benesh Lab anotation with word descriptions of the steps and -'.-.e accompanying musical scores. For Caverly, the responsibilities of recording this unique a ,et technique and style are overwhelming, but she feels :nar it is vital to preserve the Bournonville tradition.' After --e past years of fast, experimental choreography and the : cus on new things, people have started to think back to - e·r root s and traditions,' she believes. 'There is a reap;- -e iation of classical styles.' The Bo urnonville technique is linked to the French _~· ool o f Auguste Vestris, one of Bournonville's teachers .::.i:ing the first quarter of the nineteenth century and the who w as considered the greatest male dancer of his .:.1y. And the Bournonville works have an integrity which : Jo vs the tradition of Noverre, the great eighteenth cen.i.:ry allet master who believed that technique is not an din itself. Bournonville described dance as an art which ;a rowards an ideal of dramatic expressiveness, and his --oreographic focus was on expression, through move~en· of the daily lives and fantasies of people. In fact, rnonville believed that art should help to develop the ,.. :iruality of a country. Ca\·erly says that the Bournonville ballets emphasize ~man relationships, unlike the works of twentieth cen-=:-- choreographers such as Balanchine who create ab:·a designs in an emotionless manner. This human ele- • t. inherent in the libretto of Bournonville dances, tends n ·olve the audience in what is happening onstage, an -· h-ement which Caverly feels is missing in the puter-like quality of today's experimental modern -l.7Ce works. She adds that the Bournonville style, with its e eric and rhythmic movements which seem to reach _: and embrace audiences, expresses feelings and moods :b an a uthenticity lacking in other styles, because the :al body movement is geared towards expression and the --aval of a role. r ·aps Noverre's heritage is most clearly apparent in -~onville's La Sylphide, where the technique is totally -: ~rate d into the story. The Sylph performs tiny, .:::::.:ning-fas t steps on pointe, skimming across the floor to :-· asize her ethereal qualities which contrast with the - bound dances of Effie and her mortal friends. Here, ...-...:o ity is not shown for virtuosity's sake, but solely as a • - .c e for dramatic expression. And Caverly points out - :· er characteristic of the human element in Bournon:: :echnique: the dancing tends to be directed in a -- . '.-. -forw ard manner towards the audience, without ::.-~ ocratic coldness so admired in other styles, such as - : Petipa and the Russian school, where wide-open flu ng-back heads tend to direct the movement up .... e air and above the audience's reach. · onville's ballets are about people, danced by peo-d enjoyed by people. 'Audiences are entertained by vilie' s ballets,' explained Caverly, 'because one -: r into fairyland and enjoy the story without having --· fo r heavy, underlying symbolism.' The popularryle is evidenced by the success of the Royal Ballet 's recent tour of the United States, where e ·ere flo cking to the performances in New York. • - ·, :eels that there has been a recent discovery of - _-\·de in North America, 'which has simultane- DAN SE AU CANAD A ously brought about a re- awakening of p nonville tradition in Denrnar .' The Dan.is Ct have taken their Bournonville heritage for granre past years, turning to works by modern Dani h r: raphers like Fleming Flindt. But the Danes are begin:: realize the value of their unique style and traditio a: -company tours receive international acclaim. Caverly's book will preserve the Bournonville tra · in Benesh notation, a form of movement shorthan-.. ;: veloped during this century as a recording system fo- - • choreography. Caverly began learning the com ~- .::i:__ system at 17, while recuperating from a serious ba · which ended her chances for a professional balle· ::.1 __ She continued her notation studies in corresponde .::e the Benesh Institute in London and in 1970 -- c. - qualifying examination to become a Bene h · --_;::: Her combination of skills as ballet teacher an brought her to her present position at York Uni ·e ::-' -also enabled her to record the Boumonville svlla"..:.-. For the benefit of readers unfamiliar with lkne ;.. - tion, Caverly's book is also written o ut in word e tions. She has had to outline in the tradit ional Fterminology every minute detail of gesture and pos1 ·o from the degree of the tilt of the head and the exa • direction of the movement to the height of the arms. ·TI e Bournonville dancers, so isolated in D enmark, a ·e strange names for some steps within the French termino ogy,' says Caverly, 'while some of the unique Danish te. have no names at all.' Translating the steps from nota o-: into a written description has been Caverly's hardest ca · since it requires special attention to the peculiarities of the Danish experience and a thorough understanding of the classical phraseology most common in North America and Great Britain, where the majority of the book's potential market is located. Massive coordination has been required on the book which assembles choreographic material for the first time in three different forms: Benesh notation, Labanotation, and longhand. The notes had to be supervised by Ralov in Denmark for accuracy and sent to Ann Hutchinson in London, who is recording the steps in Labanotation. All of Caverly's Benesh manuscripts were mailed to the Benesh Institute in London to be doublechecked by their experts, and proofs of the manuscripts were mailed back and forth between the co-workers and the publishing company in New York. The authenticity and accuracy of the material gives a historical value to the book, but there is a practical side as well, in the retention of a training system which has produced such outstanding male dancers as Erik Bruhn, Stanley Williams and Peter Martins. Dancing in the Bournonville style demands a totally new range of movement for dancers such as members of the National Ballet of Canada, the only professional Canadian company which currently holds a full-length Bournonville work in its repertoire . Veronica Tennant, a principal dancer with that company, said that she was surprised at the level of technical and stylistic difficulty when she first learned Bournonville's La Sylphide. 'l was trained in the Cecchetti system at the School of the National Ballet, and the jumps in La Sylphide are not in our technique. I felt tremendously earthbound at first, with sore legs and feet from rehearsing. Erik Bruhn coached me to find freedom within the bounds of this technique, but it is still very hard to do two acts of difficult jumps without showing the effort. There DANCE IN CANADA 16 are also recognized Bournonville steps which just don't appear in other ballets, such as the fast pas de bourrees which force the legs to constantly cross over one another.' T ennan feels that the challenge of Bournonville work would · e a good addition to the curriculum of the National Ba et S hool, especially for the boys' training, since it was the Boumonville school which maintained the integrity of male dancing during the last century when the female roles had gained supremacy in the rest of Europe. And Erik Bruhn expo unds the values of Bournonville enchainements in his book Bournonville and Ballet Technique by saying, 'All my life I have attempted to master them, and I believe that they have great value when added to a good basic foundation. Properly applied, they are excellent for ballon, batterie and any allegro movement.' Bournonville also builds stamina in dancers, since each daily class contains at least nine different jumping combis nations and long, sustained adagio exercises. Teachers and dancers will be able to use Caverly' s book of Bournonville classes as a new tool for developing qualities of technique, such as brilliant beats and soaring leaps, that are lacking in other styles. If Erik Bruhn's dancing shows the strength and virility gained by a performer trained in the Bournonville school, Caverly also points out that the quick, unpredictable changes of direction it?- the Danish technique holds equal potential for training dancers. 'Another benefit of Bournonville movement is the contrast, the small, quick linking steps which contain compressed energy which explodes into large jumps.' Caverly feels that dancers today tend to give movements the same values in terms of dynamics, so that the contrasts needed to give colour to the classical works are missing. Caverly explained that the linking of steps through dynamic changes is a distinct characteristic of Bournonville choreography: movements are tossed one to another by a change of weight which alters the flow of energy and varies the shape of a combination. The preparations for steps are given equal importance since the lead into a movement is the key to that movement's execution. And Bournonville enchainements employ distinct rhythms to facilitate the intricacies of batterie. The continuous flow of movement in Bournonville dancing thus prohibits any lull in the action; you never see a Bournonville dancer walk silently to centre stage and take a preparation for an elaborate variation as you often do in Petipa ballets. The choreography of Bournonville's Napoli and Konservetoriet moves from one scene to another, with lots of mime sequences and dancing to form the transitions without breaks in the story. The stage is always full of movement, people and life. Perhaps it is Tennant's comment, from a dancer introduced to Bournonville late in her training, which best describes the potential of Sandra Caverly's book as a historical record and a useful teaching aid. ' All traditions have to be clung to,' she says. ' It's only through knowing roles and conquering them that we can continue on. It's always from the basis of traditions that people create. Bournonville is one of the great techniques, but it is underrated, undervalued and understudied.' Caverly hopes that her book will help to change this situation. (Photos by Andrew Oxenham of Sondra Lomax. Notation by Sandra Caverly.) DAN SE AU CANADA DANCE IN CANADA 17 D AN SE AU CANADA Profile Eileen Thalenberg Mikhail Berkut C I U11cler N~v Skies By the rivers of Babylon There we sat down Yes, we wept When we remembered Zion .. . How shall we sing the Lord's song In a strange land . • ~::: ,,ee, displaced person (D.P.), emigre, expatriate. ;:- - =- sh language is full of words describing people cut - -- - • eir native roots. Some have left their countries -:3~ y, others by force and still others as a result of - - _·ances which made it impossible for them to re- t eir native country. ~ p: for small forays of travel abroad, most people :;- , live and die in one country, often taking for -·::~ :he organic bond they have with it. It is difficult to _ - ·he tremendous upheaval in a person's life when _;-son is forced to find roots elsewhere. Some unchange successfully; others, like an exotic : plant or animal transplanted onto foreign soil, -- .1 -ay and eventually perish. - .1 transplanted artist, no matter how hospitable his " -;: ountry may be, the experience of 'singing the :ong in a strange land' is often very painful. Here - a paradox: on the one hand it is true that the artist - ;::ates in an international community which often :o express our common humanity, transcending oundaries, but on the other hand, the artist can ~ ·eve this "internationalism" by expressing it •••ci,;,::zr: · he specific experience of a culture which gives _- - e language, the references, the images, the sense _ 1 d spiritual life which feed the creative being. For -easons, writers have the greatest struggle when ~ -~ ed, being so dependant on language, the tool h they communicate. But it is no less difficult for ;ti_ ts, musicians or dancers who are cut off from -::e fro m which they draw the concrete material for med into their art. -~-•· - -~··e o nce defined a 'Canadian' to me as a 'D.P. with , . - For Canadians, then, being for the most part a : immigrants, the problem of transplanting cula new one. The most recent immigration into .......___.