Notable Feet: Francis Roach
Francis Roach and I met 25 years ago when we were cast as dancers in the Miss Ohio Pageant. Right away I understood him to be a kind person and a terrific dancer. He was on loan from Luigi's studio in New York to perform in the show. Our contact over the years has been hit and miss, but I caught up with Francis recently and asked the Notable Feet interview questions.
How did you begin dancing?
There are some home movies of me at two or three years old that show me "dancing" around the holiday tree, "shaking my naked booty" on a bed, and "running and jumping" in our yard, so I guess my mom saw that I liked dancing. I feel that she had an artistic soul; she liked to do crafts and play piano. She enrolled my oldest brother and sister in dance and baton classes but they did not stay with it long. I feel that I was a happy, sensitive child and maybe a little hyper, so she wisely encouraged me in an artistic direction.
A young girl, Rosemary Michelini, opened a new dance school in our hometown of Conneaut, Ohio. She had a couple of boys signed up so my mother sent me too; I think when I was six. I think I stayed in tap class for a year because five of us boys did her first recital, but then all of the other boys dropped out by the next enrollment year. I continued to go back sporadically to classes because we did not always have the money (my parents had 12 children!) and Rosemary wanted a boy in her recitals. Despite the pressures of being called a "sissy," I did her recitals without really much training until she moved away when I was 10 or 11.
Then Janie Marcy opened a school and I got a scholarship there for a year but went on to train with Joanne Petz through my teens because I found my school and community plays needed male dancers. I persevered through the ridicule of being a dancer in a small community and found solace in "things artistic." My later teens were less lonely because I found a bigger, exciting dance school in Erie, PA (35 miles away.) Catherine Little's school had many more "dedicated" dancers of all ages plus other boys. Her daughter, Sanda Roy, really gave me the love of dance by explaining to me the Luigi Technique.
What is your current involvement in dance?
I am a jazz dance teacher, choreographer, and performer living in New York City. I take every chance I get to work around the globe and promote the jazz dance art.
Who were the influential teachers
of your career? Why?
Luigi. He is a person whose philosophy about the body, and whose method is ahead of the time. His method is based on the correct placement of the body for every movement that is made. He "listened" to his body after suffering a paralyzing accident and created his own therapeutic rehabilitation. He used ballet stretches with his own holistic theory about the body to successfully guide him back into dancing and performing again. His work is elegant, sophisticated and strengthening; it has been called "liquid fire."
What dance goals have you reached in life so far?
Too many to list them all...Broadway, film, television, international traveling to work throughout Japan, Paris, Johannesburg, South Africa, Geneva, Switzerland, Brazil, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Germany, Italy, London, Tampa, Alaska.
Also, dancing with my idols: Gene Kelly, Liza Minnelli, Ben Vereen, Donna McKechnie, Danny Hoctor, Francois Szony, Valerie Harper, and Michelle Pawk. Choreographing off-Broadway, dance companies, Broadway benefits, operas...my head is flooding with stories!
What dance goals do you have for the future?
Luigi says, "Never stop moving."
What do you think of where dance has traveled in this country for the last several years?
It is seen more daily on our TVs. But, it has gone backward, I mean simplistic in its musical phrasing of execution. Our understanding of rhythm and timing has become simplistic. It almost seems like anyone that can shake their "booty" is a background dancer in the videos and films. The editing and angles of the camera people sometimes just ruins a performance too. Just watch Fred Astaire to see and feel the differences of his musical film era and today. By the way, what has happened to "leg work" today? It is now about the "tricks," jerky-quirky movements and strange phrasing.
Who do you see as the major players
(movers and shakers) in jazz dance today? Why?
The legends: Luigi, Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, and Ben Vereen come to mind first because they can do a simple kick, ball-change with more finesse that anyone else I have run across. People like them were noticed early in their careers as being "special" and they still are. By the way, do you realize that we have no national or international jazz dance stars under the age of 35? It is sad to me, especially because there is no American dancer in the genre leading the field, and America gave birth to the art form!
What do you believe is on the horizon for jazz?
It will be categorized as "theatre dance." The modern or contemporary (if you call it the latter) and hip-hop styles will swallow it up.
What is missing from the students you
work with when they get to you?
Knowledge of history. Here is a story: I taught a dance class for actors and dancers in an NYU-Tisch program for a few semesters. An almost graduating class of students thought after I showed them a clip from the movie "Top Hat" that Fred Astaire was Frank Sinatra and they certainly did not know who the Oscar winning actress/dancer Ginger Rogers was. How can this be remedied? Dance teachers have to educate and inspire students more by showing them the wonderful entertainments we have on film. The parents and contemporaries of your students don't have the knowledge that dance teachers have about entertaining legends. They watch sports, sitcoms, "reality shows," and thriller movies! We have over 100 years of dancing entertainment on film from every culture and style, so please go beyond the Britney stuff!
What do you enjoy most about your career right now?
Everything and every day. I feel that I am dancing in a better, more controlled, and knowledgeable way than when I was 25. I just returned from my 28-day trip of working in Japan and I performed a number that Luigi recently choreographed in five different cities and I received standing ovations. Not bad for a 51 year old dancer, I think. I try to eat right and get plenty of rest.
What do you do to stay creative and maintain
a fresh perspective?
Believe me, I have a very refreshing mentor--Luigi! Also, teaching in NYC gives me the opportunity of meeting people from around the world, they can be in any profession, any race, any age or gender but still we connect in the love of dance. I experience the "best" of dance, theatre, and concerts living in NYC. I listen and move to jazz music; Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Ellington, Basie, Mancini, Gershwin, and more, in that genre. I recently choreographed a production of "Carmen" for a small opera company and was thrilled with the full score that I had never heard before. I now listen to other operas and find out where so many other tunes have come from.
Can you give young dancers any tips about getting into the business professionally and maintaining a healthy career?
"Grow where you are planted" is a phrase that saved me and my dancing life! Learn your craft as much as you can in your hometown area. Get a union card before going to a big city. The big towns that you move to--to get experience--are expensive and many people end up moving away because they didn't get into the industry as fast as they wanted. I have seen too many people come to NYC with not enough talent but if they would stay with good teachers they could have a career. The dancers are also going around to too many "in" teachers and are losing basic technique skills trying to keep up. Tenacity is the key to doing what you love. Encircle yourself with healthy, like-minded artists around you for support, don't go with the trends. I was darn lucky because I found a mentor who has outlived the dance trends, who has no replaced joints, and who continues to set an example at 82 years of age not to quit moving.
Webster's dictionary defines devotion as "ardent attachment or loyalty." Francis epitomizes loyalty to his mentor and his art with the grace and finesse of all the great dancers he so humbly places above him when in reality, Roach belongs in the great leagues as well.