Galina Panova - Passing on the Torch
Russian ballerina Galina Panova and her eighteen year-old son, Matti, were visiting my friend Pamela Squires (Kidron), former music editor for The Jerusalem Post, who had met Panova and her husband, Valery Panov, when the Kirov Ballet couple immigrated to Israel from St. Petersburg.
Panova, a bright, spunky lady has had quite a career. Before dancing with the Kirov, she'd won the Gold Medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition in 1968. The Varna jury included the famous Galina Ulanova, Alicia Alonso and Birgit Culberg. In 1991 she won the award for best performance and interpretation of Igor Stravinsky's "Pulcinella" in Varona, Italy.
Some of the greats of the 20th century have partnered Panova, including her husband, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Fernando Bujones and Rudolf Nureyev, and she danced in many countries. George Balanchine, artistic director of the New York City Ballet, selected her to star in the Broadway musical "On Your Toes," which he choreographed. Panova did a straight run of over 500 performances. She has been on television in Russia, the U.S., New Zealand, Sweden and England.
Panova credits her teachers and coaches for her success. A teacher herself since 1987, Panova is currently Assistant Professor of Dance, East Carolina University (ECU), Greenville, North Carolina, Ballet Mistress and Choreographer for North Carolina, Academy of Dance Arts, Greenville, and guest teacher for the North Carolina Ballet, Raleigh, under the artistic direction of Robert Weiss.
For Panova, writer Boris Pasternak's words ring true: "Art always serves beauty and the beauty is the joy of possessing form, and form is the key to organic life, since no living thing can exist without it."
She agrees with the great prima ballerina assoluta and later coach of the Soviet ballet, Ulanova, who was much admired for her poetic and dramatic projection that actually moved some audience members to tears: "TALENT IS WORK," meaning that for success, inborn talent demands an enormous investment of hard work.
Since childhood, Panova's devotion to ballet has shone through almost as noticeably as her unmistakable physical aptitude for dance. She experienced what Dame Ninette de Valois, dancer, choreographer, founder of the Sadler's Wells Ballet in the United Kingdom, teacher and director of ballet schools articulated: "I soon sensed the feel of the sharp line of division between examples of pedagogy in academic study and choreography on the stage; it could be likened to understanding the difference between prose and poetry."
Panova remembers: "Twenty years old, just after my first season with the ballet company in Perm, a provincial city on the edge of Siberia, I was sent to Moscow to audition for the prestigious Varna ballet competition. All the prospective candidates had to represent the Soviet Union. All had to appear before a commission headed by Ulanova and, joy of joys, she chose me! Not only that, but she took me under her wing, organized all my competition preparations and later really helped me take first steps toward joining the Kirov. I always say that we have to be discovered, somebody has to find us and give the right push at the right time. Luck helps, too. In the beginning she put me with Mikhail Baryshnikov. But we were too similar in looks and type, so Vilen Galstyan partnered me. Ulanova arranged for us to go to Leningrad to be coached by Natalia Kamkova, the teacher of Alla Sizova, one of the Kirov Ballet's most popular ballerinas, and Nina Timofeyeva, one of the best known Bolshoi Ballet ballerinas.
"Working with Kamkova was unforgettable. She had graduated with Ulanova. Both were pupils of Agrippina Vaganova who had developed a teaching system that now forms the basis of ballet education in many schools worldwide. After previously studying with the great Ludmila Sacharova at the Perm Academy, the coaching turned me from a student into a professional dancer.
"And Kamkova's secret? Respected teachers and coaches worked their magic through kindling a great burning fire in their students, inspiring tremendous drive and power to work beyond exhaustion. They taught courage to keep on striving, no matter what, and to break through without fear to new places. They were all accomplished artists themselves, and admiring their work, we wanted to copy them. They had a steadfast belief in our talent that gave us wings. Epaulement, graceful arms and aristocratic, so very aristocratic. Kamkova showed me the essence that is hidden inside of every little step--the grace and elegance to be opened up to bring out the quality of movement. A simple pas de bourrée, for example, was never just a small fast pas, but swift, light and full of air; you fly somewhere above life, like riding upon the wind as you are carried over a vast open empty expanse.
"I was in Kirov finally! I was taking classes with Natalia Dudinskaya, known for her stupendous technique, Lubiv Voitshnith, Ninel Kurgapkinaand and Konstantin Sergeyev, the Kirov's artistic director. Dudinskaya prepared me and Valery for the ballets 'Bronze Horseman' and 'Don Quixote.' Later on I did work with Tatiana Legat, the granddaughter of the distinguished teacher Nicolai Legat, on 'The Creation of the World.'"
