Growing, Changing, Dreaming, Flying!
To all the dancers I have ever loved
Dear Malcolm,
This past weekend I went to McCaw Hall to watch Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s end-of-year ballet recital. Next fall you’ll transition to the school’s Level 2, so this was a last chance for you and your peers to strut your entry level stuff on a big stage.
This was your recital, but it was my chance to reflect on you and your classmates’ commitment to an ideal and to demonstrate the fruits of that commitment. Ballet is a specific artform, but the occasion also prompted me to reflect more generally on all of our opportunities to aspire to something and to see what our dreams may reap.
Your grandmother (along with the rest of your family) was sitting in the row in front of me; she asked who I had come to watch. When I said ‘Malcolm’ she seemed a bit surprised that anyone who wasn’t related to a dance student would devote several hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon to this performance.
It wasn’t so surprising to me. I spend a lot of time watching dance and thinking about why this particular art form moves me. A chance to watch young devotees, even those in a Level 1 recital, gives me another opportunity to ponder that question, to find more reasons why certain dancers stand out, even elementary school student dancers.
I’ve written in the past about the notion of ‘grace.’ I’m not simply using that word to convey the notion of a long, elegant neck or pretty arms, although embodying ‘graceful’ as the dictionary defines the English word is part of it. Even more important to me is a person’s ability to use dance to reflect their inner spirit, to reveal their true self through that dance. It can be grief, or love, or in the case of a ballet like Coppelia, comedy.
A particular artist isn’t necessarily center stage; Serenade certainly showcases its lead dancer, in this case Korbes. But it also shines a bright light on her fellow company members, and I remember thinking that in choosing this work for her final PNB performance, Korbes displayed a facet of her inner grace and generosity to the audience.
I see traces of grace, as well as gracefulness, in you, Malcolm, and I have done so since you were a very young boy performing for your parents in the living room. (Yes, your mother sends me videos from time to time. I have loved seeing the way you carry yourself, and the joy you find in moving to the music.)
Part of me is invested in watching how you’ve grown, and how you continue to commit yourself to the difficult process of learning ballet technique. I truly hope you stick with it because I can see the early signs that you have what it takes, both physically and mentally, to transform those living room performances into something that might, someday, thrill an audience of 3,000 strangers. I know it’s a difficult task to resist society’s pressures to do traditional “boy” stuff, but your Pacific Northwest Ballet School teachers will show you the way!
I once went to an elementary school on Seattle’s Beacon Hill to watch PNB’s current Associate Artistic Director Kiyon Gaines Ross talk about the company’s fabulous Dance Chance program. It’s an opportunity for young people who might not know about ballet to attend classes at PNB, with transportation, clothing and instruction subsidized by the company.
I’ll never forget Ross showing slides of some of the best athletes in football or basketball leaping into the air as he told the kids that ballet dancers perform the same athletic feats and more. Besides strength and technical virtuosity, ballet dancers, unlike athletes, often display their skills with big smiles on their faces. Just watch PNB’s Jonathan Batista for confirmation.
Malcolm, you aren’t yet executing grand jetes, but you looked great on the big stage amongst your peers. The enormity of the Level 1 group was a bit overwhelming. Thank goodness you have red hair, so I could spot you! Throughout the afternoon other dancers also caught my eye.
One Level 4 student (your mom and I call him “floppy hair boy”) was wonderful! He extended his arms and legs so beautifully as he leapt with his peers. He wasn’t just physically adept; he had an inner spirit, a joy, that was bursting to be freed. I hope he continues his ballet training. The other standout was Professional Division student Lucas Galvan, whose accomplished version of George Balanchine’s solo from Square Dance thrilled me.
Galvan’s onstage partner, Mckenzie Wilson, reminded me of former PNB principal Carrie Imler, now a faculty member. In her dancing life, Imler was a frequent partner of another great PNBS instructor and singular performer, Jonathan Porretta, who staged this version of Square Dance. (If I read my program correctly, Galvan and five other PD colleagues will join the company as apprentices next season).
Almost every student was showered with praise, love, and floral tributes, many purchased in the McCaw Hall lobby. A huge BRAVO to the families, friends and teachers of these young dancers who do everything from styling hair to chauffeuring to selling bouquets.
Many of the students we watched won’t go on to professional ballet careers but I know they’ll do equally wonderful things with their lives. They committed themselves to the hard work of chasing this dream. They’ll apply that same dedication and discipline to new dreams. And, hopefully, we continue to dream and reinvent ourselves all our lives.
Malcolm, you are young and just setting out into this world. I’m on the other end of life. At your age I dreamed of writing. I’m officially retired from my radio journalism career but I haven’t stopped aspiring and dreaming. Watching and writing about dance is my latest incarnation, and as I think about your life path I can only advise you to follow your heart’s desires. Now and always.
Dream high, aspire to fly!
This post is dedicated to all the dancers I know, all the dancers I watch, and the dancers I will never see but will always support.