Masters & Mentors
Teachers of ballet wield mighty power over the professional and non-professional dancer alike. Holding the keys to mastery of the art, the teacher also bears responsibility for the atmosphere and events in the studio. Bonds that often form between dancers and their teachers may be mutually enriching. The developing artist is supported and encouraged, while the teacher is rewarded through seeing her or his knowledge pass to the next generation of dancers.
At its best, the relationship becomes that of teacher-mentor and evolving artist. This, however, necessitates a willingness to go beyond ego on the teacher's part and express an "extravagance" of spirit. In his autobiography, In Search of Mind, educational psychologist Jerome Brunner explained, "Extravagance must be based on an unshakable belief in the limitlessness of creation -- not on possessions, but the power to generate and to give away at will."
Unfortunately, relationships that begin well often end up with a frustrated and constrained student who feels as if she or he is maneuvering a minefield. A teacher whose ethics are less than ideal may soon be transformed in the dancer's mind from mentor to tyrant.
Dance psychologist Linda Hamilton points out the prevalence of negative teaching practices in The Person Behind The Mask (1997): "In one survey (N=960) conducted for Dance Magazine, I learned to my horror that almost half of the dancers had a teacher who unjustly humiliated them in dance class. While this practice often occurs under the guise of motivating students to work harder, the results were far from satisfactory; these dancers had significantly more performance anxiety, injuries, and thwarted professional aspirations!"
Furthermore, not all teachers are ready to accept that students are, as they should be, independent and autonomous artists. Dancer Rasta Thomas told Judith Lynne Hanna (see Dancing for Health: Conquering and Preventing Stress, 2006) that " students who want exposure to a variety of dance styles often face possessive dance teachers who want exclusivity. They want you under their wing."
Sarah Lamb of the Royal Ballet highlights one of the reasons behind the negativity in some studios. "...there are many dancers who fall into teaching as a second career because they know nothing else and it is not because they are committed to ballet. And a lot of teachers, I think, love being dancers but may not really like being teachers."
Students in stressful teacher/student situations may find the ongoing National Dance Week Mentoring Program of interest: "The NDW Mentoring Program is one wherein aspirants to careers in the dance arts and associated fields can be connected and enabled to network with functioning professionals in the varied aspects of dance. Whether the interest is for that of a professional dancer or dance therapist, dance journalist or costumer, there are working professionals who are willing to provide guidance, advice and counseling to those who would like to either investigate the field or enter it." Go to www.nationaldanceweek.org and click on the link "Mentors Program."
A mentor is a trusted and experienced advisor. Traditionally, mentoring has emerged naturally through the work process in the ballet studio. The roles of teaching, coaching and mentoring often overlap with the same person involved in all three areas of the dancer's life.
The teacher's primary task in ballet class is to convey the principles and correct execution of steps, movements and poses according to the laws of classical dance. In rehearsals the coach helps the dancer discover and reveal the artistic content of a role. A mentor advises on issues such as motivation and maintaining an optimal mental attitude.
In spite of its rather ad hoc application, mentoring would seem to be a feature fundamental to the creation of ballet artists. If we look at many of the great teachers and coaches, the reverence with which their often-illustrious former students recall their mentoring is touching and inspiring. Irrespective of personality and teaching style, there appear to be common features of devotion, dedication and, most importantly, a readiness to go beyond ego.
"Tatiana Nicolaevna [Legat] absolutely loves ballet completely. She believes in it with every fiber of her being. So she wants to translate that for me. She wants to give it to me with all her passion. Passion! And it may not even be powerful enough to illustrate the potency with which she feels the need to help," exclaims Lamb.
Dancer David Holmes, who trained at the Kirov in the 1960's, has remarked, "The capacity I've found all the really great teachers have - and that's patience. That gentle approach, a way of encouraging. Pushkin [teacher of Baryshnikov, Nureyev and many other excellent dancers] has it, Dudinskaya has it, Shelest has it, Messerer at the Bolshoi has it." In Alexander Pushkin: Master Teacher of Dance by Gennady Albert.
Not all would agree entirely with this assessment. Ballerina-turned-teacher Galina Panova, in contrast, remembers her own teacher Ludmila Sakharova as tough, harsh and witheringly critical. Panova concurs though that Sakharova seemed to possess an underlying respect and even love of her students that was vital to their progress. "I think it is true that as well as a passionate love of ballet she had a steadfast belief in our talent -- and that gave us wings. Her acknowledgment of our talent was a kind of permission to believe in our fantasy so we could turn it from a vague dream into an actual visualization of success. This is very powerful. We need that initial response from our teachers and then we are able to find the courage within ourselves and build on it to keep going later, no matter what."
Ilia Sarkisov, dancing with the Bavarian State Ballet, points out that some excellent teachers fly into rages while others are more restrained in expressing their criticism. He maintains that what is important is that the teacher shares an artistic vision and love of ballet with the student. "I never take it personally no matter how he thunders at me!" says Sarkisov of Alexander Prokofiev, his teacher from school and still beloved mentor. Sarkisov is convinced that the student, while not in a position of power, also bears responsibility for the dynamic in the relationship. "It's him willing to give so much and me willing to take so much."
Prokofiev, who now teaches at the Munich Ballet Academy, trained and guided Vyacheslav Sarkisov, Ilia's father, at the Bolshoi some thirty years ago. Vyacheslav Sarkisov points out that Ilia and he are very different types of dancers even though they hail from the same teacher. This, he considers, is a testimony to Prokofiev's ability to draw out the particular strengths and individuality of every dancer. A rare attribute in a teacher, it is the product of a mental approach that is not self-serving. Prokofiev does not attempt to recreate his own past by turning the next generation of dancers into "clones" of himself. At the heart of this teacher's class lies a willingness to invest his entire being in the work. Prokofiev applies not only fine skill and mastery but also his mind and imagination creatively.
Some exceptional teachers are able to see a problem in a student's body and then experience it within themselves by using imagery. "Feeling" the problem in this way allows the teacher to discover the optimal way of resolving the difficulty in that particular situation. In her book, Portrait of Olga Preobrazhenskaya, Elvira Roné explains, "She [Preobrazhenskaya] saw not just the externals of the fault, but also its origins (perhaps in a very different part of the body), and from her own experience she knew how it should be corrected, drawing on her highly developed kinaesthetic sense, which enabled her to build up inside her mind an image of exactly what was happening to all the bones, joints, muscle, and tendons of the dancers she was watching in detail and also as part of a faulty or properly coordinated sequence of movement."
It would seem that some teachers manifest wisdom in no small measure by letting go of images of themselves as performing artists. Moving beyond the need for self-expression through their own bodies, they leave that aspect of the past in the past where it belongs. Talents and skills garnered over a lifetime are, however, not lost but reworked and re-channeled. Teachers' formidable creative energies can then be unleashed to shape the art form through nurturing its future dancers.
In the words of my own great teacher and wise mentor Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat: "The urge to teach may be expressed under two headings: first, a divine impulse to immortalize ballet by passing on some thread of emotion and inspiration which can be handed down, never to be lost; the other aspect is of an evolutionary nature, when, by years of effort, a dancer has produced the best results of which his body is capable, he can increase his knowledge and define his thought through younger and stronger pupils....the real artist never gives up his art, nor does he rest on his laurels; he endeavours to pass on his knowledge to others, and bring success to those who shall follow him." (from Ballet Education (1947) by Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat)
*Judith Lynne Hanna's assistance and valuable input is most gratefully acknowledged
Terry Sivashinsky danced and taught ballet for many years in England and Europe. She now lives in Tel-Aviv, Israel.