A Leg Up For the Dancers at ABT

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The New York Sun

For most Americans today, a college education is a must. But professional ballet dancers are on a different track. During the ages when students go to college, serious ballet dancers need to be in a pre-professional program – or landing a company job. The late teenage years are devoted to dance, not books.


Although that path leads to well trained bodies and a long dance career, it also means that dancers miss out on college. They have to put it off until they retire, typically around age 40, at which point they also face the difficulty of finding a job in the real world.


Former American Ballet Theatre principal Susan Jaffe, who retired in 2002, knows what it’s like. “I walked out of my dance career as a master, but I entered a new world as a novice,” she said.


But Ms. Jaffe is helping to change that situation for future dancers. This year, she has worked closely with Ninotchka Bennahum, associate professor of performance studies at Long Island University, to create a program that brings a college education to her former company members. The program – called LIU at ABT – offers dancers the chance to work toward a bachelor of arts while still training and rehearsing full time.


The program is structured so that the dancers don’t have to travel out anywhere for the classes; instead, the teachers come to them. The traditional 13-week classes are broken down into segments around the dancers’ schedules. While classes will meet a few times a week during of the off periods, they will be suspended during the upcoming City Center season. Dancers who did not finish high school will be able to earn GED credits that will also help them on the way to their bachelor’s degree.


Ms. Bennahum, who was a dancer and is now a choreographer, created the program based on what she saw as a gaping hole in a dancer’s life. “They deserve to go to school and to exercise the brain, which is a muscle,” she said. “The program is open to ABT dancers and staff at any stage of their career.”


In designing the program, she reached out to professors who had an interest in the arts and dance. “I chose teachers who would build a bridge between dance and the [material],” she said.


The basic subjects in the curriculum will be just like that in any degree program – English, history, hard sciences, and cultural anthropology. Though the cost of the program is partially subsidized, dancers pay a fee for each credit that they take.


There are still logistics to be worked out, but even so, the dancers at ABT have been eager to get on board. More than 30 dancers registered earlier this month, during an orientation session, at which the LIU dean of admissions came to the studios to introduce the program.


“We’re pleased that LIU was so flexible,” the executive director of ABT, Rachel Moore, said. “They’re willing to bring their programs and adjust.”


Ms. Moore was a dancer, and after finishing her career at age 24, she went to Brown University. “Dancers struggle with the options at the end of their career. What a leg up to have some college credits or a degree,” she said.


And she’s looking forward to seeing the effects onstage: “Dance can be an insular world. What an extraordinary thing to learn about things other than dance. That can enrich your dancing.”


As for Ms. Jaffe, she herself has enrolled in the program. “I didn’t go to college. I just want to attain some skills,” she said.


Like what? “Math,” she said with an embarrassed laugh.


But she’s also taking photography as an elective – and for a creative outlet. After a long career spent using her body as a creative force, she’s still got a lot to say, especially about the LIU at ABT program. “So many people really worked a lot to make this happen and work out the details,” she said, giving a great deal of credit to the efforts of Ms. Bennahum.


Ms. Jaffe is not the only one excited about the prospect of cracking the books. Last week, I ran into a member of ABT’s corps de ballet, Flavio Salazar, of Colombia. Before I could even ask him about the program, he told me about it with an animated sparkle of pride. “I’m going to school now,” he said.


With such eagerness, he’s in good shape. And dancers as a group have an occupational characteristic that will serve them well. “Dancers are so disciplined,” Ms. Jaffe said.


Ms. Moore, ABT’s executive director, agrees that with these students, there will be few excuses: “I’m sure they will get their work in on time.”


***


City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival kicks off September 27, but there are two other noteworthy dance events around town coming up next week, too. Battery Dance Company is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a performance and gala dinner at Bayard’s restaurant on September 29. This intelligent modern dance troupe – which has recently traveled to Jordan, Israel, and Vietnam to bring dance to small communities – will present new work by the company’s artistic director, Jonathan Hollander. The one-night-only performance will take place at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. Show-only tickets are $20; benefactor tickets are $500 for the show and dinner. To reserve, call 212-219-3910.


The Guggenheim’s Works & Process series will present “Watching Ligeti Move,” an evening of three ballets by Christopher Wheeldon, on September 28,30,and October 1.Dancers from New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet will perform the works, all of which are set to the music of Gyorgy Ligeti. Mr. Wheeldon’s style has come to represent the evolution of ballet choreography – postmodern and post-Balanchine. The program will take place at Columbia University’s Miller Theater (116th Street and Broadway). For more information and tickets, call the box office at 212-854-7799.


The New York Sun

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