Boston Ballet’s Gianni Di Marco Named Principal of Citydance, An Innovative Outreach Program Everybody should have the chance to dance
For the past several years Gianni Di Marco has been doing what few folks in the dance world have been able to accomplish - he's enjoying equal success as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. Born in Venezuela, Di Marco has performed with such prestigious companies as The National Ballet of Canada, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. He joined the corps of Boston Ballet in 1995. At present he is choreographing new ballets for Festival Ballet of Providence and Harvard University. Recently named Principal of Boston Ballet's unique Citydance outreach program, Di Marco spoke recently with Dancer from his home in Boston, where he lives with his wife Adriana Suarez (principal ballerina with Boston Ballet), his daughter Gianna and son Adriano.
Dancer: How did the idea for the Citydance program at Boston Ballet come about?
Di Marco: I think it started with [former artistic director] Bruce Marks in 1991. He wanted all of the kids in this city to have a chance to dance, and all of the school boards in the area to be involved with the program. I'm really excited about doing this job because it gives me a chance to pass on the knowledge I've gained from so many years of dancing. I guess I'm still very passionate about dance! And, I think if kids can understand what it means to become a dancer, or even to get an introduction, it's a great thing. We reach about 5,000 kids every year in the program, which is incredible.
How do you organize such an enormous program?
We have three teaching teams and each goes to three Boston schools every day, so basically we go to nine schools every day. The program starts in September and continues until November. Right now we're teaching at 82 different schools in greater Boston. We introduce all of the kids to the history of ballet, we bring them costumes to look at, not just from classical ballet but also contemporary works, and. they learn everything about how a big company like Boston Ballet works.
Further into it we do a warm-up and stretches, and then we teach them a little dance that requires a certain amount of coordination. Out of that comes a workshop for third grade students. When that is over we choose 2-3 students from each class and then we leave a letter with their teachers. In January those kids get to come to Boston Ballet to join the program officially. We usually have between 250-300 kids between the ages of eight and ten participate each year.
What is the outcome for these students?
The program gives them enough opportunity to get started, and the opportunity to continue. I've danced with a lot of kids who were in our outreach programs and now they are part of the Boston Ballet School. It provides a good talent pool, but that's not the main objective of the program. The main goal is to give kids who would never have had a chance to be a part of Boston Ballet. Also, it gives them a way of applying themselves to something worthwhile.
How is Citydance funded?
Mostly we have money from several private corporations [Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, John Hancock Financial Services, the Jean Ruggles Romoser Charitable Trust, the Schrafft Charitable Trust, the State Street Foundation, the Stride Rite Corporation, the Tiger Woods Foundation, and Verizon] and I think there is also state and municipal funding. The program provides dance gear, shoes and other supplies. We put the boys in bike shorts, something not too balletic that would scare them away. It's important not to put them in leotards and make them go through a formal audition process, which can be intimidating. Besides, we want to give them the understanding that dance is broader than just ballet.
It would be great if this sort of program could extend to music and theater as well.
These days we live in such a crazy world. Generally kids don't get exposed to anything besides television, video games or computers. So it's nice to have something that breaks loose from all of that.
I know that you used to teach in the Citydance program, but what are your duties now that you've been named Principal?
It's my first year, so I'm trying to find a way to continue making this program exciting. The people who ran it before me did a great job. I think I got to take over because I love to work with kids, choreograph for them and make things interesting. I've been doing it now for 3 weeks and there is enormous potential to do even more with it. Of course, time will tell! Right now my primary duties are centered on curriculum development.
You must have gained a lot of experience in the adaptive dance program as well.
I've been teaching adaptive dance for the last three years, and that's had amazing results. It's introducing dance not with the intent of making kids into professional dancers, but making them aware of who they are and how dance can help them develop self confidence. You know, to establish what they're all about. These kids have physical challenges they deal with every day. It's opening the doors, and it's limitless what you can do with dance, I really feel that way. We call it "adaptive dance" because the main intent is to adapt ourselves to the students who are in the class. Right now we're working with 6-12 year-old kids with Down's syndrome. We've been able to develop a method to help them with coordination, musicality, and other things. I can't say flexibility, because their joints are hyper-mobile. If anything, we've been able to accomplish control. That's an amazing thing to do without taking them into a therapeutic environment. It's one of the best things that ever happened to me, because I see how the kids change and they stand up and do a little solo with confidence. They could never do that before. They've really grown and they feel like they are part of a program.
Did your teaching style change at all after you became a father?
One thing I guess I learned in the adaptive class, around the time when my daughter Gianna was born, was that it took a lot of patience for me to learn how to deal with the students. It's not that they were bad or they weren't keeping up in class. But I learned that you have to be very creative that day. I couldn't really prepare for the class. I had to work around how they felt at the moment. It's the same with my own children. I have to be patient with them and I know they're going to learn better if I stay with them rather than if I make them part of what I want. I guess I adapted this to my own life!
Right now you seem to "have it all." To what do you credit your simultaneous success as a dancer, teacher and choreographer?
I take everything that comes my way and I try to make something out of it. The only true hard task is being able to take care of my family and still do all these things. You know, in the old days, it was very easy for me to go into the studio and work three or four hours straight, for several nights in a row. Or I could go home and listen to music for endless hours. Now I have to be fair to my family and especially to my kids. I have to give them time, which is so important. You know, my accomplishments are no longer my accomplishment outside my life - they have to be accomplishments with my life. I want to be a good parent, and also do something for my career, but my career has become secondary to being a good parent. My ego cannot be filled now unless my family is part of my success. My kids don't tell me that I'm a good father, and maybe they never will! [He laughs] but you know how life is, and I want to be a good father.
You're 42-years-old now. Do you ever feel like stopping dancing?
I feel like dancing should be over for me, but actually my body feels great. Sometimes I wish that maybe it would be the contrary! It's okay though. The good thing about still dancing is that I understand what it's like for students to do it, and sometimes you can forget if you don't dance any longer. Really, I hope I can do it for years.