Atlanta Festival Ballet

Behind the scenes

This page is presented with a series of articles written by Alice Aldridge.
Courtesy of Henry Free Press,
Joe Hiett- Editor/Publisher.

 

BAUBLES, BANGLES, AND BEADS

Costumes in "Beauty and the Beast"

When most people think of costumes in a ballet, they visualize the very short skirt, known as a classical tutu and pink satin pointe shoes. Traditional as that picture may be, it barely scratches the surface of what the wardrobe requirements are for most ballets today. Story ballets, like The Sleeping Beauty or Beauty and the Beast often require dozens of costumes in all different sizes, some of which can be rented or borrowed, but mostly must be made from scratch by the wardrobe mistress and her hardworking assistants.
Kathy Pierce is that miracle worker for Atlanta Festival Ballet and over the past three years that I've been associated with the company, she has created costumes for butterflies, unicorns, baby animals, flowers, soldiers, party parents, bunnies, baby dolls, candy canes and jesters. Even the costumes that we rent or borrow, like the ones for The Sleeping Beauty have to be altered to fit dancers who are shorter, taller, wider, or narrower than whoever originally wore the costume.
As dress rehearsals proceed, quite often costumes have to be repaired or adjusted in between a dancer's entrances and exits, which often has the wardrobe mistress or her assistants dashing madly from one side of the stage to the other, repairing ripped straps or torn bodices or sleeves that give way right in the middle of a variation.
However, outfitting the Gypsies for our first production of Beauty and the Beast in 1997 required less in the way of sewing skills than it did in shopping expertise. With Patsy Hiett's able assistance, Kathy and her wardrobe team checked out garage sales, Goodwill Stores, and even scrounged in a few overstuffed closets looking for outdated hippy skirts and peasant blouses, especially those in eye-stunningly garish colors or clashing prints. We combined highway worker orange with rock star purple, neon green with electric blue. We also dug out shawls and scarves and found uses for ten years' worth of Mother's Day costume jewelry. Because the scene itself had to be so dark, Mr. Aaron pleaded for the costume ladies throw aside all fashion sense . . .and we did.
By the time the gypsies of all sizes, shapes, and ages were properly outfitted, we looked like a jumble sale for the stylistically challenged, run by someone who was completely color-blind. It was a wonder that we weren't raided by the fashion police for setting the art of costuming back fifty years at the very least. We took tacky to new heights, sewing glittering bangles and baubles onto anything that moved, while everyone, male and female, wore such heavy gold hoop earrings that we had to tie knots in our ear lobes until they shrunk back to normal size.
Of course, the real test of any costume was whether or not we could perform in them. Despite a few hectic grabs of falling bangles and a fast sweep for lost earrings before we made our final jump offstage, we managed a dramatic and energetic performance lifting Beauty's Father over our heads and then throwing him from one group to another.
The dancers in this year's production of Beauty and the Beast are still working very hard on our spacing and timing of the separate groups, but I don't think Mr. Aaron and Tiffany will wait too much longer before they begin rehearsing us in the long skirts, floppy blouses, and draggy shawls. I'm a little curious to see if I can still run and jump across the stage in my skirt and shawl without fracturing my ankle. Especially since "Break a leg" is not exactly a proper good luck wish in a dance company.

 

 

 

MIND AND BODY, HEART AND SOUL

Dancers in "Beauty and the Beast"