~ .. -a come from the Soviet Union and among the immigrants are many creative artists. Some have been forced to take up other occupations (like the two Leningrad actors who run the Barmolai, a Russian restaurant in Toronto) and others, like Mikhail Berkut, have been able to continue in their own profession. Berkut came to Canada in 1976. In his native Russia he was a prominent choreographer, ballet master and teacher of dance at such places as the Kirov School of Choreography in Leningrad and the Moscow Theatre Institute. He is the author of several books on dance and dance notation and has an impressive background in staging dances for theatre, television and film. Berkut has made his home in Montreal where he recently opened his own school: Les Ballets Russes de Montreal. I approached him for an interview and told him I would like to talk with him about culture shock, about being Russian, about expectations, surprises, disappointments, what it felt like to be transplanted and after enjoying a reputation at home, to be forced in his mid-forties to re-establish himself in a new country. I made the mistake of bringing a tape-recorder to our first interview. The tone of the conversation was cautious. The second interview (without tape-recorder) was much warmer and more open. As we spoke, I observed that I was talking to someone still in the process of adjusting to a new society. Impressions were still fresh and time had not allowed them to be fully assimilated. It was after a series of events both personal and artistic, protracted over a few years, that Berkut applied for emigration. The final weeks preceding his departure from Russia dragged on painfully. 'Two emotions dominated. One was fear - fear of the unknown that lay ahead; and the other was a feeling of great loss - the loss of a homeland, not in a political sense, but in a physical and emotional sense: a familiar rock, a street corner, the house where you were brought up, all these things that give you a DANCE IN CANAD A 18 DANSE AU CANADA fate and interacted as one group. 'By the time I got to Rome, I was much calmer, more confident. And then again Rome . .. the museums, the cathedrals . . . too many impressions at once,' he says, shaking his head. Canada, Winnipeg, to be exact, was the next stop. And that had its own surprises. 'In the Soviet Union we get a completely distorted picture of the West. The official propaganda tells us that in the West there is no culture, that talent is not respected but wasted, that the only advances are technological and that the first priority of a bourgeois society is money. Then an equally distorted impression filters through to us from immigrants writing home. So when I got to Canada, I was surprised to find arts councils supporting the arts, people interested in dance and taking classes not necessarily to become professional dancers but for their own personal artistic education, and in general a highly developed cultural life.' But other things were very upsetting: 'I was appalled by the poverty and living conditions of some of the Canadian Indians. I was disturbed by a certain xenophobic attitude that some Canadians have vis vis immigrants. Then there were the buses and streets where everybody minded their own business and no one spoke to anyone .. .' The surprises come daily in major and minor ways, often bringing overwhelming problems with them. Independent of the problems peculiar to his discipline, the social, political, ideological education which informs an artist's world view causes him to be constantly confronted with contradictions: 'He must either adapt and find points of contact with his new society,' says Mikhail Berkut, 'or change professions.- Anything else means self-destruction. If he succeeds there will be growth as an artist.' The contradictions and conflicts were there for Mikhail Berkut in Russia. 'An artist isn't only a product of his environment. Over the 30 years I have been involved in dance, I developed my own personal and artistic credo which I had never been able to fully realize in Russia. There came a point when I felt that I was physically and emotionally in chains. When I did my Poem of Man, a collection of dances using the music of Chopin, Debussy, Ravel and others, I became ideologically suspect because the theme of the dance was not political. I was accused in the press of being an 'abstractionist', a 'cubist', an 'impressionist', a 'cosmopolitan' (because I used the music of foreign composers). When I did my production of Beethoven's Apassionata for the Beethoven bicentennial and said that it was about the struggle of the artist for creative freedom, they asked me what 'freedom' I was talking about, since I was given my freedom by the Revolution. So although I am a part of my Russian culture, a product of it, it was that culture which prevented me from fulfilling my own artistic needs.' In May of this year MikhailBerkutgave his first recital in Montreal, at a matinee performance at Place des Arts. It was a demonstration composed of several character dances, some folk dances, classical ballet pieces and a modern piece. 'The character dances and folk dances were well received. People were not used to seeing this kind of dance. The classical pieces were admired for the purity and excellence of technique. But the modern piece did not impress anyone. They found it well done but oldfashioned. In Russia I was an 'abstractionist', here in Canada, old-fashioned!' a t --c Ji ~ ~ ~ '1,l g 0 g;L----------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' sense of place, of belonging, would soon be irretrievably lost. My one desire was to leave quickly and lessen the pain.' His first contact with the West was Vienna, where Soviet emigrants are processed. Shortly thereafter he left for Italy, the country which offers Soviet emigrants transit papers before they decide upon their final destination. This is the period of decompression. 'Because I am an artist,' he told me, 'I think I was more conscious of my impressions and feelings. Not that others did not feel these things as acutely as I, but I was feeling them and at the same time trying to analyze what was happening and sort things out. When I first arrived in Vienna I was in a state of complete shock, as if I had either awakened from a difficult dream or had fallen asleep and landed in a fairy tale. I walked through the streets in a daze. I saw, I looked, but like a baby I was unaware of the significance of what I observed. I was completely disoriented. Every morning I organized excursions to the museums. I don't remember half of what I saw, but I went every day and couldn't see enough. 'There were two groups in Vienna that helped the new arrivals. One was composed of official organizations like HIAS who understood our culture shock and cared for us as one cares for sick people. The other were the older emigrants; if a man arrived three days before, he was already a 'professor' and taught you survival techniques. In the Soviet Union he might not have helped you. He might have been suspicious of you; but in Vienna, Russians who differed from each other socially, psychologically, etc., were all thrown together because they shared a common DANCE IN CANADA 19 Berkut admits that there is a great gap in his education: -~{y classical background is very strong: pas de deux, Baroque dances, historical and character dances, etc. But :ny knowledge of modern dance lags far behind. I am not a barned to admit this and I have begun to re-educate myself. I go to modern dance concerts, observe modern ance and jazz classes, listen to modern composers, electronic music and read avidly. I am a good student,' he '.aughs. 'I want very much to work in various genres, jazz, ~odern as well as classical. My dream is to choreograph a · allet which incorporates several different kinds of danc·ng.' Berkut's strong interest in folklore has led him to study - e fo lk music and dances indigenous to the many places '..e has travelled to in the past. Coming to Quebec has allowed him to explore French Canada's folk tradition. In · · recital at Places des Arts, he included a newly choreog-aphed piece based on the Quebec Quadrille. He suggests ; at 'someone should be researching and collecting, a tegorizing and systematizing Quebec dances. Otherwise - ey will be lost. Right now every choreographer does his own interpretation of the dances and the originals are owhere to be studied.' Although he is very enthusiastic about Canada and op· imistic about his new Montreal school, Berkut is not uncritical of the Canadian dance scene. 'Isn't it awful that, in a country this size, there are only four dance departraents in Canadian universities? There are many faculties of fine arts, but they don't offer dance programs. Often dance is relegated to the department of physical educa.o n.' He also finds that many Canadian dancers are poorly educated: "They should have a broader education, not just in their narrow field. A dancer must learn control of his/her art and learn everything that relates to it: costumes, lighting, music, physiology, history of dance, etc.' Throughout our conversation, Mikhail Berkut is quick o assure me that all the adjustments he has had to face and he learning experiences he has undergone would not have been possible without the help of friends and fellow artists he has met in Canada; people like Mme. Chiriaeff of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens for whom he taught during his first year in Canada and who introduced him to French Canada's culture and its artistic community. There are many others, individuals and organizations; he remembers them all and feels that he has a debt to pay. The Marchowsky Company presents THE FIRST TORONTO SEASON OF Non-Verbal Theatre Leah Posluns Theatre November 9 th to 19 th FOR INFORMATION CONTACT THE MARIE MARCHOWSKY DANCE THEATRE COMPANY 95 Trinity Street, Toronto (416) 862-7008 DAN SE AU CANADA And then there is his British wife, Penny, who~ . in Rome. 'Without her I could not have done it. ·-~ taught me to be more open with people, more trusting not to be afraid to say what is on my mind. That is -~ major difference between the West and Russia. Here people say what they think. Artists will voice a personal op in ion about an exhibition, a concert, a play .... They may be right or wrong, I may agree with them or not, but they are not afraid to speak. In Russia, most artists are afraid to venture a criticism which deviates from the official position.' It may sound to us like a success story, but the process of transition into a new society has not been an easy one for Mikhail Berkut. He told me: 'To this day I cannot look at Russian paintings without familiar associations of people and places. This is so painful. I have brought tapes and records of Russian music from the Soviet Union and I still can't listen to them without being sick for days. If I don't hear Russian music I don't miss it, but if I do ... it's awful. It's so personal, it's part of my nervous system; my response is purely emotional.' Between every immigrant and his/ her new home there is an exchange of what that immigrant has to offer and what the new environment offers in return. This process of exchange has already begun in the case of Mikhail Berkut. It will be interesting to speak to him again in a few years and compare his perceptions then and now, to see how he has changed artistically in Canada and what kind of an influence his school, Les Ballet Russes de Montreal, has had on Canadian dance . Looking atDance Live, on Film, as Video. It's a special presentation of the Art Gallery of Ontario. To be conducted Wednesday and Thursday evenings for six consecutive weeks from October 19 through November 24. Live dance. Film.Video. Lectures. Ballet. Modern and ethnographic dance. There will be five live performances, twentyfive film programs, three lectures and screenings and four separate video programs running continuously. The 5:30 and 7:00 pm film screenings are free with admission to the Gallery. 