As a comment on my last post balletfan asked if I thought that the famous George Balanchine quote "ballet is woman" was true. I did some looking around the internet and found what seems to be the full quote: "Ballet is Woman. In sports, it's Mickey Mantle. In politics, it's Eisenhower. In ballet, it's woman. Women are lighter, more flexible. They move more beautifully. He is not the King, but she's the Queen"
I think that to Balanchine this was completely true. But, he was an artist, and contrary to popular belief, he is not the end-all be-all of ballet (my friend are going to laugh so hard at this, I'm a die-hard Balanchine fan). There are many choreographers who don't agree with Balanchine's philosophy, most famously, Maurice Bejart. I actually think at one point, in response to Balanchine's "ballet is woman" comment, Bejart said "Ballet is Man." For him, the male physique was ideal for the type of ballets he wanted to create. I think it just depends on what the choreographer is most inspired by, and for Balanchine, that was women.
Also, a thought that just occurred to me: Balanchine was born in 1904, and it seems like growing up in Russia at that time there were probably some pretty strict gender roles in play. In the quote he says men are the epitome of politics and sports, and I can't help but wonder if the thought of women being ballerinas and men being politicians and sports players didn't somehow stem from being a child in the early 20th century.
Anyway, those are just my thoughts. What do you all think?
Off to work now!
~Steven
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Hi Everyone!
Hi! So, I’ve been toying with the idea of writing for the blog for a while now, and with a little encouragement from some friends, here I am!
Also, a shot of my little sewing table:
A little bit about me: My name is Steven Houser and I am currently a Soloist at Oregon Ballet Theatre. This is my 3rd year as a full company member. The year before that I was an apprentice, and the year before that I was in the school. I was born and raised right here in Portland, OR (not too far from the studios actually) and couldn’t imagine a better city to grow up in.
Anyway, I thought I would tell you all a little bit about my day today and yesterday. Yesterday began with class at 10 am at our studios, as it does most days. Christopher taught, and I felt like I had a pretty good class. After that I had an hour of rehearsal for the corps of Rubies, the Balanchine ballet that is coming up in our Russian Program. It’s been really interesting learning Rubies, because the last time the company did this ballet I was in the school. I remember going to the show and thinking “Wow, what an incredible ballet!” Ever getting to learn and dance something that great seemed like somewhat of a pipe-dream at the time, so being in the studio learning it now is really a bit surreal.
After Rubies I had a long break (12:30-3:30), so I went up to my apartment and got to work on sewing some leotards and shorts that have been waiting to be put together for some time now (Brennan Boyer and I have a smallish dancewear business and finding spare time to work can be very difficult). After that was finished I had a little lunch and then made my way down to the studio for a 2 hour RUSH rehearsal.
RUSH is the Christopher Wheeldon ballet we are performing here in town for the White Bird “4x4” show this Thursday and Friday and again at the Kennedy Center for their "Ballet Across America" program. Our current challenge with the ballet is fitting the somewhat large cast onto the smaller stage of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. At times it feels a little bit scary, but I think that in the end all of us doing the movement in a smaller space is really going to make the ballet jump out at the audience a lot more than it would at the Keller Auditorium.
After RUSH I went home and finished Adrian’s shorts and Anne’s leotard. (pictured below)
Also, a shot of my little sewing table:I finished off the day by hanging out with my friend Adrian Fry and some friends of his on the Eastside Esplanade enjoying the nice evening.
Today was pretty similar to yesterday. Our Ballet Master Lisa taught class, followed by an hour and forty-five minutes of RUSH, a two hour break, forty-five minutes of Rubies corps (and some very intense counting thanks to Mr. Stravinsky), and a short company meeting discussing some changes being made to our contracts for next season.
So, after a quick visit to the Physical Therapist (nothing serious, just normal wear and tear), here I find myself sitting at home and writing this! I’m not sure what to write about other than my daily life as a company member of OBT. I remember when I was growing up I always wondered what life was like for professional dancers, and I think that something like this would have been absolutely fascinating to me. If anyone has any questions, feel free to post them in a comment here and I’ll be glad to answer them. Now, I’m off to go fold some laundry, make dinner, go over choreography, hopefully read a little, and then go to bed.
