Interview - The Traveling Ballerina

An Interview with Hayna Gutierrez: On the Past, Present, and Future

A week ago, Hayna Gutierrez announced her retirement from Alberta Ballet. Since joining the company in 2010, Ms. Gutierrez has earned a following in her community and abroad as a principal dancer in the classical repertoire, Balanchine ballets, and of course works by Alberta Ballet’s Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître. Over the past decade, Hayna has become a mother and a Canadian citizen, and now adds this upcoming chapter to a list of dynamic transitions in her life. In the midst of preparations for her final performances with Alberta Ballet, Hayna chats with us about her heritage, her time with the company, and thoughts about what’s to come.

Audiences will be able to celebrate her final Alberta Ballet bow in Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and The Drum. The company will be performing this 10th anniversary performance in Calgary from May 1-4 and Edmonton May 9-11.

Interview with Hayna Gutierrez

Your roots – both personal and professional – are so defined by Cuban tradition and training. What were some of the most challenging aspects to making your move to Canada to join Alberta Ballet?

I grew up and was educated in Cuba, where there is a lot of heat all year round. The Cuban Ballet School where I was trained taught me more than one technique. They taught me not to lose my Latin flavor, my culture and that way that with passion Cubans show when they dance. When I left Cuba I was already a Principal Dancer with the National Ballet of Cuba. I went professionally prepared but with fears, I went to the unknown. I was trying to expand my horizons professionally and personally. The challenge was to be able to adapt to new styles; to work with other choreographers and know a new world that would allow me to be more versatile, without losing my roots. Also learning a new language was a challenge.

Is returning to your home country in your future plans?

When I left Cuba, I did not think about returning. It was only the uncertain beginning and I could not think of what I had left behind. However, now I go to Cuba almost every year. I have very little family there – when I go it is only to see friends and that small portion of the family. Now I have formed a family here in Canada. However, if there’s one thing I’d like to do again in Cuba, it’s dancing in the beautiful Alicia Alonso theater.

You share a special and long-standing relationship with Jean. What will you file away as some of your most impressive memories working with him?

Jean has a warm and sincere affection for the Cubans. My relationship with him from the beginning has been respectful and we have also had moments in which we share a lot of laughter and the occasional crying (from my side). Jean has always listened to me and has always valued me, one of the most important things for me as a dancer. Working with him during these nine years has been interesting; he taught me a different way to move and take my body to another extreme. One of the moments that I will always remember is when we worked together to create the character of She in BalletLujah!

“During my 35-year career making dances, there have been very few dancers with the
intelligence, the artistry, the determination, the discipline and the passion she possesses. For
any choreographer or Artistic Director, a dancer with Hayna’s brilliance is a blessing for she is
not only a dancer of great talent, she is a muse.”
– Jean Grand-Maître, Artistic Director of Alberta Ballet

Hayna Gutierrez in Giselle © Maximillian Tortoriello

What have been some of your favorite roles to dance? Are there any out there still on your bucket list?

It’s hard to decide because I have more than one role as a favorite. However Giselle has been that role that I have been able to enjoy to the fullest in different moments of my career. The first time I played it was with the National Ballet of Cuba and I was 21-years-old and then I have danced it multiple times and it always feels different and that makes it special. However, I think that if I had the chance to have danced Manon’s role in the piece Manon Lescaut, it would have been my favorite. The music, the history, the costumes, each and every one of the scenes of this full-length ballet, I love it.

It sounds like you are not necessarily retiring from the stage, but rather from company life. Is it possible to share with us some of the adventures you have planned ahead of you?

My plan is to continue dancing, I still feel strong and with the same passion for dance. I also want to teach the youngest ones. I would like to transmit all the knowledge that my teachers once offered me and that undoubtedly were the essence of my development as a dancer. I love teaching as much as dancing. On the other hand, having the opportunity to choose my schedule, I will be able to enjoy more of my three-year-old son, who I miss all day, at all times.

In conversation about your retirement from Alberta Ballet, there is a common thread in your reflections about the next generation of dancers. Why is this so important to you?