Arriving in London, Panova observed that the dancers possessed footwork far superior to any she had ever seen. She learned that knowledge is to be gleaned from surprising sources. In the title role of Culberg's "Miss Julie," Panova had to learn yet other ways of moving, forgoing some ballet rules she had learned. Culberg pioneered modern dance in Sweden and started the Culberg Ballet. Panova's experiences outside of Russia prepared her to perform ballets by such choreographers as Jerome Robbins, Frederick Ashton and Balanchine. Coaching in France, Panova learned much from watching Maurice Béjart, choreographer and artistic director of Ballet of the Twentieth Century. He worked with dancers in great detail.
"Technique alone is nothing," asserts Panova. "What is the ballet about, its underlying meaning that the dancer must convey? Dancers must develop their vision of the character or the concept they dance based on their own sources of information, imagination, taste and sense of proportion. The knowledge handed down by teachers and coaches, neither omnipotent nor absolute, must be a point of departure for the dancer's own way. The dancer who has to perform in various places and with a partner not of her own background needs to be aware of different styles and of different disciplines -- music, art and drama.
"The teacher has a very great role in molding the ballerina," Panova concludes. "And a very grave responsibility too. As teachers we must inspire, encourage and pass on the wealth of our experience. A young ballerina has to be discovered and then taken to a prudent mentor of skill and wisdom to nurture talent and cultivate the artist. Why do we teach? It is to ensure that talents will not be lost. What a joy and a privilege to witness the blossoming of abilities and to help the next generation take those first steps toward real creativity.
"Marie Rambert [pioneer of 20th century British ballet and founder of Ballet Rambert] said, 'When I was auditioning a dancer I looked of course at the build, the hands and feet and the eyes. It is in the eyes that the soul is reflected. They are the criteria by which one can judge an artistic temperament.' I really agree.
"Not long ago I went to teach at the Opera Rome Ballet under the direction of the unique Italian ballerina Carla Fracci. She entered the class and asked, 'Where are your pointes shoes? I was born in 1936 and I'm still en pointes.' She looked absolutely in form and charming. It was wonderful to see her dancing on stage in 2001 and coaching new upcoming stars. I learned so much from her work. However, an artist should never strive to copy others. That's what I try to say to my all pupils from first day of coaching in companies worldwide."
Panova is carrying on the tradition of coaching that propelled her toward stardom and kept her in the limelight. She had learned gymnastics, acrobatics and folk dancing beginning at age five. Her teacher, Sacharova, at the Perm Academy, developed a method seen in dancers' extraordinary posture. The muscles below the shoulder blades are strongly activated allowing the shoulders to be rolled backwards, resulting in an open chest, strong floating arms and a torso as active as the legs, and abdominal muscles pulled up. The head and shoulders appear to be rather further back than is usual. At the same time the muscles under the buttocks are engaged, allowing maximum turnout without unnecessary stress on the knees or contraction of the lower spine.
"A dancer's body is her instrument and should be treated and preserved as if it were a most valuable Stradivarius violin," Panova reminds her students. "I have worked out a type of class that brings oxygen into tired muscles and eases strain and pain. When dancers feel overworked, they need exercises that pour 'oil' back into the joints! Good stretches, circulating the energy and flowing movements. From the beginning, students need to learn to connect movement with expression and artistry so that their instinct forever is to search out the art."
Panova tries to pass on the right attitude in the ballet studio: "Come to work 'naked'! That is, in a state of quiet awareness and nonresistance, emotionally supple. Works evolve. A work of art in progress is vulnerable, precious and deserves to be protected and respected by all who come within its sphere. The dancer can contribute immeasurably if she opens herself to the choreographer without injecting anything superfluous."
One of Panova's students, Crystal Wellman, a senior at ECU said: "I have been fortunate to study with Galina Panova for the last two years. I came to ECU from Gastonia, NC, where I studied at Gaston Dance Theatre. Here at ECU, Panova has really helped me not only continue growing in my technique but as a person and an artist. She has encouraged me to be myself and bring my own personality to every role I do. Her energy level and enthusiasm have really lifted my confidence as a dancer. She is very inspirational, and I cannot begin to express the thanks I owe to her. After attaining my degree this year, I will be going to audition for various companies. I feel that I am now ready for the professional world largely because of Panova's coaching. I will carry the knowledge that she has shared with me throughout my career as a dancer. I can only aspire to be the teacher to someone else later in life that she has been to me."
A dance coach usually has gained recognition performing key roles. Thus, the coach is the link to original choreography or a choreographer's vision if the dance has been set on the coach as dancer. The coach can give points along the way as the dancer masters a role. Valuable insights based on having "been there and done that" are passed on in a noncompetitive relationship founded in trust and commitment. When the coach shares secrets and provides feedback and encouragement, the dancer moves forward from his or her plateau and begins to feel what looks exciting, enchanting and beautiful. Panova's aim is "for dance to look fresh and original and to have new personality development in ballet, not just stereotypes."
This article includes material from interviews Galina Panova gave to Terry Sivashinky for their book in progress, We Come To Class To Heal: The Dancer's Quest for Harmony and Balance.