8:30 and 9:00 pm screenings are $2 and performances are $4. Both include Gallery admission. Please check about tickets with the Gallery Information Desk. JOIN US. BE PART OF A GREAT GALLERY. Art Gallery of Ontario Dunda s West at Beverley Street. In fo rmat ion: 361- 0414 DANCE IN CA NADA Fall 197 The School of the Toronto Dance Theatre Spring1978 20 DANSE AU CANADA Faculty Peter Randazzo Patricia Beatty David Earle Danny Grossman Susan MacPherson Donald Himes Kathryn Brown Peggy Smith Baker Wendy Chiles Patricia Miner Judy Hendin Guest Teachers Kenny Pearl Merle Salsberg Helen Jones Keith Urban Principal Donald Himes Inquiry School Co-ordinator, 957 Broadview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4K 2R5 423-0562 Classes begin September 12th Single Class $4.50 Registration Fee $5.00 Scholarship Audition Sat. Sept. 24 at 2 pm OTTAWA October 7, 8 National Arts Centre GUELPH October 14 War Memorial Hall TORONTO October 21, 22 Metropolitan United Church with Festival Singers TORONTO November 2 An Evening with David Earle and Danny Grossman Art Gallery of Ontario NEW YORK November 15- 20 Umbrella Festival with Danny Grossman MONTREAL December l, 2, 3 Groupe Nouvelle Aire Studio 'Chorechange' TORO NTO December 14, 15, 16 'New Works' Macmillan Theatre WESTERN CANADA J anuary 7-Febmary 19, 1978 Winnipeg, Brandon, Regina, Calgary, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Nelson, Red Deer, Edmonton, Kclowna, Vancouver, Victoria MONTREAL February 23, 24, 25, 26 Centauru 957 Broadview Avenue Toronto Ontario M4K 2R5 416 423-7016 DANCE IN CA NAD A 21 DAN SE AU CANADA Graham Jackson Graham Training Settles in Canada _.\ dance school existing in tandem with the performing ;:ompany it feeds is hardly a new phenomenon, certainly -or in countries where ballet is part of the cultural tradion. Ballet companies have long recognized the need for - lid training; schools are established to maintain stan.:.Jrds, to uphold an image of the True Ballet. (Of course, ·e the True Faith, True Ballet comes in a hundred subtly ..:. ··erent guises.) The schools have provided the nourish'.'""ent fo r ballet's prolonged existence: the young, Spartan ies able to carry on the tradition of ballet's special .ie- hetic. For their perserverance, ballet companies and, - - more recently in Canada and England, the schools ..... .1 hed to them, have been favoured with extensive subfro m government organizations, corporations and - ~. ·idual patrons . . lodern dance, not having the venerable traditions of ~ z. · sical ballet, has not had to worry too much about these •• 0 • T raining has been more sporadic. The reformation • .:iance which took place in the twenties did not result in - · iance of the various discontented factions, and today hools reflect the diffuse nature of modern dance, asizing the differences, not the similarities. TI ere has been no history of financial investment in modern dance training separate from company activities as there has been with ballet and, as a result, it came as a pleasant surprise when the Canada Council announced recently that it was giving the school of the Toronto Dance Theatre a project grant of $10,000. As principal Donald Himes says, this grant is not going to alter the school's immediate future; it's the recognition that counts, 'the pat on the head' . The school began in 1968 as a complement to the Toronto Dance Theatre. Not only was it an extra source of revenue that helped to defray performance costs, but it also established a centre for training specifically in the Graham technique, which artistic directors Peter Randazzo, David Earle, Patricia Beatty, as well as Donald Himes, had all been studying in New York in the early sixties. After several abortive efforts to form companies of their own, Beatty, Earle and Randazzo joined forces in the Toronto Dance Theatre and the school followed quite naturally. Thus Martha Graham's technique with its idiosyncratic focus on pelvis and the 'interior landscape' made its Canadian debut. Himes describes the prevailing atmosphere at TDT in the early years as laissez-faire: 'It was a little too free, too DANCE IN CANADA 22 ~;pen. Pec-ple wo uld take classes without paying. We suffered from that climate of the sixties where everything was 'Get in here and do your own thing, man'. But you really can't rain yourself for a career in dance that way. It takes a Ion time to master your body.' It was Yery hard on the teachers, this casual attitude. With some students coming twice a week and others coming once a month, teachers were constantly giving classes to students at different levels of accomplishment. 'They didn't know who to teach for,' Himes admits. This state of affairs persisted until TDT moved into the Don Hall, an old Finnish community centre, in October of 1974. TDT's first studio had been in the old Yorkville area, above a body rub shop. Their second, on Lombard Street, had windows on three sides, but it was a fire hazard and had no washroom. (David Earle remarks that running a dap.ce school without a washroom was an act of insanity, although he feels that these conditions radicalized his own creative efforts: 'My works became darker, more brooding . . . !') In 1974, however, the school officially advertized itself as a school for the first time. Himes and Marie Marchowsky, a student of Graham's in the thirties, were appo inted co-principals and the organization was tightened up considerably. The enrolment was pretty much the same as it had been in the first years - about 200 - but the emphasis had changed, from upper-middle class housewives wanting exercise classes for themselves and eurythmics for their kids, to more serious-minded students wanting to get thorough Graham training. The exercise classes still exist. Having undergone considerable changes, these classes, now called 'Stretch-andStrength,' have proven to be one of the school's most profitable programs. Himes discovered 'Stretch-andStrength' on a visit to New York a few years ago. It was part of class given by a former Graham dancer, Matt Turney (Seraphic Dia logue and Embattled Garden): 'It's like doing your scales in piano. It's not that you throw beauty out the window, but what you're working at is the technical side of your body. These classes get you into shape very quickly because they're so intense. You work on one little area and then you move on to another and then another and at the end of an hour and a half you've covered the entire body.' At TDT, 'Stretch-and-Strength' attracts lawyers, students, actors and anyone else interested in keeping his or her body running efficiently. Martha Graham continues to dominate the school activities, however. A 12-week beginner's course introduces the student to her particular philosophy of movement. A summer program offers courses at different levels; each year since its inception, Bertram Ross, a former partner of Graham herself and an authority on her technique, has been a guest teacher. But the beginner's and summer courses are the only courses to be strictly structured (in the beginner's course students must take two classes a week). Those who wish to go on with a view to performing can take classes on elementary, intermediate and advanced levels, but in a more haphazard fashion . Advanced students, for example, take company class, but, of course, this is only available when the company is in Toronto. The school often invites guest teachers to give classes, mostly exponents of the Graham technique, but teachers with different backgrounds have offered their perspectives on modern dance training. Judy Jarvis, Danny Grossman, DAN SE AU CANADA Kenny Pearl, Lilian Jarvis have all taught at TDT. After an exciting one-shot performance in Romeo and Juliet during the National Ballet's anniversary season last fall, former National principal Lilian Jarvis taught a barre course at the school that attempted to analyze the origins of movement. This course was created, Himes says, to counteract the standard approach to dance teaching in which the teacher puts his or her students through a series of physical manoeuvres, an arcane ritual that has some rhyme, perhaps, but no apparent reason. The students, Himes says, were enthusiastic about Jarvis' course and the school hopes to persuade her to come back in the fall to teach it again. This past year student enrolment has risen to 300. Some of these students come, not in hopes of becoming a member of the TDT company, but to diversify their dance training. Given the highly competitive state of the dance market today, few dancers can get by on ballet or jazz training alone: 'If dancers want to go out and earn a living in dance, they have to be prepared to do many things,' Himes explains. 'If you go to an audition for TV or a musical, they're always keen to see your double tours and pirouettes because these are useful. If you watch TV shows where there's a lot of dancing, you'll see dancers coming out on pointe one week, and the same dancers doing contractions to the ground the next. Dancers competing in that market have to be versatile.' Other students are defectors from the anti-intellectual atmosphere of classical ballet schools. Claudia Moore and Nancy Ferguson both fled the National Ballet to study Graham which Moore calls more solid, more meaningful. (Himes put it another way: 'When you're told your lover has shot himself, your immediate reaction is not to put your arms in fifth position!') Both Ferguson and Moore eventually joined the company but not until they underwent a 're-organization of the body,' which, Himes claims, is crucial if a ballet dancer is to achieve the right look fo r modern. 'It takes a little while to move in the way that distinguishes modern from ballet. It's not that these people don't have beautifully-trained bodies. They're usually stretched, usually strong, usually capable of doing an extraordinary number of things; but they don't look right for what our choreographers want. In ballet the centre of the body is held still and the legs and arms move around that, so the movement is in a sense peripheral. This means you have to have a very strong body, very lifted, to maintain that centre. In modern, movement spreads from the centre of the body to the outside. Your strength comes from the turn of the pelvis working against the stretch of the back and the spiral of the body around the spine. But ballet-trained dancers have been taught for 200 years to keep their pelvis upright, level, hips down, all those things that give that ballet-look, that elegance. As soon as ballet dancers start a Graham class, they must turn the pelvis constantly. In fact, a Graham class begins with everyone sitting on the floor in order to emphasize the use of the pelvis. Not that we don' t have movements in which the centre of the body is kept still. . . . We use the legs, too, but it's a whole different procedure, right from the beginning.' Most of the 300 students, however, are novitiates in the Graham technique: many cherish a desire to dance with TDT. Few in fact will become performers, but those that DANCE IN CAN ADA 23 .r,-e are a fair measure of the school's worth: Ernst and .irole Eder (Tournesol),Kenny Pearl(AlvinAiley,Donald cKayle, Martha Graham), Barry Smith (Martha :aham), Ross McKim (London Contemporary Dance -=-:. eatre) as well as the dazzling Moore. ith an enlarged student population to contend with, ...:-•mes finds very little opportunity to take classes himself. - o le principal (Marchowsky has her own school in - ronto), he has one assistant who takes charge of the .: ly running of the school, while Himes himself makes up :.-e chedules, decides who will teach what, when, where, - sometimes even how. The school's relationship with ·--:e parent company has always been an easy, relaxed one, - J.t Himes can cite one or two instances of dissension on :.