Have a wonderful evening!
~Steven
More Shoe Questions
Here's a question that came in about our shoes:
What are the shoes called that men wear? Do they too have the flat looking stiff toe like the women's? If not, how are they able to get up on their toes like you do? How long does a pair of shoes last? I know that it's likely to be different for each ballerina, but is there an average? 100 pairs sounds like so many!
Well, luckily (or not, depending on how you look at it), the men don't actually ever dance "on their toes", or on pointe, as the women do. They wear softer slippers made of either leather or canvas that don't have a hard toe box like pointe shoes do. The sole of the mens' shoes are somewhat stiff, but not nearly as hard as the shank of a pointe shoe. I think most of the men wear what we call "split sole" shoes now, which means that there are two separate pieces of material on the bottom of the shoe, one under the ball of the foot and one under the heel. The material in the middle is gathered together to make the shoe form more nicely to the foot and hug the arch. Men aren't immune to shoe problems, but theirs aren't custom made and they last a lot longer than pointe shoes do, so they're generally less problematic.
As far as how long pointe shoes last, that's an interesting question because it really does vary a lot. Generally, given their price (round about $80 a pair, but I'm trying to find out the exact price for us-- I think we get a discount for buying in bulk), their life span is ridiculously short. However, there are certain "makers" (each shoemaker has his own symbol by which we identify him, and we refer to them as Maker C, Maker Diamond, Maker Anchor, etc.) that are known to last longer than others. This might be because their shoes are harder or shaped differently, or just because they fit a certain dancer's foot really well. But then other makers are known to "melt", meaning they might be nice shoes but are more lightweight and just kind of disintigrate pretty quickly. Another huge factor is what exactly you are wearing those shoes for--- what particular ballet or role you're doing, and how hard or long your rehearsals are. A classical pas de deux nearly always requires very hard shoes because you spend so much time doing adagio work on pointe, there tend to be a lot of supported pirouettes, and if your shoes are soft your partner often can't find where your center of balance is. Performances of such a ballet call for a brand new pair, which I will have broken in slightly during class that morning. For rehearsals for something like that I might wear previously worn shoes, but they've still got to be pretty hard.
But then there are other ballets that you don't want hard shoes for, or that actually work better in softer shoes. Even though you don't have the same support, in softer shoes you have more connection to the floor and more control over off-pointe steps. For class, I will either break in a new pair for a rehearsal or performance later that day, or will just pull out whatever I have handy in my shoe bin that I know I won't need for anything else. (One of the worst feelings is to realize that you "wasted" a really great pair of pointe shoes in class, and then can't use them for a rehearsal or performance).
So, to answer the question (at last), there really is no one answer! With hard use, they can last you only a few hours, but certain pairs can last for days. A performance of a classical ballet will usually eat up a single pair in one night, but that pair might then still be usable for class or a rehearsal later. Sometimes a dancer will hit on a maker whose shoes are quite hard and heavy (some dancers prefer this, some hate it) and they'll last for several shows of a ballet that's less pointework-heavy. (We also use a type of glue intended for building model airplanes to add a little life to our shoes. A few drops seals the tip to make it less water-soluble. Unfortunately, it also makes them louder and if it leaks through to the outside, quite slippery).
I would say an AVERAGE might be two or three days for the lifespan of a pointe shoe. For some of us it's longer, some it's shorter. There are so many variables that come into play having to do with different makers, techniques, foot problems, injuries, fluctuations in the quality and construction of the shoes, that it's impossible to give a specific answer.
What are the shoes called that men wear? Do they too have the flat looking stiff toe like the women's? If not, how are they able to get up on their toes like you do? How long does a pair of shoes last? I know that it's likely to be different for each ballerina, but is there an average? 100 pairs sounds like so many!