Difficult as it may be to believe, most anthropologists agree that humanity's invention of dance probably preceded that of music by hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. As mankind evolved from an arboreal fruit eater to a plains hunter, it was only natural that he mimic the movements of wild animals, attempting to capture their essence. As that early prehistoric hunter danced to no other instrument except the beating of his own heart, his dance served as a kind of prayer, pleading for prey to fall to his spear or thanking it for its sacrifice. Whatever the reason for that earliest dance, it came from the innermost spirit of the primitive dancer. . . and things haven't changed that much across the millennia.
Festival Ballet's professional dancers in Beauty and the Beast must take classes almost daily and spend grueling hours in rehearsal, under Mr. Pacaña's direction, to maintain the degree of skill necessary for their performances. Each dancer draws on different inner resources to sustain her and each has her own perspective on why she loves this difficult and demanding art.
Meredith McClain, who is repeating her role of Beauty from Beauty and the Beast's premier in 1997, has also danced as Clara and the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. Her early training was at Gwinnett Ballet Theater and Terpsichorps in Atlanta, then she received scholarships and studied at the Houston Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet of New York City. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Shorter College in Rome and is currently the Artistic Director of the Rome Civic Ballet.
When I asked her what she liked and didn't like about dance, she answered, "Often dancing is like being on a roller coaster; it's wild and scary, with lots of ups and downs and hair-raising turns. You hold on for dear life, wondering whatever possessed you to get on in the first place! When it's over, you get off with your knees trembling, remember the excitement and exhilaration . . . and climb right back on! The hardest thing about ballet is that no matter how hard I work, how often I practice, the piece will never be perfect. As hard as everyone in the company rehearses, the dance is never completely flawless. But we always try to make it better."
When I asked her what she loved most about ballet, her face lit up, "It's the closest thing in the world to flying. . .tears, joy, pain, love, all emotions are engaged when I dance."
Jocelyn Buchanan, who will alternate with Tiffany Wright as one of Beauty's Sisters, has a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance from Arizona State University and has performed with the Martha Graham Company and the Murray Louis Company. With her husband Bill, she performs the sinuously elegant Arabian dance in Festival's annual The Nutcracker and was the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty.
"The hardest thing about dance is dancing through the pain. When you get up in the morning and everything aches. You creak out of bed and start to warm up, knowing you have to get moving and keep going, no matter how much it hurts." She laughed off-handedly when I asked her what she loved most about ballet, then replied with a thoughtful look on her face, "Challenging your personality is always exciting . . .the chance to become different people within the dance. Of course, the magic that dance itself creates."
Henry County native, Keila Butler Harvey, began her training with the Atlanta School of Ballet in 1988 under Andrea Pell, Gainer Grange, and Carl Ratcliff. In 1993, she continued her training with Ballethnic Academy of Dance with Nina Lucas, Maniya Barredo, and Stephanie Dabney. She participated as a Dance Major in the Georgia Governor's Honors Program in 1994 and also trained at the Boston Ballet Summer Program. After graduating in 1996, she was awarded a full dance scholarship to SMU and accepted at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the Alvin Ailey Summer Dance Program. Her principal roles at Festival Ballet include Sister in Beauty and the Beast, Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and the Wicked Fairy Carabosse, in The Sleeping Beauty.
Keila is working hard to regain her strength and flexibility after becoming a mother for the first time this past September. If former Governor Miller is right about exposure to classical music, young Darius Harvey should be another Einstein by the time he enters kindergarten. Meanwhile, this chubby-cheeked little angel watches, good-naturedly for the most part, while his mother does her plies, tendus, and arabesques.
When I asked Keila what to her was the hardest part about dance, she thought for a moment then answered shyly, "Trying not to get frustrated at things you're not good at or that other people are better at. You constantly have to push yourself . . .to be the best you can be."
When I asked her what she loved most about dance, she broke into a smile almost as wide as Darius's, "When you step onstage and become part of a fairy tale or folk tale. . . in some magical land. You become this imaginary person and, for the moment, forget all your problems."
Like other performers for generations before them, the dancers at FBC have human worries, fears and pains, but when they step on stage, they draw on a transcendent spirit from deep inside to create the wonderful world of artistry and magic that they share with all of us.

 

 

 