When in the National Ballet of Cuba they began to give me roles as Principal dancer, I was still a soloist in the company. I remember my first full-length (Don Quixote). There were many outstanding Principal Dancers in the company, and I remember very much the support of each of them, their respect for me and the unconditional help they gave me. My experience was little but the desire to become one of them was not lacking. My dream was big and I knew that with my passion, discipline, dedication, and patience I could do it. That’s what I’ve seen in the new generations in the Alberta Ballet. Now my time has come to support them and enjoy them.

Source: Featured Photo © Paul McGrath, Hayna Gutierrez in Don Quixote

Una entrevista con Pablo Javier Perez: Pensando en transiciones

Pablo Javier Perez ha llamado a Raleigh, Carolina del Norte su hogar desde 1998, el año en que se unió con el Carolina Ballet dirigido por Robert Weiss como uno de los primeros bailarines de la compañía. Fue un mes antes de cumplir 20 años que Sr. Perez se mudó de Montevideo, Uruguay a la “otra América” para seguir sus sueños; ha dejado su familia, su amigos, y su zona de confort.

Pablo (cariñosamente “Pablito” por muchos de sus amigos) ha tenido mucho éxito en el Triangulo – admirado por como baila, respetado por como enseña. Como su estudiante Charlotte Evans me ha comentado, “Él es un profesor profesional e informativo con una atención especial a los detalles que me ayudaron a crecer en maneras que no había pensado antes.”

Y cuando regresa a Uruguay para visitar familia y amigos, Pablo es como si fuera una estrella que ha regresado.

Sigue leyendo para saber más sobre los eventos en la vida de Pablo que le ayudaron formarse en el hombre que es hoy.

(Para leer la versión inglesa, haz clic aquí.)

Entrevista con Pablo Javier Perez

¿Cuál fue la razón principal de mudarte a los Estados Unidos (en vez de otro lugar del mundo)? y ¿cómo se sintieron tus amigos y familiares en Uruguay sobre esta decisión?

A partir de mis 15 años era para mi un sueño el poder venir a los Estados Unidos para poder terminar mi formación como bailarín. En aquel momento había un bailarín recién egresado de la Escuela de Danza donde yo estudiaba y a quien yo admiraba y él era un referente para mi. Él consiguió una beca para la Escuela de Danza de la Universidad de Carolina del Norte (UNCSA) y luego consiguió trabajo en una compañía profesional. Cuando él regresó a Montevideo de visita recuerdo haberme sorprendido con su transformación como bailarín y como artista. Desde ese momento supe que quería seguir sus pasos, trabajar mucho para tener la misma oportunidad que él tuvo. Mi sueño si hizo realidad a los 18 años cuando me dieron una beca completa para la misma escuela a la que él había venido. Recuerdo la emoción que sentí cuando me enteré que estaría viajando a los Estados Unidos.

A pesar de que en mi familia no había nadie relacionado a la danza, siempre sentí un apoyo incondicional de parte de mis padres; ellos tuvieron un papel importante para que yo pudiera llegar a cumplir mis sueños. Ahora entiendo que al haberme ido de mi casa a los 19 años para venir a un país tan lejos seguramente les causo un sufrimiento sobretodo a mi madre, pero jamás me lo dejaron ver y por el contrario ellos querían que estuviera acá porque sabían cuanto trabajé para llegar. Se sentían orgullosos de verme crecer cómo profesional y como persona. Estaré por siempre agradecidos con ellos que supieron cuidarme y al mismo tiempo dejarme volar.

Hasta ahora has pasado la mitad de tu vida en Uruguay y la otra en Carolina del Norte. ¿Cuáles son algunas de las cosas que más amas y que menos te gustan sobre los primeros 20 años y los 20 más recientes?

Me parece loco decir que ya hace 20 años que vivo acá – la mitad de mi vida en Uruguay y la mitad de mi vida en USA.
Si tengo que hacer un balance de mis primeros años en Uruguay sin duda lo más hermoso fue tener a mi familia cerca, una infancia sumamente feliz, y una Escuela Nacional de Danza que me enseño los primeros pasos y una disciplina que me ayudó muchísimo en mi carrera y en mi vida en general. Quizás lo no tan positivo fue que en aquel momento no había campo para el ballet a nivel profesional. La Compañía estaba muy deteriorada y lamentablemente para crecer había que irse.