Well, luckily (or not, depending on how you look at it), the men don't actually ever dance "on their toes", or on pointe, as the women do. They wear softer slippers made of either leather or canvas that don't have a hard toe box like pointe shoes do. The sole of the mens' shoes are somewhat stiff, but not nearly as hard as the shank of a pointe shoe. I think most of the men wear what we call "split sole" shoes now, which means that there are two separate pieces of material on the bottom of the shoe, one under the ball of the foot and one under the heel. The material in the middle is gathered together to make the shoe form more nicely to the foot and hug the arch. Men aren't immune to shoe problems, but theirs aren't custom made and they last a lot longer than pointe shoes do, so they're generally less problematic.
As far as how long pointe shoes last, that's an interesting question because it really does vary a lot. Generally, given their price (round about $80 a pair, but I'm trying to find out the exact price for us-- I think we get a discount for buying in bulk), their life span is ridiculously short. However, there are certain "makers" (each shoemaker has his own symbol by which we identify him, and we refer to them as Maker C, Maker Diamond, Maker Anchor, etc.) that are known to last longer than others. This might be because their shoes are harder or shaped differently, or just because they fit a certain dancer's foot really well. But then other makers are known to "melt", meaning they might be nice shoes but are more lightweight and just kind of disintigrate pretty quickly. Another huge factor is what exactly you are wearing those shoes for--- what particular ballet or role you're doing, and how hard or long your rehearsals are. A classical pas de deux nearly always requires very hard shoes because you spend so much time doing adagio work on pointe, there tend to be a lot of supported pirouettes, and if your shoes are soft your partner often can't find where your center of balance is. Performances of such a ballet call for a brand new pair, which I will have broken in slightly during class that morning. For rehearsals for something like that I might wear previously worn shoes, but they've still got to be pretty hard.
But then there are other ballets that you don't want hard shoes for, or that actually work better in softer shoes. Even though you don't have the same support, in softer shoes you have more connection to the floor and more control over off-pointe steps. For class, I will either break in a new pair for a rehearsal or performance later that day, or will just pull out whatever I have handy in my shoe bin that I know I won't need for anything else. (One of the worst feelings is to realize that you "wasted" a really great pair of pointe shoes in class, and then can't use them for a rehearsal or performance).
So, to answer the question (at last), there really is no one answer! With hard use, they can last you only a few hours, but certain pairs can last for days. A performance of a classical ballet will usually eat up a single pair in one night, but that pair might then still be usable for class or a rehearsal later. Sometimes a dancer will hit on a maker whose shoes are quite hard and heavy (some dancers prefer this, some hate it) and they'll last for several shows of a ballet that's less pointework-heavy. (We also use a type of glue intended for building model airplanes to add a little life to our shoes. A few drops seals the tip to make it less water-soluble. Unfortunately, it also makes them louder and if it leaks through to the outside, quite slippery).
I would say an AVERAGE might be two or three days for the lifespan of a pointe shoe. For some of us it's longer, some it's shorter. There are so many variables that come into play having to do with different makers, techniques, foot problems, injuries, fluctuations in the quality and construction of the shoes, that it's impossible to give a specific answer.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Pointe $hoes
The endlessly fascinating topic of pointe shoes is the next chapter (or two) of this blog. It's such a huge subject in every way that I'll start out with some basic info, and then get into specifics. Please write in with specific questions about things you've always wanted to know about pointe shoes but have never had the chance to ask!
- Every woman in OBT wears pointe shoes every single day and none of the men do (yes, I know, that is verrrry basic information, but sometimes people ask!).
- Our pointe shoes are custom made for us at a factory in London by a company called Freed.
- Each of us goes through dozens and dozens of pairs per season, sometimes hitting 100 pairs or more.
- They're expensive.
- And they don't last very long.
- When they're dead, they go into a graveyard for resale at the OBT boutique (we sign them first).
- These ones are dead (they've been worn out and are too soft to use anymore):
- Here's our shoe "room", which is really an area in the back corner of wardrobe:
Each dancer has her own box on one of these shelves with her name on the front and her current supply of new, unworn shoes inside. As we need them, we come and pull out the number and type we need for the rehearsals, classes, and performances at hand.
