These were a gift from Judy, a long-time friend who, coincidentally, is the producer of WETA Arts. She'd been reading some of my intentionally vague Facebook postings about Midsummer, had tracked down when and where the performances were, and had not only taken time out of her crazy-busy schedule to drive 70 miles each way to attend, but also brought that bouquet. I was deeply touched.
After Midsummer I called her to thank her for coming to our performance. One of the things we talked about was how frustrating I'd found it to take seemingly endless classes but not have performance opportunities. This led to a more wide-ranging discussion of what motivates adult ballet students.
Some time later she called, saying some influential people had suggested doing a segment on the adult program at The Washington School of Ballet, which is the school affiliated with The Washington Ballet professional company. This wasn't the first time she's called to talk about ballet -- when they did a segment on the then artistic director of TWB, she arranged for her show's host to speak with me to help her prep for the interview.
To structure a good TV segment, there needs to be a thread that ties the various shots and interviews together into a coherent story. As an outsider to the adult ballet community she wasn't sure what that thread should be, and over the course of nearly two hours we discussed possibilities. I, of course, thought the segment should be about adult ballet dancers in general, as there are many fine schools in the Washington DC area. Influential people have influence, though, and they wanted it focused on TWSB.
Over the next few months I heard little bits about filming and people. Then, a few weeks ago, she let me know TWSB was hosting a preview party to watch the segment a few hours before it was broadcast, and she invited me to attend. Joining a celebration of her work sounded like a fine idea, so Monday evening I trekked down into DC proper for the party.
An episode of WETA Arts runs 30 minutes, and usually consists of three 10-minute segments. To put together the 10 minute segment on TWSB's adult program, Judy and her crew recorded four 90-minute ballet classes plus interviews with students and staff. Then she and a video editor had to distill it to its broadcast form.
After watching the segment, everyone turned to acknowledge this piece that so beautifully captures the spirit of amateur adult ballet. Although she's most used to being behind the scenes, Judy said a few words of thanks to the staff and students. She introduced her video editor, who rarely gets to meet the people he sees on his screens. Then, much to my surprise, she acknowledged me by name, adding that "He's from MYB, but it's all okay."
Watching the episode, I see hints of our conversations this summer. A couple of the unscripted comments made by students she selected from the interviews were almost word-for-word the same as comments I had made. I claim no credit, but maybe I had a little influence too.
In any community you have to be careful of your reputation. That goes double in a small community like ballet, and triple if you're notable merely by your gender. I bumped into TWSB's Director of Schools, who recognized me from when she worked at MYB where I usually take classes. The Assistant School Director knows me from another school where I've taken classes, and I know some of their faculty. It's hard to be anonymous when you're a man in a ballet studio.
Like any rare commodity, there is competition for male dancers. I was reminded of this when the their head of adult programs tried to recruit me into their classes, generously offering a free class of my choice and suggesting the one taught by Tamás Krizsa. Yeah, that might be worth getting up early on a Saturday morning and driving into DC for! But probably not until after the Nutcracker performances next month.
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