De mis últimos 20 años lo más difícil fue lo mismo el tener a mi familia lejos y perderme momentos importantes – ver a mis sobrinos crecer, cumpleaños, casamientos, etc. Al principio en 1998 por ahí aún peor porque la comunicación era muchísimo más lenta. Ahora las distancias se acortaron un poco porque hay muchas maneras de comunicarse rápidamente. Lo que más me gusta de mis últimos años en USA es poder mirar para atrás y darme cuenta de todas las cosas que conseguí en mi vida acá sin tal vez haber sido muy ambicioso. Llegar a ser primer bailarín de una compañía profesional donde tuve la oportunidad de bailar mucho y disfrutarlo mucho. El sin darme cuenta desde muy joven empezar a formar una carrera como maestro y que me fascina. El sentir que tengo amistades que son como hermanos que están ahí a mi lado en los momentos de felicidad y también en los momentos difíciles no tiene precio. Y por supuesto el haber encontrado el amor de mi vida aquí.

Pablo Javier Perez en Fancy Free de Jerome Robbins’ (foto © Chris Walt)

¿Cuáles son los papeles favoritos que has bailado?

Mis tres roles favoritos son sin duda Mercutio en Romeo y Julieta, Fancy Free de Jerome Robbins, y Puck en El sueño de una noche de verano. En estos tres roles se puede unir mis dos pasiones, el baile y la actuación. Cada uno de estos roles los interpreté más de una vez en mi carrera y fue maravilloso poder trabajar en ellos. Cuando interpreta a un personaje uno se siente mucho más libre y el acercamiento con el público es mucho mayor.

En Carolina Ballet, ¿cuál fue el reto más grande cuando pasaste de ser bailarín a ser ballet master?

Hoy como ballet master en Carolina Ballet puedo decir que la transición se fue dando muy gradualmente. Cuando aún bailaba estaba ayudando en montajes de algunos ballets. No era sencillo estar al frente de un ensayo y al mismo tiempo estar bailando pero me gustaba mucho hacerlo. Hace unos años tuve la oportunidad de ir a montar un ballet de Robert Weiss (el director artístico de Carolina Ballet) en Uruguay y también su Messiah en Filadelfia.

Creo que lo que también ayudó para que la transición fuera muy fácil es que cuando tome la decisión de dejar de bailar estaba completamente seguro que era el momento exacto hacerlo. Hoy puedo decir que mi instinto no falló. Disfruto el tomar un ensayo y trabajar con un bailarín o un grupo de bailarines tanto como lo hacía cuando bailaba. Cuando me siento a ver un show puedo sentir un poco de nervios como cuando bailaba pero otra forma. Es que quiero que las cosas que hemos trabajado se vean bien y que los bailarines luzcan bien. Durante el show lo disfruto muchísimo y si todo salió bien me voy a casa feliz igual que cuando bailaba y había tenido una representación. Me encanta ver que la compañía está creciendo, que los bailarines están creciendo y qué hay mucho talento en las nuevas generaciones.

Cuando no estás en el estudio de baile o en el teatro, ¿qué te gusta hacer?

Soy una persona que me gusta estar ocupado…las personas cercanas a mi lo saben. Ensayos, clases, clases privadas, etc. También trabajo en casa mirando muchos DVDs [para aprender los pasos de los ballets]. Pero con el correr de los años he aprendido bastante a encontrar un balance en todo. Disfruto mucho mis día libres. Me encanta disfrutar lo sencillo – tomarme un café con un amigo, salir a caminar con mi esposo y mi perro, disfrutar la naturaleza. Hay veces nos hacemos un viaje a la playa por el día. Amo el mar.

Si puedes elegir una escena específica de un ballet que más refleja tu vida ahora mismo, ¿cuál sería?