-:e ubject of how something is going to be taught. Like ;iy school teaching a specific movement vocabulary, ques::..ons 0f interpretation, of aesthetic goals, often arise, but ·1e e are usually resolved to everyone's satisfaction. chool and company have shared the same facilities :-ight from the beginning - at Don Hall, two studios plus _ · ces - and this has occasioned confusion and chaos at :nes, with the company clamouring for rehearsal space nd the school equally vociferous in its demands for class _ ace. But Himes feels that even with space problems, s: ared accommodation has had its distinct advantages for th : ·Training, even for those who will never perform on a :::age, is geared toward performance. To have the feeling : at a performing company is there gives a great exciteent to the school. I would hate to see them in different ~ ui ldings. The performers of the Toronto Dance Theatre :,_re our teachers as well so they're constantly experiment.ng with movement in the classes. Some of the class work is :nore or less set, but other parts of the class, the moving across the floor and the combinations, vary depending on :he teacher. Creative juices are stirred up in class.' DA N SE AU CANAD A This fall, company and school both take up re - :l a new location, the Don Vale Community Centre. i:::. church in Toronto's Cabbagetown. Once renovated, . ., • new home will contain four studios in addition to o - -.... space, a decided improvement, one that coincides happil: with official recognition from the Canada Council. The grant aside, the future of the TDT school seems fai rly secure, as secure, that is, as TDT itself which was shaken br a few mild tremors of discontent this spring. Himes hopes to be able to produce more programs originating in the school itself, theatre productions like Bahar and Old Man Coyote and Creation. With a cast of students from the mT school, Old Man Coyote toured Ontario public schools last term under the auspices of Prologue. Bahar, which Urjo Kareda, on its debut, called the hit of the r97r / 2 theatre season in Toronto, was originally set on members of TDT company, but for the last couple of Yuletide seasons, its cast has been made up solely of students from the school. Both productions have been enormously successful in reaching young audiences, and Himes, the mastermind behind their ingenious melange of theatrical effects, is eager to have them recognized as the school's own. Besides the flattery of recognition and the financial boost, the grant has given the school an aura of respectability. As Himes says, 'We've never had any doubts about ourselves,' but proving their worth to a public not entirely sold on the aesthetic of modern dance, and to equally suspicious arts councils, has been hard. Everyone connected with school and company hopes that the grant will not only draw the timid-but-curious to the school but will also act as encouragement to teachers of modern dance across the country who have subsisted for too long in the shadow of the tutu. Perhaps this grant will even set a precedent for arts funding on the provincial and local levels in Canada, thereby ensuring modern dance steady growth rather than perpetual chaos. Donald Himes He came to dance through music. As a child in Galt, Ontario, he took the conventional piano lessons with the conventional one-and, two-and approach to rhythm. Dissatisfied with his training, he started investigating what was to become a major interest - not to say, obsession - in his life: eurythmics. Simply speaking, eurythmics is the teaching of music through movement; musical structure, harmony, and especially rhythm are all taught through movement. As Himes once said, 'Running, walking, the human heartbeat - those are all rhythmic procedures. We learn rhythm in music from the things that a child does naturally, but which we lose as we grow older.' In Toronto, Himes studied eurythmics with Madame Lasserre at the Royal Conservatory of Music where he also taught piano. He later quit his job and went to Geneva to study at the Jaques-Dalcroze school which its founder, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, had set up to teach his revolutionary 'gymnastique rhythmique' (or eurythmics). Returning DANCE IN CANADA 24 in 19 5 9, convinced that this was the only way to teach music to children, Himes accepted a post teaching along side his ol ::nentor, Madame Lasserre, at the Royal Conservatory as ;,,-ell as resuming his job as piano instructor. In the f ,. of 1959, he also taught the first class at the newly-opened _-ational Ballet School, a class in eurythmics and among his students that first Monday was Ve ronica Tennant (with Celia Franca sitting on the sidelines . Eurytlunics was part of the course of instruction at Patricia Beatty s ew Dance Group school in the midsixties ; Himes ,•,as playing there as an accompanist for Beatty' s classes and training as a dancer. It was really inevitable that his study of eurythmics would lead him into another aspect of movement - theatrical dancing. Himes had been aware of dance before but only in the form of the Sadlers Wells Ballet which made a couple of visits to Canada in the early fifties with Robert Helpmann and Margot Fonteyn prominent in the ranks; these visits Himes remembers with the fondness of someone remembering a childhood romance. In the late fifties, he began to take modern dance classes at the Hebrew Y from Yone Kvietys whose style of teaching, Himes says, was modelled on Mary Wigman's. While studying with Kvietys, he met David Earle and Susan Macpherson (a charter member of TDT) and together they attended Martha Graham's summer school in New York City a few years later. In 1967, Himes danced with Patricia Beatty's New Dance Group of Canada in its first public concert (which also featured a work by Peter Randazzo, at that time a recent defector from the Graham company). Himes was the featured performer in Beatty's Momentum, a study in psychological angst, based on Shakespeare's Macbeth (with the choreographer as Lady M), akin in style to Jose Limon's The Moor's Pavane. Nathan Cohen, always a friend to modern dance in Toronto, praised the performance in the Toronto Star : 'They achieve a radar-like connection ... with their audience.' His first reaction to a performance by Martha Graham, Himes recalls, was very similar to the reactions of people approaching TDT today for the first time, after being brought up on Swan Lake: puzzlement and frustrated expectations. 'I was shocked. I didn't see anything my eye had been taught to appreciate. I thought, my God! what are these people doing? Can't they get into the right shapes? ,t' sonly after a re-education of your aesthetic that you come to see what they're after. Someone once said that ballet is line and modern dance is volume - which is very true, I think. When you think of the Graham technique and several other modern techniques, you think of the sculpture around-the-body, rather than the line which is meant to be seen in a proscenium arch, to be seen flat, from the front.' Himes has since become a champion of modern dance in Canada. He feels that it's as rich and vital an aesthetic experience as ballet, even more so, although Himes can be seen in attendance at most ballet performances (as well as at modern dance). He is the ubiquitous dance aficionado, a distinction he must share with the former prima ballerina of the National Ballet, Lois Smith, an old acquaintance. In addition to his sundry administrative duties at TDT and his teaching responsibilities at Smith's School this summer, Himes has been working as resident choreog- DANSE AU CANADA rapher at the Stratford Festival, staging, among other things, the Capulet Ball in Romeo and Juliet, the dance celebrating Titania and Oberon's reconciliation in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and an ugly bacchanale in Miss Julie in which a young girl is threatened with rape by drunken servants. Although he was given a free hand by the directors, the actors, particularly the older ones, wondered what dance h'a d to do with them. Taking a Grotowskian approach, Himes tried to persuade them that their bodies are as important as instruments of expression as their voices. In the fall, Himes will return to a full schedule managing and teaching at the TDT school. He will also resume his teaching post at York University and his job doing the music for CBC's Mr. Dressup. Most importantly though, with students back from summer commitments, he will be able to start work on Little Red Riding Hood, the successor to Bahar and Old Man Coyote and Creation. Red will utilize the same melange of theatre, dance, and music that distinguished its predecessors, a melange based on the discipline called eurythmics which Donald Himes began studying 25 years or so ago. As -the rhythm of the human heartbeat monitors his physical life, eurythmics continues to possess his imagination and fire his creative genius. He has long served as its most eloquent spokesman, emphasizing its value in teaching movement control and music appreciation to dancers. But his other contributions, as principal, administrator, teacher and choreographer should not be underestimated; in each of these roles he has helped to give roots to Graham training in Canada. DANCE IN CANADA 25 DAN SE AU CANADA In Review Dance Beat "'cted Views and Reviews, --1976. Deborah Jowitt. ~,. York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., _:ed to be that Edwin Denby was the · dance critic whose pensees on the - .:e were considered significant enough ollected in book form, but in the last :ea rs, several books of dance criticism _ been published - as a gesture, one .1mes, toward preserving that most --emeral of art forms for posterity. • - ra h Jowitt's Dance Beat is surely the · of the post-Denby collections. -~e author's interest in dance is not that ·our average dance critic. She has -_.:.1ed with (among others) Martha - · am, Jose Limon, and American Ballet -·er. She has performed with Julliard .:e Theatre, Valerie Bettis, Jeff Dun-. Pea rl Lang, Sophie Maslow and, in years, with Dance Theatre Work~· where she has presented her own -.: . Since 1967, she has been dance -: .: fo r the Village Voice and a frequent ·::ibutor to the New York Times and cesco pe. ether writing about ballet, first and nd generation modern dance ~aham, Humphrey, Weidman, Merce _- ingham, Alvin Ailey, or Paul Taylor) t she identifies as 'The Third Gener: Yl.ostly Rebels' (i.e., Kei Takei, - ith Monk, Yvonne Rainer, Douglas 7- • Trisha Brown, etc.), she writes with · uran ce and clarity that comes in part -:i her own active involvement in dance. -- . priately, at the end of a review of a - n given by Jeff Duncan in which she appeared, Jowitt writes, 'Oh, well, • .1 ways felt that this column should be ·Inside Dance'.' For some this famil;:. wo uld jeopardize their objectivity, · f ~ Jowitt, it only enhances the relaxed ~ :nanners of her writing. Her mind is _-: you never get the feeling she com- he r reviews before seeing perfor-.::es. as you do with some critics. Her . ·irh words is casual, slangy, although . ·,mg never seems arch or contrived. e there' s always reason for her her work has an intense, concen- -i quality which her breeziness doesn't ·" doak. As a dance reporter, Jowitt describes movement in great detail. In New York, she heads a campaign to do away with the kind of critic who goes to a dance and describes the ballerina as dancing gracefully with no reference to what she's doing. But it's not Jowitt's emphasis on technique or form or structure that gives Dance Beat its weight: it's her insight, her ability to interpret these so that someone without her background can see how they function as part of the choreographic art. What's most important, however, (and this will sound like a ripe cliche) is that she obviously loves what she's seeing. Though her specialty is 'The Third Generation', she has a good time at Pineapple Poll and at the National Ballet of Canada's Sleeping Beauty, too. She's not always positive, of course, but her criticism is carefully weighed with a view to what is possible. In a review entitled 'The Glamor Trap is Closing . . . Run' , for example, she pinpoints with deadly accuracy the hypocrisy and lovelessness of Gerald Arpino's The Relativity of Icarus, though showing how Lucas Hoving conceived the same myth complete with its psycho-sexual ambivalence more eloquently, yet more modestly. In sum, she brings dance alive on the page. Performances she's seen are almost as vivid viewed vicariously as they would be if you'd been there yourself. Almost, because that's the perennial problem with reporting live performances, especially dance which can 't be preserved the way a play or musical recita l can. Jowitt can't do the impossible, so she does the next best thing. She writes a mean piece of dance. GRAHAM JACKSON Dancers on Dancing Cynthia Lyle. New York, London: Drake Publisher Inc., 1977. After too long a silence, dancers are suddenly being asked their opinions about dance. The reading public is learning, with some surprise and possibly with some sadness, that dancers are thinking, feeling, often sensitive artists with strongly individual points of view. They are being revealed as more than the hyper-specialists trained to machine-like efficiency leading monastically dedicated lives that they were once thought to be. Cynthia Lyle is the author of Dancers on Dancing. In the introduction, she mention that her