The Teacher Becomes the Student
Dancer, choreographer, teacher and now filmmaker, Charlotte Griffin still considers herself, above all, a student. A graduate of Julliard, and winner of the prestigious Martha Hill Award, Griffin has taught at Marymount Manhattan College (MMC), set works on students of the American Ballet Theatre Intensive in Austin, TX, choreographed for Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, and completed a choreography residency at The Yard, on Martha’s Vineyard. Her award-winning work has also led to a two-time invitation to the New York Choreographic Institute with School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet. In 2005, she was the recipient of the Scripps/ADF Primus-Tamiris Fellowship for the American Dance Festival’s International Choreographers Commissioning Program. Yet, even as she established herself as a successful teacher and choreographer, Griffin wasn’t satisfied. In order to quench her insatiable thirst for learning, she enrolled in a three-year MFA program at the University of Texas at Austin to study dance on camera. spoke with her about her accomplishments, desires and dreams.
Q: How did you get your start in dance?
A: When I was about 9 years old, my older sister started taking dance classes. I, of course, idolized her; therefore I also needed to take dance classes. It came to her very naturally. She was very flexible, graceful and coordinated, and I was an absolute wreck. Then I got hooked because it was such a fun challenge and I looked so absurd. I became pretty serious about dance when I was 13. I was lucky enough to attend the North Carolina Governor’s School a couple years later. I remember having a “eureka” moment. Here I was on a college campus with motivated students. Every day I was getting to study dance in a really inspired and focused atmosphere. I came home after that summer and announced to my mom that I wanted to leave high school and go to college. Julliard had an early admissions program, where they would take one or two students each year that were younger. In my case, I auditioned at 16 and went at 17.
Q: Tell us about your experience at Julliard.
Photo by Jan McCauley
A: It was a fantastic education. It was highly specialized, but I felt like I learned a tremendous amount every day. I took ballet and modern five days a week. Then there were academic liberal arts classes in the afternoon. The evenings would be spent in rehearsals. There was a lot of muscle pain during that time! I tended to get in trouble because I wanted to get into classes that I wasn’t allowed to be in. They usually let me watch, which is dangerous enough. I was also choreographing and I was very encouraged in my choreographic career. The Performing Arts Library was a huge part of my education as well. I would go there almost every day. I was very hungry to understand what dance was, not only around me, but also in other parts of the world.
Q: Although you have experience as a performer, most of your current work is as a teacher and choreographer. What made you choose these career paths?
A: The choreography started because of my faculty at Julliard. They would bring me back to create new work or restage work I had created as a student. They would start recommending me for work and connect me with people they knew. I was very shy about it. I wouldn’t even call myself a choreographer until the last couple of years. I just happened to be making dances for a living. I would say my big break in teaching happened when I was asked to substitute some dance composition classes at MMC. The students responded very well to me, and there was an opening for an adjunct position. I loved it. I thought, “Oh my gosh! This is what I want to do.” Light bulbs went off everywhere. I enjoyed encouraging young choreographers, even though I was still a young choreographer myself. I had an understanding of how to encourage creativity and expand their vocabulary and help them articulate ideas. It’s about guiding students to find their own inspiration. It was awesome! It was so awesome that it actually put me in crisis because I felt too inexperienced. All of a sudden, I was comfortable. It was so cushy and luxurious. I could certainly do this forever and ever. In order to be the teacher I wanted to be, I needed to spend more time in the profession. That’s why I decided to pursue other opportunities.
Q: You worked with the New York Choreographic Institute twice, setting works on the New York City Ballet. What did those workshops entail?
A: The Institute offers lectures and workshops throughout the year. They encourage and invite choreographers to see performances at City Ballet. I took advantage of that opportunity. I saw as many performances as much as I could. I watched class a lot so I could understand the fundamentals and style of their technique. The actual program requires you coming and working with dancers for a two-week period. You choreograph a piece and it is performed for an invited audience in a very relaxed, supportive setting. I loved the experience. The first work that I created in 2001 was very much contemporary ballet. It was very abstract and had a lot of modern flair to it, but it was not on pointe. They invited me to return in 2006, and at that time, I did my piece on pointe. By then, I understood more the legacy and traditions of NYCB, and I was very inspired to create a work that was a little more classical.
Q: What kind of an impact has working with the ballet dancers at the Institute had on your choreographic interests?
A: I’m looking forward to pursuing more opportunity with ballet. It ignited an interest in me. I’m excited about working on pointe now. Pointe work lends itself to a unique interpretation of music and rhythm. I appreciate the traditional relationship of music and dance in ballet, and I love the way that’s been played with in recent years. I like the diversity or extremes [to which] you can take [ballet]. You really can be incredibly musical or just break away. All those juxtapositions exist in ballet. In looking at ballet dancers, I value the capacity of modern dancers. In working with modern dancers, I really enjoy the unique abilities of ballet dancers. It just makes you value each dance vocabulary more.
Q: What made you decide to go back to school for an MFA? Why dance on camera?
A: In many ways it was difficult to go back to school because I was quite content doing what I was doing as a choreographer and teacher. I went back for my MFA because I’m very passionate about teaching, especially a particular population, which are pre-professional, college level dancers. In order to have my credentials for that, I needed a graduate level degree. As for dance on camera, that came from putting together my choreography reels. I was editing my performance recordings and I really enjoyed it—even using crappy video with extreme lighting and tiny little dancers. I had gone to screenings at a few dance film festivals, and I was very intrigued. How can you use film production to enhance choreography, or how can you use dance to enhance film?
Q: How did you go about choosing the program at the University of Texas at Austin?
It’s a new program. It’s a small program and it’s geared toward returning professionals. It’s also a three-year program. There are a lot of opportunities now that are very creative, where you can get your master’s quickly. I knew I wanted to have the time to take the coursework that would meet my degree but also learn other skills. Part of the attraction was that it was longer. People were like, what are you crazy? Why are you going for three years? I wanted the time and space to learn and produce new work.
Q: Where do you see yourself going after this?
A: In the same way that working with ballet made me appreciate modern, and working with modern made me appreciate ballet—working with film made me appreciate the stage, and working on stage made me appreciate film. I think to a certain extent, I plan on returning to my roots and working on choreography. However, I also want to make filmmaking part of my professional career. I’m not sure in what capacity, because it’s a whole new medium and a completely different career path, so I don’t know how it will manifest itself. I’m open to possibilities, and I think in many ways I’ll do it all. I also do still really, really love teaching. I think going to graduate school has really helped with that. In my mid-twenties, I couldn’t consider myself a good teacher. Now I feel confident that I do have something to offer students.