BACKSTAGE MIRACLE WORKERS

Behind the scenes in Beauty and the Beast

In my last column I introduced three of the dancers who are part of the onstage enchantment of a Festival Ballet production. Atlanta Festival Ballet has twelve professional dancers and over thirty apprentices and company dancers. For these dancers to be able to perform onstage, numerous technical experts, creative workers, and parent volunteers work for long hours to help create the magic of sets and scenes, costumes and special effects. Though Atlanta Festival Ballet must hire some technical and staging experts, because it is a non-profit organization, it depends very heavily on parent volunteers. These workers and volunteers have risen to the challenge in a most astonishing and inspiring fashion.
Nancy Newcomb is the company's full-time stage and production manager. She studied Theater at the University of Oregon and got her degree in Film at California Institute of the Arts. After running the sound for Festival Ballet School's recital last spring, she took on the job as stage manager for Festival's 1998 production of The Nutcracker.
As stage manager, Nancy serves as a go-between for Artistic Directors Gregory Aaron and Nicolas Pacaña and technical staff at the various theaters where FBC performs. She is also the arbitrator between their artistic vision and the technical realities of actual onstage production. With Atlanta Festival Ballet touring this spring in Macon and Rome, her job has assumed logistical demands of time and energy comparable to the Normandy Invasion. She always manages a smile and a friendly word even as she is charging out the door in the wake of FBC's perpetual motion machine, Gregory Aaron.
When I asked her what she enjoyed most, working with Festival Ballet, she replied, "I couldn't believe the caliber of talent shown by the company dancers in the recital and was thrilled to have the opportunity to begin working for Mr. Aaron and Mr. Pacaña in the fall production, especially the chance to work with the wonderful Mary Kraack."
Doreen Caswell, whose daughter Victoria is a Ballet III and a butterfly this year, has been an able backstage helper since the 1995 performance of The Nutcracker. During the week she's a paraprofessional with first-graders at Austin Road Elementary. She laughs, her dark eyes lively, "I managed to avoid being a room chaperone because I worked with kids full-time during the week. I got started in Wardrobe when Kathie asked for volunteers to sew on hooks and eyes and buttons, which I thought was fairly easy. Since then I've graduated to making romantic (knee-length) tutus, with layered tulle in three different colors and the flower trim on the Waltz of the Flower costumes. I've also sewn unicorn costumes for Beauty and the Beast and helped decorate party dresses and men's jackets for The Nutcracker."
She's also done ticket sales, assisted backstage with props and quick costume changes, and this year is the coordinator for the Girl Scout Theater Event that will take place during this year's Beauty and the Beast Dress Rehearsal.
"I love working with the company, everyone is like a great big family. I had a wonderful time with the touring company in Rome, helping with the Girl Scout event." She continues ruefully, "Of course, the hardest part is trying to be everything to everyone."
Becky Zimmerman is the mother of Abigail Zimmerman, who was first in The Nutcracker in 1994 as a bunny kidnapped by the mice during the Battle scene. This year Abi will be one of the exotic gossamer-winged butterflies in Beauty and The Beast. Becky, who started as a dressing room chaperone making sure her charges stayed reasonably quiet, is the Backstage Director in this year's production.
"I have to make sure everyone in the cast, from four-year old hedgehogs to principal dancers like Beauty's Sisters and Brother are in the right place at the right time. Telling the chaperones when to bring the little kids backstage and reminding the younger company dancers not to dawdle. With backstage intercoms, the professionals can keep track of the production, but sometimes they need help with changing costumes and headpieces. I'm responsible for recruiting chaperones and people to help with quick costume changes and I'm also in charge of routine maintenance of costumes -- who needs buttons, hooks and eyes, minor repairs-- that sort of thing."
" Sort of like an air traffic controller--on the ground?"
"Pretty much," she laughed "The hardest part of my job is keeping the stress levels down--for dancers and chaperones alike. Little kids can get pretty tired of waiting sometimes, which is why we try to let them go as early as possible."
"The most fun of the production is standing backstage and watching the whole production come together creating its own special enchantment. I never got to do anything like this as a child and I'm really enjoying it as an adult."
These three people represent only the tiniest fraction of the hard work it takes to produce a ballet like Beauty and the Beast and I only wish I could introduce the rest of them. Tireless creative workers like Kathleen Skinner, Kathie and Rick Pierce, Didi Furlong, Margie Lineberry, Debbie and Marty Shepherd, Amy Anthony, Denise Herzberg, Jill Owens, Debbie Wall, Susan Kurc, Carolyn Laird, Melodye and Reid Nash, and probably a dozen others that I forgot. So when you applaud the wonderful magic created by Festival's Ballet Company's dancers onstage, don't forget to give an extra clap or two for these hard-working backstage miracle workers!