Es una pregunta muy divertida pero no estoy seguro poder encontrar una escena en particular, a lo mejor debería ser una conjunción de muchas escenas de diferentes ballets. En la vida hay un poco de todo. Cosas buenas, cosas malas, altos, bajos, alegrías y tristezas. En este momento me siento muy afortunado y feliz en muchos aspectos de mi vida tanto profesionales como personales pero al mismo tiempo me ha tocado vivir un profundo dolor al perder a mi mamá, lo más duro por lo que he tenido que pasar. Pero tengo que decir que en una situación tan difícil cómo ésta encontré en mi trabajo un refugio muy grande que me ayudó a seguir adelante. Creo que hacer lo que uno realmente ama es un privilegio enorme qué hay que saber valorar. Quizás no exista un ballet o una escena que refleje mi vida hoy por hoy pero si puedo decir que el ballet es mi vida.

Fuente: Foto principal © Jarrod Ellis, Pablo Javier Perez en Vivaldi Four Seasons de Robert Weiss.

An Interview with Pablo Javier Perez: Reflecting on Transitions

Pablo Javier Perez has called Raleigh, NC home since 1998, the year in which he joined Robert Weiss’ Carolina Ballet as a founding member. It was a month before his twentieth birthday that Mr. Perez moved from Montevideo, Uruguay to the “other America” to pursue his dream leaving his family, childhood friends, and comfort zone behind.

Pablo (affectionately called “Pablito” by some of his many friends) has made a name for himself in the Triangle – admired for his dancing, respected for his teaching. As former student Charlotte Evans once said to me, “He’s a professional and informative teacher with a special attention to detail that helped me grow in ways I hadn’t thought about before.”

And whenever he goes back to Uruguay to visit, it is as if a homegrown star has returned.

Read on to learn more about the events in Pablo’s life that have helped shape him into the successful young man he is today.

Note bene: I interviewed Pablo in Spanish as he felt that he could best express himself in his native language. I then translated his answers endeavoring to preserve the genuineness and honesty of his voice. (Para leer la versión española, haz clic aquí.)

Interview with Pablo Javier Perez

What was the principal reason for moving to the United States (rather than any other place in the world) and how did your loved ones in Uruguay feel about it?

From the time I was 15 years-old it was a dream of mine to be able to come to the United States in order to finish my training as a ballet dancer. It was at that time that there was a ballet dancer who I admired who had recently left the Escuela Nacional de Danza where I was studying – he was a reference for me. He received a scholarship for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) and later got work in a professional company. When he returned to Montevideo for a visit, I remember being amazed by his transformation as a dancer and artist. It was from this moment that I knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps, to work hard so that I could obtain the same opportunity as he had. My dream came true when I was 18 when UNCSA – the same school that my role model had attended – gave me a full scholarship. I remember the excitement I felt when it sunk in that I would be traveling to the United States.

Although no one in my family is in any way related to dance, I always felt unconditional support from my parents. They had such an important part in me realizing my dreams. Now I understand that leaving home at 19 to come to a country so far away surely caused them some suffering…especially my mother. But they never let me see it; in fact, quite the opposite. They wanted me to be here knowing just how much I worked to get here. They felt proud to see me develop as a professional and as a person. I will always feel grateful that they knew how to take care of me and at the same time let me fly.

To date, you have spent half of your life in Uruguay and half in North Carolina. What are the aspects that you most love and least like about the first 20 years and the most recent 20?

It seems crazy to me to say that I have already lived here for twenty years, half of my life in Uruguay and half of my life in the United States.

If I have to evaluate my first years in Uruguay, without a doubt the most beautiful was having my family close by, having an incredibly happy childhood, and being at the Escuela Nacional de Danza where I was taught my first ballet steps as well as a discipline that helped me so much in not only my career, but in life in general. Perhaps the less positive aspect was that in that moment there was no place to study ballet at a professional level. The Company was pretty deteriorated and unfortunately in order to grow more in ballet, I needed to leave.