only brush with dancing was an imposed few weeks of ballet classes during a California vacation when she was seven years old, and that she has no desire to be a dance critic nor is she a dance academician. Strangely, this information is offered as proper credentials for her project. To compile her book she interviewed 12 well known dance personalities much as an anthropologist would approach an isolated New Guinea tribe. The analogy to anthropology is not really far-fetched. Recently a number of writers have become fascinated with the mores and folkways of this exotic breed. Joseph Mazo wrote Dance is a Contact Sport, a sort of sociological look through a keyhole at the inner workings of New York City Ballet. Two years ago John Gruen provided us with The Private World of Ballet, in which he allowed the great and the almost great of the international ballet community to express themselves as eloquent, tunnel-visioned, neurotic, badtempereci' or whatever. All spoke briskly if not always well. Gruen is a master catalyst, sometimes allowing his subjects (victims?) to trap themselves in foolishness. While I regard The Private World of Ballet as voyeuristic material, I must admit that it has anthropological validity. It gives outsiders a true glimpse of the closed and cultist dance world. Like Joseph Mazo and John Gruen, Cynthia Lyle is intrigued with the dancer: 'I have long wondered from afar what goes on in the minds and hearts of the dancers DANCE IN CANADA who have spoken so intimately and eloquently to me ith their bodies as I sat motionless in - e balcony of a darkened theatre.' S e 6-en sets out through direct interviews :o discover r 2 dancers as people and as artns. If her format is similar to that of Jo Gruen, she employs none of his canny racri ; in fact, her ineptness for the task is too often evident. Commendably she doe not alter the transcript in her favour. There are juicy moments during her interview with Agnes de Mille where it becomes obvious Ms Lyle is well over her head. But her naive innocence often has an unexpected payoff.We glimpse the cutting edge of Agnes de Mille's tongue and a directness that gives no quarter to the cub reporters of this world. It is not proper to credit Dancers on Dancing as a book. It is a compilation of interviews strung together on the premise that, with rare exceptions, the best known dancers are in ballet and most established choreographers are in the modern dance field. The first part deals with dancers from American Ballet Theatre (including Martine van Hamel, well known to Canadian audiences) and from the New York City Ballet, with Agnes de Mille dividing the two companies, which I'm sure must please her. In the second part, one modern dancer speaks out followed by the three choreographers, Paul Taylor, Murray Louis and Anna Sokolow. Kei Takei is finally interviewed as the sole representative of the avant-garde. Despite some gauche questioning, the dancers were, for the most part, revealed as intelligent and sensitive people. It was interesting to learn that Martine van Hamel is still the down-to-earth, generous person some of us remember her to be. Her career is still based on her enthusiastic love of dancing which overrides weight problems and the continual struggle for the right to dance in the way she wants to dance. Recognition is less important. Even so, she too humbly accepts a non-star status in view of her recently acquired enormous critical success. Ted Kivitt's journey from an asthmatic childhood to an American dance hero is intriguing. He survived the taunts of schoolmates equally as well as he did Lyle's questions about ballet's ' gay' image. The questions were not really answered; he ducked behind the fact that male dancers are trained to move in a graceful way. Kivitt emerges as a fighter, mad as a wet hen about the kudos accorded Russian superstars at the expense of legitimate American stars. His tough attitude assures us of his essential survival whereas Ivan Nagy, also a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, is gently sensitive and sadly realistic about his own future. He has reached that age where the end is in sight and confesses he 'does not have the ego' to open his own dancing school. 26 DANSE AU CANADA Violette Verdy worships in the shadow of her master, Balanchine, while rationalizing her own individual 'coquette' identity. She is a dancer. Many possibilities are open to htir but her only reality is dancing. She has earned honourable retirement. Doors are beginning to close. She does not disguise her despair and yet, we know that such an alert and productive mind will bridge the gap and go fruitfully on. Patricia McBride, unadulterated product of the New York City Ballet, makes no attempt to preserve her own psyche apart from Balanchine, and we sense the end-of-theline syndrome associated with dancing careers. Arthur Mitchell, the only black dancer to achieve high fame in classical ballet as a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, had a mission to establish the Dance Theatre of Harlem as a classical company. Now that this has been assured, he regrets his absence from the stage. His feelings about Balanchine, ballet and being black are obviously complicated. Judith Jameson is also black, and very tall. She unfolds as · healthily simple, determined and unaware that there are, or ever were, any options besides dancing. The three choreographers, Paul Taylor, Murray Louis and Anna Sokolow, have in common the belief they are the centres of their own universe - not from insufferable egos but because they are so absorbed in their work. Paul Taylor's pragmatism is surprising because it seems so unrelated to his choreography. Murray Louis is the extrovert we do expect and Anna Sokolow's youthful curiosity and enthusiasm for the roots of culture support her reputation as a choreographer's choreographer. Kei Takei is not a representative example of the avant-garde as Lyle suggests. This enigmatic Japanese dance artist is too fiercely herself to be part of a movement. But, on second thought, such independence is probably what the avant-garde is all about. GRANT STRATE Marijan Bayer Dance Company MacMillan Theatre, Toronto 21-23 April 1977 I think the highest evolution of any art form is reached in that form's ultimate simplicity. Marijan Bayer's choreography is beautifully simple. The spring season of his company showed that he has advanced a fair distance in this direction since the first performance of his company a little more than a year ago. Bayer's work is contemporary, mixing both classical and modern in a style that is his own. The body of his pieces, however, consists almost solely of such basic elements as the five positions, pirouette, arabesque, port de bras, and so on. This foundation is often extended in his recent work by a great amount of repetition and an almost constant use of adagio. His pas de deux sections are nearly all punctuated by positions held for two or three beats and by lifts that are highly original. The effect is a clear and clean tracing of line in space. Bayer uses mass movement extensively, usually building up groups from a beginning so lo by adding one dancer after another in sequence. He seems more aware of the possibilities of stage line than he was previously and intermingles groups on the traverse with ease. The dancers perform in leotards and tights. The one set of the program, for Echoes, is several thick silver tubes suspended from above. The music for the two longer works of the program, Tubular Bells and Echoes, contains long repetitive passages in which a sequence of approximately eight steps to one or two bars is performed more than 30 times by a large group. The minimal variation between dancers repeating sequences provides a subtle energy. It gives a quality of waves to the movement which is tidelike in its power. Contrast this performance with the company's performance last year of the first Tubular Bells (now completely re-worked) and Poem to the Land in which the use of repetition dominated and almost smothered. Bayer's control over this effective tool has reached the fine-tuning point; he has obviously worked on this dimension of his style. Bayer's choreography is so lucid that it must be done perfectly for it to have an impact. The dancers of the company, although trained and certainly not amateurs, still have a long way to go before reaching professional standards. Their performance made many parts of the program ambiguous. It was often difficult to determine whether what was being performed was what Bayer intended or just the expression of the dancers' limitation. DANCE IN CANADA --e e problems through Bayer's sensitivity · :nusic. Again and again throughout the - : og r am, music and movement are :- ended together into an exquisite har- o ny . The contemporary elements of .1_-er's work are juxtaposed with the clas.::al fo undation in such a way as to give -aximum contrast to the movements. There are elements of the Marijan Bayer ~ 3.nce Company that are still vaguely ir-ating, as they were last year. For exam:-.e. Bayer still seems more confident with - s groupings than in solo or pas de deux rk. Yet all that is really needed to eradi~ - e this is more rehearsal time. Considerthe mileage that Bayer has made since · ·: year, he is clearly worth more assis··a e to provide dancers' salaries for two _ ,ra w eeks of rehearsal. The planned ap. ranee of his company at the Leah PosTheatre in the fall will definitely be o rrh seeing. . GRO O BANNERMAN 27 DAN SE AU CANADA Paula Ross Dancers Vancouver East Cultural Centre 3-8 May 1977 Like several other local choreographers, Paula Ross has pruned her company; it now consists of six dancers plus guest artist Leslie Link, one of the most epicene performers I have seen on a local stage. Several of the dancers have distinctive individual styles, which the choreographer makes no attempt to homogenize. The dances themselves seemed fragmented, held together by the fact that they were being performed in the same space at the same time to the same music by people wearing identical costumes. A Diary and Trips were more like series of tableaux than tightly crafted artworks; they had populations of idiosyncratic performers, rather than casts. I found this interesting, at times even engrossmg. Paula Ross seems to be loosening up, opening out, letting her dancers leave the stage to work in the balcony, the audience, all the fringes of the performing space, as well as front-and-centre . Some of them, like Leslie Manning, work beautifully but seem stuck in movement cliches .. . hers is a leg in develope in second position, arms extended like semaphors, one up and one out. The wo rks are discontinuo their structure, if they have s associative rather than strictly forma.... · opening work, a carousel fantasy, is lo- . · than it needs to be. All three maj or wo ...:-seem made to fit available music, which t· composed by Anthony Braxto n aa Olivier Messiaen. The dances are essentially private, meditative, soul-searching works; they offer us random assortments; we take from them what we can. ELIZABETH Z IMMER DANCE IN CA ADA Tournesol Theatre des Deux Portes, Paris 20-22 May 1977 Dix ballons aux dix noms des provinces du Canada pour le theme Separation que le groupe canadien TOURNESOL a danse a Paris au Theatre des Deux Portes-MJC du xxeme. Separatisme, probleme du Quebec a fleur de peau, un theatre de danse soustendu de couleur et d'emotion sonore. Pour son premier spectacle en France, le travail choregraphique de Tournesol s'oriente vers le theatre, sous !'impulsion du metteur en scene John Juliani, canadien du Quebec, vivant actuellement en Alberta. En scene, deux danseurs, un couple enroule sur lui-meme, Carole et Ernst Eder: complementarite, ying/yang, blanc/ noir, masculin/feminin. Reliee en differents points de leur corps, la grappe de ballons se dresse verticale et forme avec le couple une sculpture qui lentement, va vivre sa separation. Triple probleme choregraphique, humain et politique qui passe a travers la cinetique des corps de couleur, dont le bleu/ jaune/ rouge contraste avec le blanc et le noir des deux danseurs. 