 

ARABESQUE, BOURREE, CHAINE

Putting steps together in Beauty and the Beast

Over the past few weeks, I've introduced some of the cast and crew of Beauty and the Beast, described how costumes are created and how Mr. Aaron and Tiffany Wright managed to transform twenty plus auditionees into a dark and menacing band of gypsies. With this column, I'm going to describe and define a few ballet terms and steps, so when you come to see the production, you'll understand a little more of what's happening onstage.
The first official ballet school was established in France as part of the Paris Opera and that's why most of the steps are described in French, for example, pas de chat, step of the cat, is a cat-like leaping step, pas de cheval, step of the horse, looks a little like the pawing of a horse. Each step doesn't just involve the feet and legs but also includes the carriage of the head, the position of the arms, and most important of all, the alignment of the body. According to my teacher Jocelyn, it takes ten years to become a dancer, learning the names of the steps and then persuading one's body to stretch, reach, point, and turn in the proper manner. I've only learned about three years of steps so far, but with the help of my daughter Jennifer's ballet notes and several ballet text books I hope I can explain a little of what you'll see on stage, during Beauty and the Beast.
The most basic step in ballet, is the plie, which means to bend, with the feet turned out. This is the first thing taught to young dancers because it strengthens the legs and stretches and limbers up the joints, from hips to toes. It is also the foundation for every spin, turn, and leap that any dancer does on stage. When Mr. Pacaña launches himself into the air and does these seemingly impossible leaps and turns, it's not because he's bounding from a trampoline hidden off stage, but because he's launched himself from a very strong plie.
Dancers begin to learn their steps at the barre, which is just what it sounds like -- a bar of wood or PVC plastic that beginning dancers hang on to like a life preserver in the middle of the Pacific. It provides them with support as they learn alignment, balance, and correct position of the feet. One of the first things that dancers learn at the barre is port de bras, or carriage of the arms. These specific positions of the arms not only add grace and elegance to the dancer's movements, but are essential in maintaining balance and providing speed and force in turns and leaps.
An arabesque is one of the most basic and well-known poses in ballet. This is when the dancer stands on one leg and lifts the other behind the body as high as possible. This may look easy, but it requires strength in both the working and supporting leg to sustain the pose, plus the body must not tilt too far forward, so the dancer sways like a see-saw. The arms must float "as though resting on a cloud" according to one of my textbooks. So far I haven't achieved that.
Bourrees are a series of tiny steps taken usually on pointe, though sometimes on demi-pointe, where the dancer travels swiftly across stage, seeming almost to glide without touching the floor. The arms can be positioned over the head (in fifth position), low and in front of the body (in first position), or swaying gracefully, giving the impression that the dancer is floating on the breeze like a will of the wisp.
There are many different types of turns in ballet, some on two feet, such as chaine, which describes a series or "chain" of turns done rapidly across the stage, or a soutenu (sustained) where the feet are drawn up together in a single turn. A pirouette describes any complete turn on one leg, with the working leg in a prescribed position; coupe, at the ankle, retire at the knee, in arabesque, extended behind the supporting leg. A very difficult pirouette is the fouette, where the dancer's working leg whips out to one side then back into retire, spinning her around over and over, while her supporting leg goes from pointe to flat and back to pointe, always attempting to remain in the same spot.
The basic leap in ballet is called a jete, which means "thrown" in French. It is a jump from one foot to the other, throwing the working leg out. In a grand jete, the dancer may be doing a split in midair, almost seeming to float as a result of the shift of his center of gravity in the split. There are several other types of jumps that you will see in ballet. When a dancer starts on both feet and lands on one foot, that is a sissonne, going from one foot and landing on two feet is an assemble. One of the most dramatic of these steps is a tour jete, a "thrown turn", in which the dancer leaps into the air then turns 180 degrees, scissoring the legs then lands on the opposite foot, facing in the direction from which they started.
These are just a few of the basic steps that you will see in various combinations and permutations in the choreography of Beauty and the Beast. A few more expressions that you might need to know, are pas de duex, a dance for two, usually between two main characters in the ballet; pas de quartre, a dance for four, like the dance done by the Royal Court/Flowers at the Beast's castle. I hope that these definitions increase your understanding and enjoyment of the ballet. I'm looking forward to this weekend's performances of Beauty and the Beast on April 17th and 18th and hope to see you there.

Written by Alice Aldridge

 

Photo Credits by Keiko Guest