The reasons why we have the shoes custom made are several. For one thing, you've often heard that everyone's body is different, everyone's foot is different, and that becomes all the more apparent when you are trying to be expressive and technically proficient with those feet. Pointe shoes do a lot more than just hold us up, they also need to allow us to articulate every bone and joint in our feet, use every muscle and tendon, and jump, turn, stand, run, and balance. If all we had to do was stand there on toe, we could probably use tin cans with padding inside. Therefore, since we're dealing with such specialized footwear and each person's foot has unique characteristics, we all have minutely specific things we want from our pointe shoes. We specify not just size, but the exact measurements of every part of the shoe (down to an eigth of an inch), the type and weight of the shank (that's kind of like the inner sole of the shoe), the shape of the toe box and the tip, the cut of the vamp, even the material of the drawstring.
Because we're so picky and specific in our orders (and not just "we", but every female ballet dancer in the world is this way), the shoes are made by hand by craftsmen with natural materials and fibers that will "breathe" and mold to our feet. There is nothing in the shoes that is synthetic (except maybe the glue): they are made of leather, cardboard, burlap, satin, cotton, and a water-soluble glue. No wood, no metal. The glue is what makes them so hard when they're new, and also what makes them so soft after they're worn (it breaks down with use and sweat, being water-soluble).
The downsides to the handmade shoe are the variations in quality and consistency, and the length of time it takes to produce them. We are picky, picky, picky, but so would you be if you could experience how a pointe shoe can affect your dancing. A shoe can literally allow or prevent a dancer from being able to do certain things, like balance or turn, and a shoe that's wrong in even one small way can cause real physical problems-- not just corns or blisters, but actual injuries. Therefore, we ladies spend endless time discussing our shoes, poring over them, strategizing on how to tweak an order to make them better, agonzing with each other over a bad batch, consoling when a shipment is delayed and rejoicing when they finally come in. It is truly a never-ending subject of interest for us.
Please give me feedback on what else you want to know so I can direct my next post accordingly!
A REALLY Important Milestone
I forgot to mention that last Wednesday was also the 25th anniversary of the death of George Balanchine. Pardon me!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Two Month Anniversary
Another couple of milestone events in the unfolding Story of My Ankle:
- Wednesday marked 9 weeks since the injury occured. We don't often think about what happens in our lives during a period of nine weeks, when everything's normal and we're going about our usual business, but this experience has made me look much, much more closely at the day-to-day passage of time. Not to get all philosophical, but it's worth it to consider that there's no way to slow time down better than to observe it every day.
- Wednesday was also the first day in nine weeks that I wore two normal shoes outside! I'd been going around the house boot-less for a week or so, but stepping outdoors in two regular shoes felt as free as my first foray out without crutches did. My friends know that since I discovered clogs two years ago I have hardly worn any other type of shoe-- I quite literally have worn my clogs virtually every single day--- so it was kind of funny to me that there was a coating of dust all over my poor ignored right clog.
- And finally, today marks 8 weeks since I had surgery. I want to say I've come full circle back to where I started, but am not even close to that. But at least I'm walking and starting to get my calf back.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
"The Craziest 15 Minutes of My Life"
Two weeks ago, on opening night of the American Program, an announcement was made to the audience before Slaughter on Tenth Avenue that Javier Ubell would be one of the cops in that evening's performance, in place of Ronnie Underwood. Few people, if any, knew why the change had been made, and maybe thought (if they cared to think about it at all) that the program had been misprinted or the change had been made too late to get printed at all. I was out front that night and wondered why Javier was going in for Ronnie (I'd just seen Ronnie dance in Eden's Gates so knew he wasn't out), but knew that something was up-- stuff like that doesn't just happen to give Thyra the thrill of making a live PA announcement.