In reference to the last twenty years, the most difficult was having my family so far away. I missed so many important moments such as watching my nieces and nephews grow up, birthdays, weddings, etc. At first (in 1998), it was even worse because communication technology was so much slower; now the distance seems a bit shorter because there are so many ways to quickly communicate. What I like the most about these years in the Unites States is the ability to look back and realize all of the things I have achieved in my life here despite them perhaps being quite ambitious. To become a principal dancer in a professional company where I had the opportunity to dance so much and enjoy it. And without realizing it, to begin to develop a career as a teacher at a young age and loving it. To feel that I have friends who are like brothers and sisters, who are by my side in the happy moments and in the difficult ones – this is priceless. And of course, to have found the love of my life here.

Pablo Javier Perez in Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free (photo © Chris Walt)

What were some of your favorite roles to dance?

Without a doubt, my three favorite roles are Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; they all involve the union of my two passions – dancing and acting. I had the chance to interpret each of these roles more than once during my career and it was amazing to work on them. The process of interpreting a character allowed me to feel much more free and enabled me to connect with the audience in a deeper way.

At Carolina Ballet, what was the biggest challenge transitioning from dancer to ballet master?

Now that I am a Ballet Master at Carolina Ballet, I can say that the transition happened gradually. While I was still dancing, I started helping set some ballets. It wasn’t always easy being at the front of the room for a rehearsal and at the same time dancing, but I very much enjoyed doing it. A few years ago I had the opportunity to set one of Robert Weiss’s (Carolina Ballet’s Artistic Director) ballets in Uruguay, as well as his Messiah in Philadelphia.

I think that something else that helped make the transition smooth was that when I made the decision to stop dancing, I was completely sure that it was the exact right moment to do so. Today I can say that my instinct didn’t fail me. I love running rehearsals and working with a dancer or group of dancers as much as I loved dancing. When I sit down to see a show, I feel a little bit nervous just as I did when I was dancing…but of course, in a different way. It’s that I want that all the work the dancers and I put into a piece looks good and that the dancers shine. I very much enjoy watching the company performances and if all goes well, I go home just as happy as I did when I used to dance and had a good performance. I love to see the company growing and the dancers growing, and to see that there is so much talent in the next generation.

When you are not in the dance studio or at the theatre, what do you enjoy doing?

As those close to me know, I am a person that likes to be busy – rehearsals, classes, private classes, etc. I also work a lot from home watching tons of DVD’s [to learn ballets]. But as the years have gone by, I have learned to find more balance in everything. I very much enjoy my free days and love to enjoy the simple things in life such as chatting with a friend over coffee, walking the dog with my husband, and enjoying nature. There are times when we go to the beach for just a day…I love being by the ocean.

If you could choose a ballet scene that most reflects your life right now, what would it be?

This is a fun question but I’m not sure I can come up with a particular scene as perhaps it is more a conjunction of many scenes from different ballets. Because in life, there’s a little bit of everything – good things, bad things, highs, lows, happiness, and sadness. Right now I feel very fortunate and happy in many aspects of my life both professionally and personally, but at the same time, the profound pain I feel having lost my mother really affects me. It’s the most difficult thing that has ever happened to me. But I have to say that in a situation as challenging as that one, I have found a huge refuge in my work that has helped me to move forward. I believe that doing what one really loves is an enormous privilege that you must know how to appreciate. So…maybe there doesn’t exist a ballet or scene of a ballet that reflects my current phase in life, but I can say that ballet is my life.

Source: Featured Photo © Jarrod Ellis, Pablo Javier Perez in Robert Weiss’s Vivaldi Four Seasons

An Interview with Graham Lustig: On Nutcracker and Bees

After a successful opening of its 2018-2019 season with Luna Mexicana, Oakland Ballet Company is ready to head back to the Paramount Theatre to perform Artistic Director Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker on December 22 and 23. This is truly a production filled with local talent; along with his company dancers, the Oakland Symphony and the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir will also be featured. After the shows, there will be several opportunities for audience members to interact with the performers. Following the matinees are Sweet Dreams Parties at which children of all ages can meet characters from the ballet while enjoying refreshments. An Encore Reception follows the Saturday evening show; adults will be served hors d’oeuvres and champagne while mingling with company dancers and artistic staff.

In the midst of his busy schedule, we had the opportunity to chat with Graham a bit more about what makes Oakland Ballet Company’s Nutcracker different and how the company invests their time in the community this holiday season. We also learned how the man who runs the show likes to spend his time when not in the studio or theatre.

