Notable Feet Duncan Noble: Dancer in the Mountains
Ballet master Duncan Noble's (1922-2002) life and career paralleled the establishment of dance on America's Broadway stages and through out the Appalachian region. From humble beginnings as a Scottish highland dancer in his native Vancouver, British Columbia to the prestige of founding dance faculty member at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, Noble's footprint is found virtually everywhere a dancer turns in Appalachia. His resume reads like an astounding list of the most influential dancers and companies in early American dance history and his creative contributions span the region as choreographer, teacher, and mentor for the North Carolina School of the Arts, West Virginia Dance Festival, Festival of North Carolina Dance, as well as dance consultant for the arts councils of Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Massachusetts.
In a letter to me in 1989, Noble summed up his career in typical 'Noble style': bulleted and to the point.
"For some reason my parents decided I should study Scottish dancing and the bagpipes. So, I did."
À "My family were Scottish and dairy farmers. My father was born on the holy Isle of Iona. Our family home called Crachoran is still the very center of the isle. My mother was born in Edinburgh."
à "I danced often with a girl called, Peggy Pool (now Peggy White). We danced tap Scots and other ethnic dances anywhere they would pay us a dollar. Remember, this was the Depression! There was a great furor in the newspaper when June Roper had three students accepted into the Original Ballets Russes. Peggy then went to June and a year later I was brought along and went, gladly."
Õ "I joined NCSA in the spring of 1965 prior to the fall opening that same year. I am a 'founding' member, so to speak. I have held the post of Assistant Dean to Robert Lindgren for about 15 years and Acting Dean when he left to head the SAB (School of American Ballet) School." Noble also was well known in the forties, fifties, and sixties as a Broadway ensemble dancer and partner to modern dance pioneer Valerie Bettis.
Dancers, companies, shows, and theatres across the area bear some level of Noble's mark. His extensive travel and teaching schedule allowed literally hundreds of dancers to experience his dry humor and artfully crafted ballet classes. Dance companies everywhere include a Noble piece of choreography in the repertoire. Graduates of Noble's are sprinkled throughout the theatre and dance worlds. I literally tripped over a stage manager at a recent production of "Cats" in Charleston, WV who trained with Noble and served as his technical director for the ground breaking touring production of "Jazz Is" (1982.) Pittsburgh Playhouse, Theatre West Virginia, and North Carolina School of the Arts are founded in part on the expertise and choreography of Noble either through his direct work or student envoys.
From my first personal encounter with Duncan Noble in a ballet class in the late 1970's to our last meeting at a party in May 2002, the consummate dancer and writer in me resonated with the sensation that he was a living dance history page. The first article I wrote about him in 1990 for "Dance Teacher Now" captured a few of his historic moments from partnering the brilliant Alexandra Danilova (Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, 1941) to nurturing the restless but talented Patrick Bissell (1957-1987) of American Ballet Theatre and a graduate of NCArts. A deep and interesting story exists in Noble's history about life in the early days of American male dancers, the growth of ballet, Broadway and regional ballet, and the explosion of dance programs in higher education. Noble moved within these worlds with a dedication to artistic growth for himself, his students and dance.
Noble's ballet classes hinted at old world flavor mixed with contemporary artistry. "Actually, I try to train well and honestly without a bias toward any particular style. A dancer must be able to accomplish the requirements of the technique. The exercises must train them for it. Many company directors want a definite style to the port-de-bras. My pupils have a simple and direct approach, I hope, that enables them to change to whatever is asked of them," Noble explained. I've come to understand that his first years as a ballet dancer were founded on style more than technique because this is what he received from his first ballet teacher June Roper. (June Roper, Ballet Starmaker, Leland Windreich, 1999.)
Noble's quiet, even pace as a teacher was opposite that of the eclectic mannerisms of today's teachers. Noble friend and scholar Leland Windreich noted that Noble's persona resembled that of many "well-bred Canadian children of the early 20th century." He could, however, demonstrate a fierce intensity as he was known to remove his belt and slap the floor with it during class!
From the day he left Vancouver, B.C. as a young teen, Noble literally danced around the world but he called a gentle city in southern Appalachia home. In 1965, friend and fellow dancer, Robert Lindgren invited Noble to serve as a faculty member for the newly formed North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. The mountainous region called to his Scottish heritage, and rather than withdraw from its rough beauty and arrogant seclusion, Noble chose to devote his art and life to growing generations of dancers who continue to spread his message of dance: strong, traditional technique blended with contemporary sensibility.
One of the more captivating qualities of dance as an art form is its ability to defy boundaries. Barriers of culture, ethnicity, space, and more have been met head on by years of movement devotees imparting the notion that although dance is noted as the most "uncapturable" of the arts, it persists. Through the bodies of mortals, an everlasting essence lingers in the minds and hearts of those who view the dance. Because of its morally diverse cultural heritage, Appalachia isn't a pain-free place to dance ballet; Noble quietly distributed the seeds of dance that are bearing fruits today.
The inherent struggle within dance is not physical but primarily with its ephemeral quality, the frustrating notion is that a dancer is human and a movement can never be repeated the same way. Each presentation is new, is now, a fresh idea born of fresh energy and motivation. Each step becomes a precious child to a dancer, a child that will live only fleeting moments on the stage or rehearsal floor. The frustration is somewhat eased by telling the dance story to others through performance, writing, and teaching.
Like an epic drama, dancers become teachers trying to overcome the immortality of dance. "If I teach someone else to dance, maybe the movement will stand still for me." But it does not. I believe Noble knew this bafflement with dance, as we all have, and he chose to overcome the dissatisfaction by teaching. While his choreography exhibited old world quality, his devotion to teaching lingers today as a kind of enduring nobility.
Joy Held is currently writing Noble's biography and welcomes stories from former students and peers at yogajoy@charter.net.