So I sat there, along with the rest of the packed house, and watched Javier come out and do a bunch of springy double tours with his trademark spunk and pizzazz, playing off the other two cops and fitting right in with the sequential timing the three of them are supposed to have. Only later, when I asked Javier about it, did I find out that he had not learned that part until the intermission preceding Slaughter! Turns out Ronnie had slightly injured his ankle during Eden and was unsure whether he could or should do Slaughter that night, in the interest of not hurting it more seriously and preventing him from dancing the rest of the run. Here's how it unfolded from Javier's point of view:
"I wasn't watching (the show), I was in the back in the dressing room when somebody told me that Ronnie had fallen running off stage in the wings and had twisted his ankle. So I went to him and asked if he was ok and he said he wasn't sure. Then Lisa came to me and told me I was on stand by for his part since he didn't have anyone to cover him. I was supposed to do Thug that night for Slaughter so I wasn't sure til the last minute what was going to happen. I had been learning cops, but not Ronnie's part, and all three cops have different counts. It was Jon Drake who had taught me the part during intermission because he was Ronnie's understudy, but since Jon was dancing Hoofer that night he couldn't go in. All three cops are basically the same but there are those different counts so I was nervous getting ready for the show. I wasn't really warm for the part because I thought I was doing Thug, but since all the Cops do are double tours I didn't worry that much. It's a very short part. After opening night Ronnie was still unable to do his part in Cops so I did both his part and my part for the rest of the run. But on the last show I got to do Thug, which I was really looking foward to!"
Talk about adrenaline! Nothing like learning a part at the (very) last minute to give you a rush. This kind of thing happens from time to time--- it's not an everyday occurence, but it's not all that rare, either. What differs is the extremity of the situation, how close to the wire it can get. There are legions of war stories like Javier's, with all sorts of hilarious and terrifying twists and turns, that dancers love to recount to each other and reminisce about. Costume mishaps, blanking out on choreography-- and then ad-libbing, missed entrances, entrances (or exits) at the wrong time, and of course all sorts of "learn the role five minutes before curtain" type scenarios. The best is when the funny ones are caught on tape and we can relive the laughter over and over again!
So I sat there, along with the rest of the packed house, and watched Javier come out and do a bunch of springy double tours with his trademark spunk and pizzazz, playing off the other two cops and fitting right in with the sequential timing the three of them are supposed to have. Only later, when I asked Javier about it, did I find out that he had not learned that part until the intermission preceding Slaughter! Turns out Ronnie had slightly injured his ankle during Eden and was unsure whether he could or should do Slaughter that night, in the interest of not hurting it more seriously and preventing him from dancing the rest of the run. Here's how it unfolded from Javier's point of view:
"I wasn't watching (the show), I was in the back in the dressing room when somebody told me that Ronnie had fallen running off stage in the wings and had twisted his ankle. So I went to him and asked if he was ok and he said he wasn't sure. Then Lisa came to me and told me I was on stand by for his part since he didn't have anyone to cover him. I was supposed to do Thug that night for Slaughter so I wasn't sure til the last minute what was going to happen. I had been learning cops, but not Ronnie's part, and all three cops have different counts. It was Jon Drake who had taught me the part during intermission because he was Ronnie's understudy, but since Jon was dancing Hoofer that night he couldn't go in. All three cops are basically the same but there are those different counts so I was nervous getting ready for the show. I wasn't really warm for the part because I thought I was doing Thug, but since all the Cops do are double tours I didn't worry that much. It's a very short part. After opening night Ronnie was still unable to do his part in Cops so I did both his part and my part for the rest of the run. But on the last show I got to do Thug, which I was really looking foward to!"
Talk about adrenaline! Nothing like learning a part at the (very) last minute to give you a rush. This kind of thing happens from time to time--- it's not an everyday occurence, but it's not all that rare, either. What differs is the extremity of the situation, how close to the wire it can get. There are legions of war stories like Javier's, with all sorts of hilarious and terrifying twists and turns, that dancers love to recount to each other and reminisce about. Costume mishaps, blanking out on choreography-- and then ad-libbing, missed entrances, entrances (or exits) at the wrong time, and of course all sorts of "learn the role five minutes before curtain" type scenarios. The best is when the funny ones are caught on tape and we can relive the laughter over and over again!
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