I recently look across the studio at two of my students and said, “You two can really dance.” Later I started thinking about how that phrase can be interpreted.
Soon after Serge and I met, he came to see one of my performances. The next day, over a meal – he gave me his assessment. “You can really dance.” I grunted my acknowledgment of his compliment. “I mean – you can really dance.” One of my eyebrows raised and I stared at him, wondering where this conversation was going. In my short time with Serge, I had already figured out that the man was no rocket scientist – so who knew what logic line we were following. “It’s too bad you weren’t better at ballet – then you wouldn’t have to do that modern stuff.” It took every ounce of control I had not to stab the idiot with my fork. I smiled sweetly at him and said “Surprisingly kiddo, not every good ballet dancer wants to be a ballet dancer. Some of us actually left ballet because we preferred modern.” He didn’t get it. But then again – in his defense – most ballet dancers didn’t get it.
That was the disconnect that existed between the two dance forms. Modern dancers were always made to feel that they couldn’t hack the technical or physical requirements of ballet – so they settled for something else. Like Serge, most ballet dancers treated modern dancers like second class artists while modern dancers tended to treat ballet dancers as mindless idiots or trained poodles. It’s so funny now that I look back at it – why couldn’t we just get along or at least recognize the artistry in both forms. Serge finally got it – sort of – then again – not a rocket scientist and not real good at retaining new information. We were on a touring contract with a contemporary ballet company. Serge was performing some classical ballet pas de deux and I was doing the contemporary and modern pieces. During the tour – Serge’s partner got injured and had to get replaced. I was helping her replacement learn the piece. She was having problems with a complicated lift sequence. “Watch how my body moves,” I told her as I demonstrated the move with Serge. Serge put me down from the lift with his mouth open. “That was fantastic – that was better than any of my partners back home! You really should be a ballet dancer.” I smiled sweetly at him and said “As I have said before, not every good ballet dancer in the world wants to be a ballet dancer – some of us actually prefer modern.” He nodded in acknowledgement that I said something – he got it – and yet – he didn’t. The man could never quite grasp the fact that a good ballet dancer wouldn’t want to be a ballet dancer. What can I say? Not a rocket scientist.
To those two students – when I told you that you can dance – what I meant is that I now consider you peers – not students – and I have absolutely no worries about either of you finding jobs in this industry with companies that will make you happy.