Bafana, Robin and I headed off to Azerbaijan's premiere dance conservatory -- about which one can find many entries on the www from 1930's onward. We were surprised to find that our session started off with a press conference -- approximately 15 journalists and t.v. crews wanted to know what we thought about Azerbaijani dance, and whether there were any established ballet companies in the U.S.! After mentioning NYC Ballet and American Ballet Theater, and dropping Balanchine's name without any sign of recognition, I realized that we were "big news" and not the more marginal "cultural news" because certainly, these names would have been familiar to the cultural press. Bafana and Robin had prepared some material from Shell Games that involved various moves on the floor -- but they quickly modified their plan when we entered the large sunny studio and saw:
*20 young ballet students in traditional Russian ballet attire (black leotards and white tights for the girls; white t-shirts and black tights for the boys; and pointe shoes or ballet shoes on everybody
*the floor was out of a Degas painting, bleached unfinished boards that were probably perfect for ballet slippers but deadly for either bare feet or the floor moves that had been planned (splinters galore!)
*an audience of approximately 100 students and teachers from the school who burst into applause when we entered the room
Bafana began with a series of isolations with ribs and hips, gyrations that caused the students and audience to giggle uproariously. Phrases from the BDC repertoire were doled out in good measure and the kids did their best to keep up. Great fun was had by all and when I wandered out of the room at the end, I encountered students, partipants and audience alike, gleefully trying out the choreography in the hallways and staircases.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
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