Interview with Graham Lustig

What makes Oakland Ballet's Nutcracker unique?

What makes Oakland Ballet’s Nutcracker unique is that first, it is the only professional Nutcracker production in the East Bay, and also this is the 47th season that the company has presented the Nutcracker in Oakland’s Paramount Theatre.

In addition, the Oakland Symphony performs the Tchaikovsky score in its entirety, including the addition of a children’s choir in the snow scene. Some special parts of our production include some plot twists as well: we have ten little dancing Snowballs in the Land of the Snow, and Marie and her Nutcracker fly to Confiturenburg (the Land of Sweets) in a tree ornament shaped like a hot-air balloon. My production is also set in Edwardian times, when women were were riding bicycles, no longer wearing corsets and becoming more self empowered by the fight for emancipation. The set design is Viennese, and this shows the birth of modernism.

Educational outreach is an integral part to Oakland Ballet's mission; what kind of special events will be held related to The Nutcracker?

Oakland Ballet Company annually donates many tickets to community members who might not otherwise be able to attend the performances. This season, we will bring in-school performances to eight under-served area schools, and nearly 40 schools will attend our educational matinee Nutcracker performance in the Paramount Theatre.

Do you continue to choreograph works outside of Oakland Ballet Company?

Much less these days. I’m really so very busy here that I hardly have any breathing space.

When you are not in the dance studio or at the theatre, what do you enjoy doing?

Well, I think I have two favorite pastimes. About 18 months ago I adopted a puppy. So one of the lovely things to do after a nasty sweaty day in the rehearsal studio is to go out, go to the shore which is only 15 minutes away from here and take a beach walk with the dog. With a sunset that is absolutely lovely. And then, since I moved here to California I’ve started keeping bees, so I have an apiary in the garden with beehives. And I’m doing that not because I want to harvest honey but actually because when I was walking around the amazing gardens around here I just thought, “Wow it’s so quiet, I don’t really see any bees”. And I think that’s a real issue. And it’s more if urban gardeners keep a hive in their garden…it’s not a question of 15,000 hives on a hill in a country – what we need is many more single hives dotted all over the country and then the bee colonies will get stronger again. It’s a fun thing to do. I was terribly scared when I first started.

Wait...do you have a suit?

Oh, I do! Are you kidding me?! But it’s amazing. The bees don’t actually want to sting you; they want to get on with what they’re doing. I’ve learned a lot about bee keeping and maybe if I’m lucky enough, in the futre I’ll go on to mead, the wine that you make from the honey.

If you could choose a ballet scene that most reflects your life right now, what would it be?

Oh my gosh…I’m not sure if I’m Seigfried casting myself off the rock at the end of that tour…or there’s Tsarevich at the end of Firebird slowly pointing my way to heaven…or Petroushka caught in the cell room where he can’t get out! [Editor’s note: Being a natural performer, Graham cannot help but gesture these scenes while talking.] So maybe one of those scenarios but I’m not sure which one today.

Source: Oakland Ballet Company | Featured Photo © John Hefti, Dancers: Graham Lustig with Alysia Chang and Calvin Thomas

An Interview with Christopher Rudd: Starting from Scratch

You may have heard the name Christopher Rudd floating around in your circle of dancer friends. Hailing from Jamaica, Christopher grew up in Miami where he graduated from New World School of the Arts. As a professional dancer, he was a founding member of Carolina Ballet, a soloist with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal, and a performer with Cirque Du Soleil. Now after years of traversing oceans and seas, Mr. Rudd continues his journey in New York – the birthplace of his company RudduR Dance.

What started as a dream is now a reality thanks to support from major organizations as well as grassroot efforts. Growing steadily since 2015, RudduR Dance presented its first single-billed show in May 2018 at Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture in partnership with the CUNY Dance Initiative. Empowered blends contemporary ballet, modern dance, and the aerial arts with theatricality to speak to timely social issues; glimpses of this piece can be found in the video below.