'Le processus par lequel toute separation s' accomplit, dit Eder, est un processus douloureux, imprevisible, d'une duree indefinie. C'est par la meme un stade 28 DANSE AU CANADA inevitable et indispensable pour tout etat de chose ou individu en quete d'une propre identite.' une chose tres importante sur le plan social, du point de vue educatif d'une ville par exemple. Mes couleurs sont aussi primaires que !'image de la femme qui en/eve le masque de l'homme.' Recherche d' identite au dela des masques au son du souffle et de la voix qui s'echappe en eris, soupirs et chansons. En Masque blanc, masque noir, symboles de voix off, Gilles Vignault intervient, le vie et de mort? temps d'un tableau eclate ou la vie devient plus legere. Theatre populaire dont la lec- 'Pour moi, poursuit Juliani, ils sont ture peut se faire a plusieurs niveaux, davantage. Les deux ensembles ne font Separation echappe a !'anecdote. Aux qu 'un, /es deux masques separes co~leurs primaires s'associent les sym- n' existent pas. Ils representent aussi Les boles primaires, le theme fondamental oppositions qu'on croit ne pas pouvoir l'homme, la femme, le couple, reconcilier. Comme le bien et le mal, c'est une fausse dichotomie.' l'accouchement. Naissance d'un enfant? ou liberation de l'homme en une re- Dans le theatre de Juliani se melent naissance qui passe par la femme. Les bal- !'essence du Bauhaus, la rigueur du No, !es lons se separent mais la Colombie-Britan- sonorites du Kabuki, la cruaute d' Artaud. nique tente un rapprochement avec le bal- C'est a travers la poetique de Yeats qu'il lon Quebec. La femme chante et tire son a decouvert !'art du Japon. Dans fardeau. Lien rouge, cordon de vie d'ou !'interpretation de Carole Eder, la violence l'homme libere, s'echappe. Revolution OU du jeu japonais et la tendresse de Meredith archetype? Symboles archai:ques, univer- Monk. Sans doute l'espoir qu'elles chansels. Arrachement de masques; au-dela du tent est-ii le meme. Au-dela des frontieres, couple, les regions, les pays, l'univers au-dela des races 'c'est l'etre humain de la ... peut-etre un accouchement cosmique. planete terre qui est en question', Ernst La specificite des couleurs, la composition Eder le precise; et la solution qu'il propose des ensembles relevent de qualites plasti- est celle des ballons reunis 'une fois que, ques. par la separation, chaque etre, ou pays, aura retrouve sa propre identite.' Alsacien 'Jene suis pas peintre, dit John Juliani, d'origine banataise (region de I' Autriche mais j' aime le theatre visuel et !es elements rattachee a la Yougoslavie), ii a depuis peu qui le composent: I' esp ace, la couleur, la obtenu la citoyennete canadienne et s'en lumiere, le son, le temps (la duree). Je rejouit a bien des points. En tout cas, pour m'interesse beaucoup a la couleur, c'est DANCE I N C ANAD A creer est la-bas une chose possible -eunir aussi, puisque chaque ete, tous pes de danse se rassemblent pour - ·ournees d'echanges et de specta- -;e. _ -:::e experience avec le theatre -= Ernst Eder, je garderai siirement ·..;_.;if avec la voix; son et geste se ~.e:ent, et cela m' a apporte beaucoup . -- :..-.:1i que mon idee de la danse n'est ni .• e ni technique, je vois plut6t le 1ent en tant qu' energie •unicative.' UNE L 29 D AN SE AU CA~ADA Anna Wyman Dance Theatre ..\no· e ne,v work is Sixes and Seuens, a "lange in rwo parts w hich recyc es o' ol \Zyman costume dances, but whic pmjects overall, a new complexity. Pa.rt One happen s on and around a park bench, whe re an attempt at seduction is taking p lace, complete with cupids and the ob ligatory flasher. Part Two, apparently the w edding of seducer and victim, is a rogue's gallery of characters, three women under a grotesque flowered hat, another with a rose in her teeth, a central figure, Vickye Wood, who changes from an overdressed child to a bride in full regalia. Social dance forms are spoofed. The whole thing takes on aspects of a mad dream. It's an exploration of the games people play at parties, a study of courtship-as-nightmare. Wyman's standard campy images are still here; what's new is the freedom and individuality the performers are developing. Several new women have joined the group, which no longer looks like it was massproduced in a mannequin factory. Offil Queen Elizabeth Playhouse, Vancouver 2-4 June 1977 There' s been a spring thaw a t the Anna Wyman Dance Theatre. Chunks of the old ice, the seamless, smooth, controlled manipulation of body shapes are still there, but bubbling around the edges is new softness, lightness, craziness and warmth . N owhere is the change clearer than in the opener Defl,ections, a two-part wo rk, the first part of which premiered last year. The dancers, wearing sleek electric blue leotards, perform the same careful , wellplaced unison movements we have come to expect of Anna Wyman, while the electronic socre by John Mills Cockell pounds our ears. The second part, which follows the first without a break, sees the dancers in white jumpsuits, full cuffs tucked into blue socks, a casual touch which signals an attempt at Tharpian ease. Shadows of Twyla are all over this work. The dancers are permitted some individual play of personality; they are working their bodies in new ways . They jitterbug. They twirl. The transition is not entirely comfortable, not completely relaxed, but it's coming, and I, for one, welcome it. Dance Institute (Russian method - Bolshoi/Kirov) director MIKHAIL BERK U T ballet- pointes - pas de deux character- baroque - workshop - special teachers programme - -rltE loisSMffl-1 sdtool of clANcE Professional Dance Training A two-year full -time program for advanced students intent on a performing career. Instruction given in • ballet • pas de deux • modern • iazz • repertoire • benesh notation • pointe Regular performances to gain stage experience. Stu dents work with highly-qualified faculty and guest teachers of renown. A nnual fee : $400. Audition required. Lois Smith School of Dance George Brown College /' 0 . Rox 1015. St<1ll(!1! H Toronto MST 2T9 (4fo) 363- 9945 BEGI NN ERS TO PROFESSIONALS (adults and children) Fall/Winter Session begins 6 September 1231 Ste. Catherine St. W., Suite 125, Montreal, PQ n3G 1P5 TF.:L: (514) 288-1677 DANCE IN CANADA Tremolo, another premiere, may be a new direction for W yman, but seems to be following a path well worn by Alwin Nikolais. Elastic tapes crisscross the stage and the dancers. To a score by Keith Jarrett, too long by half for the available movement ideas, the dancers writhe in their cages of elastic, or play in a very effective scribble of light. A startling, interesting moment is the appearance of Denis O'Brien dancing on pointe, extending the stretch metaphor to its outer limits. This dance needs some editing, but again, it takes the company in a new, softer direction. The biggest surprise of the evening was Two People, in which Trevor Schalk and Vickye Wood explore a love relationship, an attempt at lyrical pas de deux. Wood, in a filmy greenish costume with bare shoulders, reveals new range as a dramatic dancer, as does Schalk, who has improved enormously in his three years with the group. Quicksilver, with its neon-decked sriderwe_b backdrop, _is another 1976 piece which serves, with Deflections, to bracket the strange with the familiar. It is vintage Wyman, cold, soulless, the performers staring blankly into space, the special effects sometimes overwhelming the choreography. Anna Wyman seems to be reinventing twentieth century dance on her way to finding herself a truly authentic style. She's relaxing a bit, allowing her dancers their own heads, permitting sensual, unpredictable, faintly dangerous things. There are new cracks in the Wyman facade, in the tasteful, contemporary, metallic surface she's been showing us for years. ELIZABElH ZIMMER 30 DANSE AU CANADA Entre-Six Queen Elizabeth Playhouse, Vancouver 9-11 June 1977 Now entering its fourth year of existence, Montreal's Entre-Six Dance Comp any seems to have hit some sort of plateau. Artistic director Lawrence Grad us showed but one new work since the group's last visit; the evening belonged to his comic masterpieces, and to Judith Marcuse's first work for the company. The Entre-Six repertoire is not large, and one New York dance critic has observed that Gradus' dances all tend to look the same. I would qualify this observation -by saying that the soft, romantic ballets tend to look alike, collections of ingenious ways to connect people in couples, set to music laden with emotional nuance. The opener, Nonetto, is like that: light, polite, delicately detailed, a careful wrapping and unwrapping of curled bodies, a dance which seems to be about the socializati on of love. Coming after this pink-and-orange study, Judith Marcuse's new ballet, called Apart, leads the company in a strong new direction. The dancers, who generally work in ballet slippers or pointe shoes, here go barefoot. Their spines, elsewhere held stiffly as most ballet requires, move fluently . The choreograph y is complex, often as intricate as the score by Vancouver composer David Keeble; there are several sections where Marcuse seems to have choreographed separate moves for every quarter-note in the music, producing a rapid, deliberate, nervous quality of movement. Apart uses five dancers. Four of them, three men and a woman, wear grey, and seem to be in league with one another; the fifth, danced by Shelly Osher, wears fuchsia and stays separate, somehow special, more alive, more daring, and finally, painfully alone. The grey-clad ones move tensely, mechanically, clutching at space, contracting their bodies. When the bright one moves with them, taking more chances, they seem to blight her; one of the men lifts her, and her descent is a fascinating staccato melting, a disintegration, joint by joint. Following the Marcuse-Keeble premiere was an old favorite, Blue Danube, the ape duet performed to a Strauss waltz: Identified as part of a children's program, It has neverthe less appeared in several Entre-Six adult concerts, and never fails to raise a chorus of laughter and delighted bravos. My companion observed that it's just about the only work in which the dancers use their eyes and faces in a full y expressive way, relating to each other and to the audience. The two men, wearing ape headdresses, enact a delightful ritual of Programme: • Une creation par Fernand Nault/ A New Ballet by Fernand Nault • Bal des cadets/ Graduation Ball Novembre/ November 1977 David Lichine /Johann Strauss • Theme et Variations/Theme and Variations George Balanchine / P. I. Tchaikovsky 1 5 111217- 25·26 28·29 1819 Sherbrooke, Centre Culture! Massena, New York Montreal, Place des Arts Ottawa, Centre National des Arts Kingston, Grand Theatre Casse-noisette/ The Nutcracker Decembre/ December 1977 15~617-18 Quebec Grand Theatre Montreal, Place des Arts DANCE IN C ANADA 32 DAN SE AU CANADA conflict and cooperation, an aggressively London Festival Ballet playful dialogue or no t-so-dumb animals. London Coliseum, England The secon half of the program included Sentiments. m music by Ravel, a dance of June 3-25 1977 unrequire<l o ·e during w hich I found myself drifnng. Thi was followed by the .By whatever criterion he is judged, Rudolf premiere o f E,r .