Okay, I really shouldn't start sharing stuff that will go into this book after only 2 days of working on it. But I simply can't resist.
I spent most of my Friday afternoon transcribing my first recorded conversation with Carol, which spanned from her childhood years to her first dance solo at age 7, to her brief time at SAB, and ending the discussion with her exciting apprenticeship with NYCB beginning in 1958. Wow!
Here are just a few of many amusing, intriguing, and exciting anecdotes she shared with me:
*Speaking of her first teacher in NYC (not at SAB): "She didn’t know how to teach young children and that’s what she had in her school. We never did anything like glissade assemble. We did 32 fouettes and chasse saut de basques and tour jetes. We used to get a silver dollar for doing six pirouettes on pointe. Even if we hoped around on pointe we’d get a silver dollar for doing six.
But she was strict, boy oh boy. We were afraid of her. She had a stick. Which was a good thing because that’s what ballet is. You are guilty until proven innocent in ballet. That was her attitude, and that was the attitude that I was conditioned to. And it was perfect for becoming a professional dancer. I liked it. I loved it. I was dancing my head off."
*Her audition for SAB: "I had an audition with Muriel Stewart. I did an arabesque on the right side and she fixed it. And it hurt. So then we did it on the left side and I looked for the place that it hurt and I figured that’s what she wanted. She said, 'Good.' I didn’t really know what she did, but it hurt. So I looked on the left side for that place. I was smart. I was clever. Savvy."
*"Part of wanting to be in NYCB was not just the dancing part. It was the idea of having a relationship with the people, the dancers. Getting to know these wonderful people that we saw on the stage, and getting to know this great genius, George Balanchine, and getting to work with him. It was not my idea to become a big star. I was just happy to be around those kinds of people, those kinds of mentalities and minds and professionals. It was show business."
Oh there's so many more fantastic quotes but I feel like I must save it all until I can work for the finished product...it's already rather time consuming but at least I'm enjoying the "work." Now if only I could get paid for this :)
3 comments:
Are there any "teachers-with-a-stick" out there today? I had a few of those.
You aren't getting paid???
kathy with a k, to my knowledge there aren't any teachers with a physical stick anymore, but i've worked with 1 director in particular who was possibly worse with his words than anyone could be with a stick! not a great way to learn, in my opinion
and victoria, nope not getting paid just yet. if we can get a publisher on the manuscript once we get more done (and there aren't many out there who want to pub dance books...) then we may get a small advance for the 2 of us. likelihood is i'll have to publish it myself, which i'd rather do but it's more work for a later payoff (ie. when we actually sell the books we make all the income). sooo yea...we'll see
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