Better yet, continue reading to discover why Mr. Rudd is a leader to believe in and one who will continue to be a part of your conversations in the future.

Interview with Christopher Rudd

When did you first discover that you like choreographing?

I knew for a while that I enjoyed choreographing as an intellectual exercise. But it wasn’t until 2014 when I choreographed Kristina Zaidner’s Ailey/Fordham BFA senior solo that I fell in love with it. Before that, creation it was akin to constructing a puzzle without seeing the picture. I didn’t feel connected to the work in my bones, as it was a series of steps for the sake of what I believed should follow the previous step. However, creating “… I See,” felt different. The process wasn’t linear. Zaidner and I would discuss many topics ranging from our personal lives to politics to growing up in Miami, and the music wasn’t set. I played Pandora in the background while playing choreographically with Z (as she is affectionately known).

One day Z came to rehearsal excited to show me the solo on a piece of music that she believed fit the work. I was taken aback by her presumption and initiative but told her to SELL it to me by doing it (it was her senior solo after all). As I sat and watched her try to convince me by dancing my work to Chopin’s Nocturne no. 19, my eyes began to water. Not only was I feeling for the first time from my own work, but, I was realizing that I COULD feel from my own work. That was the beginning of a driving force that I hunt for during a creation. The joy as a dancer for me was performing and rarely the creation. Now, as a choreographer, my joy is chiseling a work into existence while questioning its relevance and honoring what the piece tells me it needs to be.

Why did you decide to start your own company rather than choreographing for others?

It wasn’t so much of a choice as it was my only feasible means of being able to create. I had moved to NYC and retired from dancing before I really heard the call to create. At the time, I had not proven myself as a choreographer to receive commissions by others. I was just a dancer with a dream. I had work to do in order to give people a reason to commission me. Now I have a number of works to show for myself. Naturally, I wish for and seek out opportunities to choreograph on others. And if anyone is interested I hope that they please reach out to me if I haven’t had a chance to contact them first.

What aspects of your classical ballet background do you draw upon?

Classical ballet is my native tongue and my first dance love. Admittedly, I have yet to choreograph a classical ballet or on “classical” ballet dancers, but I hope to and long for the time when that opportunity presents itself. My works tend to have the DNA of the dancers in the room and I am intrigued by the prospect of having classical/neoclassical dancers with which to play, especially in relation to aerial. RudduR Dance Artists tend to be modern/contemporary dancers with ballet sensibility, an investigatory nature, who are fearless, willing to try new styles, and are invested in the process. However, I use ballet terminology and the skeleton of my works are structured drawing upon classical ballet.

As an Artistic Director and Choreographer, who/what have been your most prominent influences?

I have many many influences. As a founding member of Robert Weiss’ Carolina Ballet I got to watch the building of a new company; that experience informs the methodic and patient steps to laying the foundation and building RudduR Dance. As a dancer with Les Grand Ballet Canadiens de Montreal, I witnessed the depth that dance can touch the human soul; this directs my choreographic goal and gives me the courage to not stop chiseling a work until the piece approaches that place. Working as a dancer on the creation of a show for Cirque Du Soleil enabled me to see the inner workings of their “wow” factor; this experience opened my imagination and broadened my spacial awareness and gravity’s effect on movement.

Why did you choose New York as the home base of Ruddur Dance?

When I decided to retire from “company life”, I chose NYC as the opportunity to make a living as a freelance artist is second to none in the United States – perhaps the world. This was a fortuitous decision for me. The “empire” city has an established infrastructure to start RudduR Dance. Ample studio space, talented dancers hungry to work, and the eyes of the world taking note on the ongoings. However, the city is saturated with companies and voices all vying to be noticed and funded. When companies like Cedar Lake and now Jessica Lang Dance folds, I question the wisdom of staying here. The future is both exciting and scary.

Do you have some sort of a 5-year plan?

The Company’s immediate necessity is to continue to make a name and find creation, presentation, and funding opportunities for RudduR Dance. The next steps are to find a physical home for the Company that will allow us to open a school that offers a wide variety of concert dance classes as well as aerial, music, and acting classes. This school will have a scholarship program inspired by and in honor of the Thomas Armour Youth Ballet for which I credit my artistic journey. Additionally, it is important for me to provide access to view dance, create dance, and learn the business of dance regardless of one’s socioeconomic circumstance. Like I said before, the future is both exciting and scary.