\fouvement , which Nureyev has made a deep impression on choreogra ner Gradus says is part of a the history of twentieth century dance. Allonger war . [ found Vincent Dienne's though it is now fashionable in some cirscore for one instrument at a time the cles to decry him, although something of most interesting thing about the dance; it the mystique which used to surround him began with ch imes fo llowed with various has evaporated through familiarity, other percussion instruments including a Nureyev continues to dominate. As a pervibraphone, and finally a juicy solo for former, as a choreographer, as an inspirastring bass. Meanwhile the dancers, wear- tion and as a popularizer, he has ing gold and brown leotards covered with significantly influenced the development of doodly designs, did a progression of rather ballet in our era. Now close to 40 and doodly abstracted movements, many of visibly waning in physical strength, he them peripheral, involving hands and feet. nevertheless continues to grow as an artist. Reasonably enough then, the advent of l'll be interested to see where this piece is heading. Right now it spends a lot of time a new version of Romeo and Juliet , to the Prokofiev score, choreographed by just standing around in fairly static poses. The finale, as usual, was Toccata; Nureyev for Festival Ballet, became the obGradus' tour-de-force, a playful, acrobatic ject of enormous excitement and con dance to music by Benjamin Britten, in troversy in the recent London ballet seawhich the performers explore every possi- son. The diverse range of critical reactions ble way to connect four bodies in almost which the new ballet evoked aptly reflects constant motion. There is an element of male bonding, setting the three men up the disconcerting complexity of the ballet against the lone woman, which I am be- itself. Quite clearly, Nureyev was determined ginning to find arch and somehow extrinsic to the design of the work. This byplay, to approach an old theme with a fresh viewpoint. His motives were no doubt arhowever, always gets a laugh. tistic but also have proved to be fortunate ELIZABETH ZIMMER for London Festival Ballet in that this Romeo and Juliet is quite unlike the MacMillan version for Covent Garden with which London audiences have become almost jadingly conversant during the last 12 years. Nureyev's fundamental inspiration appears to have been Shakespeare's play. Of the six major versions I have seen , Nureyev's is by far the most literal. He also appears to have listened to current opinion about how Shakespeare should be presented. His characters emerge boldly and unsentimentally with traits of violence and passion which seem entirely fitting for a late medieval subject. If this had been the sole inspiration, or at least a unifying one, the results might have been less disturbing. Unfortunately, however, Nureyev decided to embellish his scenario with heavy-handed symbolism and dubious dream sequences which not only involved some scissors-and-pa ste work on the score but introduced a fundamental aesthetic inconsistency which is the major weakness of the ballet as a whole. It is always a danger signal in the assessment of a full-length ballet when the things which spring most readily to mind are those least associated with actual dancing, yet this is the case in Nureyev's Romeo and Juliet. Where MacMillan and Cranko imprint on our minds their poignant yet ravishing pas de deux, Nureyev's ballet stirs one by its visual splendour, dramatic complexity and mysterious symbolism. The designer, Ezio Frigerio, is better known for his plays and operas but here he has proved amply his capacity to create architecturally convincing, historically true yet danceable sets. He leaves the stage generously open for fights and crowd scenes, has made intimate corners within the larger setting, has produced marvellously atmospheric backdrops and given the dancers costumes in which they can move while still looking very much like characters come to life from a Piero della Francesca or Mantegna. His costumes and sets deserved to be lit by one of the best in the business-precisely what they got in Tharon Musser. Nureyev ' s adhesion to Shakespeare works best in the robustness and largerthan-life quality he has given to his leads. It needed the maturity of Patricia Ruanne (the only Juliet throughout the June season) to handle Nureyev's strong-willed and forward youth as much as it did Nicholas Johnson's bouncy, lithe technique to manage the gruelling and almost acrobatic work given to Mercutio. His view of Tybalt was far more sympathetic than most interpreters have allowed, and the gentleness of Mercutio's affection for Juliet was nicely contrasted with his passionate hatred of the Montagues. Nicholas Johnson and Federick Werner together managed to divert so much attention to themselves that Nureyev, who reserved all performances of Romeo for himself, was partly eclipsed. Yet the difficulties remain. Nureyev's own personality as a creator of dances does not yet appear to have surfaced above the welter of choreographic influences to which he has so adventurously exposed himself during a long career. One found oneself spotting bits of Graham, bits of Limon, bits of this and that, but very little that could be experienced as unmistakably Nureyev. There is no question that this new Romeo and Juliet will continue to attract audiences for Festival Ballet when Nureyev himself is not dancing in it. Its merits are so attractive that they will always outweigh the irritations and awkwardnesses. And just as he has done with so many companies around the world, Nureyev has infused Festival's dancers with an energy and discipline which has raised the already admirable company to new heights of performing excellence. Certainly, there is no reason to regret yet another Romeo and Juliet. MICHAEL CRABB DANCE I Island Dance Ensemble Confederation Centre Art Gallery, rince Edward Island . illle 15-16, 1977 , -.\1-M ! (Masks,Mime and Music),staged "Y rhe Island Dance Ensemble, was a fresh, ·ita l and highly entertaining production. C reated and directed by compan y . ember Erskine Smith, the production va ve ry much a reflection of its mentor: -mith is an imaginative and highly creative :oung man with a highly-developed sense i humour and the production bore all of ~hese characteristics. Performed in simple black tights and rops with large sculptured mache headieces, the production consisted of five acual mimes and two short musical numbers. Goin' Fishin' was the most classicallyrie nted mime. A solo effort by Smith, the ime took the audience from the shore to • e middle of a lake in a pole-propelled -co w. Anchored in the lake, Smith created .1Ll the adventures and misadventures of the catch in a somewhat Chaplinesque ma nner. An almost burlesque situation was ::reared in The Waiting Room, a full comny segment, which related the tale of a somewhat stuffy young lady with an incurable itch passing her predicament on to - e entire body of people waiting in a doctor's office. The Chase offered a foot chase in the manner of the Keystone Cops. It worked extremely well with the exception of a ,ather awkwardly-inserted and poorlyexecuted tap number. CANADA 33 D ANSE AU CA_ ADA In The Outside, a humorous characterization was used to portray the not-sohumorous situ ation of being the only stranger in a circle of friends, and the unsuccessful efforts of that stranger to enter the circle. The Bus Stop w as a classic example of To the Editor: making a work build to a climax. Two totally opposite individuals, one very con- I have just finished reading Dan ce in servative and snooty and the other, a to- Canada and my initial reaction is that you tally extroverted and rather madcap are not really interested in dancing in character, were placed o n a corner waiting Canada but just in the formal forms of for a bus. The simple but annoying over- dance, that is, ballet and modern. I hope my initial reaction is wrong. If the-shoulder reading of a newspaper on the part of the extrovert leads to a litter- yo u intend to be an Association that represents dancing in Canada, should you not throwing free-for-all in the end. Throughout the segments, movement include jazz, song and dance, and tap? was clean and fluid. There were no spastic These are forms of dance that the public or jerky movements, no puzzling gestures loves, given the opportunity to see them. However, there seems to be a definite proband not a single deathly pause. Smith is to be praised for his accom- lem with government agencies and people plishments with the production, for mime such as yourselves who attempt to supress is not an area he was known to be seriously the fun forms of dance. Regardless of how much these forms of involved in prior to the production of dance are ignored, they will not go away. M-m-m! Masks worn all the way through the True, ballet may be good training for musperformance were designed by Stu Mac- ical theatre, but it is not the only form of lean, a scenic artist and former head props dance required. I feel you should give reman with the Charlottetown Summer Fes- cognition to show groups of which there tival and Confederation Centre of the Arts. are some fine examples here in Calgary. By interchanging them, the company could We are blessed with seeing their art on duplicate any character trait, whether ar- local television almost every month. If you are truly interested in representing rogance, pomposity, strength, weakness, genius or stupidity. The masks coupled the dance community in this country, I with the competently executed movements trust that future editions will reflect this. of the performers were an impressive and R . BRUCE METCALFE interesting combination. Calgary The program by the Island Dance Ensemble was complemented by a piece of abstract dance theatre by Sherrie Waggener presented by three former members of Alberta Contemporary Dance Theatre, Don Burnett, Cathy Cahoon and Waggener herself, as well as by Island Dance Ensemble member James Drake. Portrait was a sensitive portrayal of dream, fantasy and emotion which featured a combination of jazz and ballet movements. Its seriousness of theme was a well-timed contrast to M-m-m! Letters from the Field DOUG GALLANT Dance and the Child Conference '78 The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada July 25-27, 1978 The Child as SPECTATOR,CR EATOR, PERFORMER An INTER NATIONAL exchange of choreography, research, film, video, papers,and performance by leaders in the field of dance. For further information: Joyce Boorman, Conference Chairperson Department of Movement Education Education I, room g108 The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G5 Sponsors: Dance Committee of C.A.H. P. E. R. Alberta Culture The University of Alberta DANCE IN CANADA 34 DANSE AU CANADA Noticeboard Coming Up ONTARIO ALBERTA A special Alberta project, a one-time only concert, combining dance, cello and piano, Variations is the collaboration of dancers Sonia Taverner, Vincent Warren and others in Alberta. They will perform a program of new works by Peter Boneham, James Clouser, Fernand Nault and Brydon Paige on September 3 (Banff Centre) and September 9 and 10 (Citadel Schoctor Theatre). Toumesol, after an exciting spring in Paris performing John Juliani's Separation, and a lively summer presentation of various pieces and workshops at home, will embark on its third cross-Canada tour in September. They will begin in the tiny village of Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island and finish in mid-November in Halifax. The repertoire is still to be announced. SASKATCHEWAN Regina Modem Dance Works has a permanent home in the Labour Temple now, and they hope to start fixing it up in the fall. A series of dance events, including Tournesol, Judy Jarvis, Menaka Thakkar and others will also sta rt there this autumn. MANITOBA The Contemporary Dancers of Winnipeg have pulled off a coup by engaging Norman Morrice, the ' Royal Ballet new artistic director, to set two dance pieces for them by September. The company has also been invited to perform at the Jacob's Pillow dance festival, and by the Canadian embassy in Washington to dance at a children's festival in Wolf Trap. DlTAC~ Le Groupe de la Place Royale is now settling in to its new home in Ottawa. As coartistic director Jean-Pierre Perreault points out, this is the first time a major dance company in Canada has uprooted itself from one province (Quebec) to another. They will also be opening a new dance school (above the Sparks Street Ma ll) that will be open to the public during lunch hours. Innovative courses will be offered to the deaf and dumb, senior citizens, and under-privileged children. New address: 130 Sparks Street, Ottawa KIP 5B6, Ontario. Ballet Ys will now be staging three workshops each year, the next one coming up in November. An ambitious 1977-78 season promises a 5-rh week tour of British Columbia in October, a Christmas children's show (the restaging of Clown of Hearts with a musical score by Ted Moses) and continuing classes in ballet and jazz. They will also host Tournesol in October. Among the choreographers scheduled to premiere new works are David Hatch Walker, Anna Blewchamp, James Kudelka, and ar ti stic director Gloria Grant. DlTAC~ s pons or s loc a l, p rovin ci al , national an d interna ti onal P e rforming Ar t s Events in Calga r.v, Albe rta, Canada DlTAC~ QUEBEC Le Groupe Nouvelle Aire w ill bring a number of companies to their studio this season. Among them are Tournesol, Ballet Ys, Entre-Six and Toronto Dance Theatre. In December the company will present a series of performances at Centaur 2, and in spring they're off to Calgary and Edmonton. Les Grands Ballets Canadiens' 20th anniversary season will begin with Graduation Ball, choreographed by David Lichine (November), and will be followed by Balanchine's Themes and Variations, and a new ballet created by the company's resident choreographer, Fernand Nault. The report of the death of LGBC's Nutcracker was greatly exaggerated. It will return, by The Paul Gaulin Mime Company will be popular public demand, at Christmas. In touring central Canada from Winnipeg to March, LGBC will give I I performances Ottawa in September and October this over three weekends, including Giselle, year. choreographed by Anton Dolin. The comThe National Ballet's tour of Europe is pany will play host to two guest companies scheduled to open in Frankfurt on May 17, as well. The National Ballet will perform 1978, and continue through various cities their sumptuous Sleeping Beauty with in Germany. Then on to Holland and Nureyev as guest artist, and Les Ballets finally to London for three weeks with Jazz will concl ude the season with a proNureyev as guest artist. The repertoire is gram of ballets choreographed by Eva still under consideration but will likely in- von Gencsy, Norbert Vesak, and Rael clude La Pille Mal Gardee, The Sleeping Lamb. Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle and an DANCE AND THEATRE ARTS CALGARY SOCIETY • evening of shorter works. Anyone who would like to go along on that tour should note the following. The Toronto Branch and board of directors are putting together a 17-21 day tour for fans and friends. It will go with the company to Germany and Holland, with an option for London. The itinerary is still in planning stages but it has been announced that there will be a specialist in the fields of music and art who will accompany the tour. c ontact: Robe rt Gre enwood 22 05 - 700 Nint h Street S. IV . Calga r y, Albe rta , Canada T2P 2B5 olbereo ooneemporaru dance eheoere P.O . Box 834, Edmonton T5J 2L4 (403) 423-4193 AUDITIONS Toronto: Wednesday, August 24th Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Dance Department 44 Gerrard WOMEN: 10-11 am MEN: 11-12 am Edmonton: Saturday, September 3rd Venue to be announced. Send Resumes to: Ronald Holgerson, Managing Director DANCE IN CANADA Recent Events 35 DA N SE AU CA AD A A beaten-up Rambler sedan starred in the Artistic Director Honoured latest offering at r 5 Dance Labo rato ri um Rachel Browne, foun der and artistic r in Toronto. The evening was called Au- tor of Contempo rary Dancers of W ~tomyths, choreographed by Carolyn Shaf- nipeg, was hono ured in May by the n.c.,. fer with participation by Melanie Danson, as one of the five recipients of its first anValerie Dean, Martha Lovell, John Ough- nual Women of the Year awards. Her citaton and Carol Siegel. Shaffer, Danson and tion is for her outstanding contribution to Siegel drew on their experiences over the culture and education in Manitoba. last six months as dance therapists for one creation. Tour of Indian Dance The Island Dance Ensemble of Prince Ed·ard Island has just performed two new ·orks over the summer. One was of spe.:ial interest as it was sponsored by the xrension Services of the Art Gallery of the ·· on federation Centre. Held in conjuncon with an exhibiti on of paintings, ;:,hotographs, weaving and sculpture, this ·ork, choreographed by Barbara Zacconi, .md entitled Island Impressions became a The National Ballet of Canada appeared in ,debration of Island life as seen through New York in July for the first time without :· .e eyes of its artists. The second piece, Nureyev, but with Peter Schaufuss and -I-m -m ! (mime-mask-music) is a series of Fernando Bujones. They performed Swan . <>nettes incorporating mime and dance Lake, Giselle, La Pille Mal Gardee, and a ·ith original music and songs composed mixed program of one-act ballets, as well v Ensemble members and associates. as Collective Symphony by the three Dutch ;;marily conceived by company member National Ballet choreographers. Er k ine Smith, there is considerable Alberta Contemporary Dancers have hired ~ o reographic input from the rest of the their first full-time artistic director: _ mmunity. Marian Sarach, who had her own comLes Grands Ballets Canadiens completed pany for several years in New York. Her · n ambitious and very successful tour of background is in Graham, HumphreyLatin America in July: seven weeks, 9 bal- Weidman and Holm techniques. , 10 countries, 19 cities , 41 perforDancemakers enters its fourth year with an ances. Their repertoire included: Carexciting company for the 1977/ 78 season. :ma Burana, Time Out Of Mind, Tam Ti Anna Blewchamp, whose choreography elam, Concerto Barocco, The Firebird, has been delighting audiences, critics and ,/eg ro Brillante, Lines and Points, dancers alike, joins the company as as· J.1be lli Variations, and]eu de Cartes. sociate director and Araby Lockhart, imbrel, a Toronto group known for its noted Canadian actress, will assume reurch performances, branched out to give sponsibility as manager. - firs t concert in late June. and Music Menaka Thakkar, a noted exponent of Indian classical dance, is realizing a longstanding dream to bring four musicians from India to work with her in live performances. Subsidized by the Touring Office of the Canada Council, the musicians, all highly esteemed artists in their own country, will be touring with Menaka Thakkar during September and October across Canada. Dance Finds a Home The Leah Posluns Theatre has opened its doors to dance in Toronto, the first theatre in Canada to be designed exclusively for dance. The atmosphere is intimate, the seating comfortable. A gala opening in June featured the National Ballet, EntreSix and the Toronto Dance Theatre. Any group wanting to book the theatre should call the artistic director, Reva Tward , at (416 ) 630-6752. YM&YWHA School of Dance Courses Featured • Pre-dance Education • Classical Ballet • Modern (Contemporary) • Jazz Dancing (Modern) • Tap Dancing • Character (Russian) • Folk Dancing • Israeli Dancing • Ballroom Dancing • Social Dancing • Discotheque • Square Dancing • Composition • Notation (Benesh) • Dance Appreciation • History of Dance • Dance and the Arts Student Performing Groups 45 88 Bathurst Street Willowdale, Ontario M2R 1W6 636-1880 DANCE TODAY IN CANADA by Andrew Oxenham with Michael Crabb 228 pp., illustrated 12 X 12 $29.95 cloth (until January 1, 1978, then $34.95) byc,Al/91t ntOxe11JlfJm wft ft.c711ict,;,el C,abb * * * * large format photographic book by dancer/ photographer Andrew Oxenham with text by international dance critic Michael Crabb 168 magnificent full-size dance photographs 19 dance companies show the diversity of 'dance today in Canada' historical and reference material on Canadian dance companies SAVE SHIPPING CHARGES ON MAIL ORDER BY USING THIS ADVERTISEMENT . .. Availab le from ■ Simon & Pierre P.O.Box 280 Adelaide St. Pstl. Stn., Toronto M5C 2J4 DANCE IN CANADA 36 DAN SE AU CANADA Search for Talent Dance at a Glance duMAURIER Council for the Performing Arts anno= - its ' Search for Talent', a national ~ ::;- 3 m to eek o ut and encour- Dance-at-a-Glance is a new advertising feature in Dance in Can ada Magazine. Its aim is to provide our age Cana--ir: pe~:ormers by pro viding national and international readership with a quick cash bu:::sa::i _ :o ta lemed indiv id uals. The guide to resources in dance. which are available p roject v.,,, ?· ,·i ea rota! of$ 5 5 ,ooo in throughout Canada. To arrange your listing in the b · • · f h f fi ft Dance-at-a-Glance section, just write or phone: ursanes. ~-.r,';. ::.. or eac O een Nikki Abraham, semi-finalis: ard ::: · .ooo for each of the Business Manager, Dance in Canada Magazine, fi ve finalists. The result will be te lecast in a 3 Church Street, series of four prime-rime CBC television Toronto, Ontario, M E 1 M 2 (416) 368-4793 5 specials. A an extra b o nu s, t h e fi ve .,. -L I recei·,-e a guarantee of addi'- L - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ finalists ., 1 tional oppo rtunities ro appea r o n CBC tele- Bayview School of Ballet vision in the two yea rs following their Ballet Pointe Character Cecchetti Syllabus d I O M N R 1 5330 Yonge St., w·11 'Final Audition' appearance. For informaow a e, nt. 2 5 2 M . Sorrell, Director, 222-5II1 tion and application details write: Box 38, Station B, To ronto Ontario, M5T 2T2 . Creative Movement Center Deadline for applications is September 30, Ballet Jazz & Tap Stage Fencing 1 977· 71 King St. East, 3rd floor, Toronto Tel. 868-0064 Humber College School of Ballet & Related Arts 1669 Eglinton Ave. (at Oakwood)Toronto Director: Sarah Lockett ARAD Beginners -Advanced ; Adults & Children Ballet & Jazz Tel. 6] 5-3 II 1 ext. 506 Marchowsky Dance Theatre School The Marchowsky Dance Theatre School offers Graham Technique at all levies including children's and teen's classes. 9 5 Trinity Street, Toronto M5A 3C7 (416) 862-7008 QUINTE DANCE CENTRE P.O. Box 534 Belleville, Ont. (613) 962-9938 Artistic Director: Brian Scott Listd Professional Training for Career in Ballet. National Character Cecchetti Method. Residential and Academic Facilities through Albert College, Belleville Limited Scholarships The Marijan Bayer Studios 1875 Leslie St. , Don Mill s and 163A Manning Ave., Toronto Tel. 449-4361 York Universiry: Dance Department Grant Strate , Acting Chairman; offering B.A. (Hnrs), B.F.A. (Hnrs), M .F.A.'; studies in ballet, modern dance, composit io n, dance th erap y, history and notation, repertory, teaching. Faculry: scriticism, d c I y c · J 1· L an ra aver y, ves ousmeau, u ,anna au, Terrill Maguire, Mary-Elizabeth Manley, Sandra Neels, Selma Odom, Richa rd Silver, Dianne Woodruff; also Karen Bowes, Michael Byron, Norrey Drummond, Earl Kraul Fall/ Winter and Summer Sessions. 4700 Keele Street, Toronto M3J 1P3 (416) 667-3243 Applications are invited for the position of EDITOR DANCE IN CANADA MAGAZINE Effective November, 1977 Qualifications: Minimum two years editorial experience and knowledge of the field. Please note: At present this is a part-time position. Fee negotiable (per-issue basis). Send written application and detailed resume to: The Board of Directors, Dance in Canada Assoc. 3 Church Street, Suite 401, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1M2. ANNOUNCING b The Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award • The Clifford E. Lee Foundation, in cooperation with The Banff Centre School of Fine Arts, has established an annual award to encourage the development of Canadian choreography by means of assistance for promising and emerging choreographers. • The award to the successful choreographer will be $2500, plus travel and in-residence expenses up to an additional $2500 to enable the successful candidate to spend approximately six weeks at The Banff Centre working with advanced students and professional dancers, using the production and staging facilities of the School in order to prepare the work for presentation as part of the annual Banff Festival of the Arts. • Submissions to be made not later than December 31, 1977. Final selection to be announced March 31, 1978. • For Application Forms and further details write: The Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award Committee c/o Ken Madsen, Associate Director The Banff Centre Banff, Alberta. TOL OCO. ~ --~- September ouver licum Beach elet on icton / Naramata loops ary 12 - 17 18, 19 20, 21 24, 25 25 26, 27 29, 30 Edmonton Regina Winnipeg Toronto Hamilton Cornwall Ottawa October 3- 9 14, 15 16, 17 20 - 23 23 27 28 - 30 Laval Montreal Charlottetown Fredericton Halifax Lunenberg Sidney New Glasgow Tournesol, 11845 - 77th Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T5B 2G3 (403) 474 - 7169 WI TH Tl-£ ASSIST ANCE Of Tl-£ TOURING OfflCE Of Tl-£ CANADA Cou-iGIL AVEC L' ASSISTANCE DE L'OfflCE DES TOl.lR!sfiS DU CONSEJL DES ARTS DU CANADA November 2 1- 6 11, 12 16 - 18 23, 24 25 28 29 DANSKINSARE FOR DANCINC PROFESSIONALS IN ANY FIELD DEMAND THE FINEST. ANO OANSK IN HAS BEEN SERVING THE NEEDS OF PR OFESSIONAL DANCERS FOR ALMOST A CENTURY. WE'VE BEEN KNITTING "STRETCH" TIGHTS AND LEOTARDS LONGER TH AN ANYONE ELSE IN TH E DANCE WORLD BECAUSE WE INVEN TED THEM . THAT'S ONE OF TH E REASONS DANSKIN IS THE NAME THAT PROFESSIONA L DANCERS CAN AND DO RELY ON. WRI TE FOR ILLUSTRATED BROCHURE DC DA NSKIN, INC. 1114 AVENUE OF THE AMER ICAS, NEW YORK, N.Y 10036