Summer 2000

Dear Dancers,

Summer 2000 in NYC is setting records for everything from glorious weather to an unprecedented panoply of dance events, intensives and open classes. The city has also offered such delights as the dazzling Fourth of July display of Macy's fireworks over both the Hudson and the East River, the magnificent OpSail with the tall ships in a majestic floating promenade, Midsummer Night Swing, free movies in Bryant Park, SummerStage, SummerGarden -- and the cows. Cows? A
headline in the New York Times put it this way: "The Cattle Are Standin' Like Statues." Following Chicago's 1999 example, NYC has installed dozens of life-size fiberglass cows, imaginatively painted and costumed, all over the city. The artists ranged from professionals to NYC schoolchildren and the beautiful bovines are the talk of the town. My personal favorite is Prima Cowlerina, poised to pirouette between the New York State Theater (home of the New York City Ballet) and the Metropolitan Opera House (home of the American Ballet Theatre) in Lincoln Center. She wears lavender body paint, a black and gold tutu sprinkled with rhinestones, full stage makeup, and pointe shoes on all four hooves. Brava to artist Pam Weltman and thanks to the patrons at NYC Cow Parade 2000. 

In June, I had a wonderful time guest teaching the evening open class at the American Ballet Theatre studios while Diana Cartier was away. I particularly enjoyed working with the promising dancers who came from all over the country, and I felt privileged to meet and talk with their teachers and parents. Some of those parents had questions that echoed the ones I have been asked in e-mails from readers of this column. Consequently, I've been inspired to let all of you in on my answers:

1) At what age do dancers join ballet companies?
The top professional companies -- New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Carolina Ballet, Alabama Ballet and many more -- hire dancers as young as fifteen or sixteen, most often as apprentices. (Dancers who join companies before they finish high school typically enroll in correspondence courses.) By the age of eighteen, the majority of career-track ballet students have dance jobs.

2) What about college?
These days, many dancers who get into companies while still in their teens go through the college application process and then defer entrance. A perfect example is Faye Arthurs. After graduating from the School of American Ballet and the Professional Children's School this year, she got into both the New York City Ballet and Harvard. She's putting her studies on hold while her career blossoms, but she has every intention of earning her degree at some point. 

Lesson: Make sure your dancer-in-the-making understands that schoolwork and the SAT's are important. The era when dancers eschewed higher education is long gone. Also, my admittedly personal bias is that dancers should major in something other than dance in college -- or at the very least, have a double major. Obviously, this gives dancers career transition options. However, I also believe they become better artists if dance is the center but not the circumference of their lives. 

3) What if we invest all this time and money and our child doesn't make it or gets injured or just drops out?
There is no guarantee that intensive ballet training will pay off in a career. Yet my feeling is that there is a guaranteed return on your investment. I believe that every dancer I've trained, my daughter included, is richer for having grown up with the discipline, the physical culture, the teamwork, the striving for personal best, the performing experience, the music, and the sheer joy of the dancing life. 

Some of my students are professional dancers now. Some are not. One is a hairstylist. One is a lighting designer. Another is an arts administrator. Still another is studying to become a medical billing expert. Similarly, the newsletter of the School of American Ballet lists updates on alumni with professions as varied as English teacher, businessman, dance company director, scientist, emerging choreographer, and Web designer. Yet my guess is that all of those alums share not only fond memories of Nutcrackers past, but an abiding sense that whatever is worth doing is worth doing well and an understanding of how art illuminates the human condition.

4) That all sounds great, but aren't dancers prone to eating disorders and other mental and physical health problems?
In all honesty, yes, unless care is taken to nurture self-esteem and healthy body images. These days, the good schools try to do exactly that. SAB, for example, has a nutritionist on staff and monitors youngsters closely for signs of problems in any area. Jump on over to my October, 1997 article for more information on eating disorders. Also check out my February, 1998 article on making peace with one's body type.

5) Won't my child be missing out on a normal life?
Absolutely. As I said in my SAB update of October, 1999, your child won't have much time to hang out at the mall or go to keg parties. In my experience, the more focus and passion a youngster has, the less likely he or she is to assuage boredom with pointless or destructive activities. This is not to say that ballet students never succumb to teenage temptations such as the peer pressure to experiment with sex and drugs or to binge drink. But dancers are surely less likely to do so than are aimless kids who have no idea what they want to do with their lives.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Speaking of my October SAB update, C1 student Ashlee Knapp -- whom I singled out as a potential headliner -- was chosen by Peter Martins to dance in his new ballet for the Diamond Project with the New York City Ballet. Ashlee, just past her 14th birthday, got a rave review in The New York Times. And as I mentioned in my May 2000 SAB update, my other pick is also dancing with City Ballet while still a student. Daniel Ulbricht, now 16, is definitely one to watch!

Students, this part is for you: Have a dancing summer, but hit the books
in the fall!

In the words of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, "Shall we dance? On a bright cloud of music shall we fly?" 

Sondra