What are some of RudduR Dance's upcoming events?

The next opportunity to see my work is in Miami, FL on Dec. 1st at the Colony Theater on South Beach with an encore presentation on Dec. 9th at the Alper JCC. I am excited that Dance Now! Miami has commissioned me to create F(l)ight on their dancers and I am looking forward to seeing it. This commission afforded me the chance to be mentored by the founding Dean of Dance at New World School of the Arts, Daniel Lewis. He is a world-renowned teacher, choreographer, and performer and is credited for countless careers from Miami artists, including my own. It was truly an honor to gain insights on the creative process.

Also, we have been introducing Empowered to presenters, festivals, and colleges locally, nationally and abroad. I am excited to officially announce that we have been invited to five presentation opportunities to date: festivals in Ecuador, Belize, and the Dominican Republic and venues in Dallas, TX and Hudson Valley, NY.

Source: Ruddur Dance | Featured Photo © Kristina Zaidner, Ruddur Dance Artists in Witness: Hydeia Champion, Sierra Herrera, William Rhem, Ezra Swift

An Interview with Edwaard Liang: The Man of Many Hats

The Kennedy Center opens its 2018-2019 ballet season with the San Francisco Ballet showcasing the east coast premieres of works by world-renowned choreographers in their program Unbound: A Festival of New Works. Among the impressive list of ballets to be performed is The Infinite Ocean, the latest work by Ballet Met’s Artistic Director, Edwaard Liang.

For those who keep up with who’s who in the ballet world, Mr. Liang is no newcomer. And for those who don’t…well it’s time for you become aware of one of the top names in the industry. He is a worldly man born in Taipei, Taiwan, raised in Marin County, California, and trained at the School of American Ballet in New York. He went on to become a soloist with New York City Ballet, a member of the Tony Award® winning Broadway cast of Fosse, and a dancer with Nederlands Dans Theater 1. And now he’s the Artistic Director of a ballet company and a sought-after choreographer.

But that’s just his bio in a nutshell; we dive a little deeper into conversation with Edwaard just as he’s preparing for Ballet Met’s first program of the season.

Interview with Edwaard Liang

What would you like the audience to know about The Infinite Ocean before seeing the performance?

This work started with the inspiration of Olafur Eliasson light installation for the Tate Modern. It reminded me of God’s train station. So with this idea the piece is about the process or the space of crossing over. I was also grateful that Oliver Davis composed a new score for this new work. We worked closely together on this thematic idea.

What aspects of your life have most influenced your choreographic decisions?

I’m most interested in emotions or the emotional connection.

Is there a particular place where or time of the day during which your creative juices really start flowing?

After a good cup of coffee, a nice glass of wine…usually the wine is with listening to music in preparation – hehehe.

What is the most interesting feedback you have received about any of your pieces?

They all have been interesting, positive, or negative.

Independently, the titles of Artistic Director and Internationally-acclaimed Choreographer carry great weight and responsibility, yet you manage to wear both hats. How do these two roles complement/conflict with each other?

I have learned a lot from being in both roles. As a choreographer you really try to stay true for your work and the audience you create for. As an Artistic Director, you serve at the leisure of the organization and community. They are very different but if you go up higher in view…they both are a part of the dance landscape and voice how important dance is to our culture.

When you are not in the dance studio or at the theatre, what do you enjoy doing?

Making dinner with my husband and working on our house together.

If you could choose a ballet scene that most reflects your life right now, what would it be?

Even though I love my life and career and what I get to do, I’m pretty boring and wouldn’t/couldn’t compare with a scene in ballet or theatre…maybe a minimalist film. 😉

The Infinite Ocean will be performed by San Francisco Ballet on October 25, 26, and 27 (matinee) at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Source: Ballet Met | Featured Photo © Jennifer Zmuda, Dancers: Edwaard Liang and Grace-Anne Powers | *Special thanks to Rebecca Mix