Ballet Nocturne – Walk of Haunts

Ballet Nocturne, founded by Joelle Szychowski “to make a space for dancers who do not have a space now” (an issue I’ve been chasing for years now…) has a thing for food.

More importantly, they are doing some Halloween work this weekend. October 23 (rain date October 30), 8-10pm at Wishing Star Farm (this is about 15 miles northeast of Baltimore). You’ll need to be able to navigate grass and dirt. Tickets are $25 (discounts for groups), and they promise candy.

A ghost has escaped our haunted grounds and we need help bringing them back! Walk through a terrifying path lit only by your flashlight and deduce which of the spooky ghosts is missing so they can be summoned back… if you dare!

Prepare to jump out of your shoes as you shine your light on a ghost where you least expect it, and watch their balletic dance to solve the mystery.

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New Forum Features

Now testing new forum features here at In the Dancer’s Studio.

The old job-posting system was tedious and labor intensive and annoying… but an important thing for a dance economy. Now you can post your own opportunities in the Opportunities forum. This is open to any opportunities – jobs, fellowships, grants…

For other dance-related discussion, there’s the DAB [Dance Around Baltimore] forum. Got something on your mind? Something that needs attention?

I do realize this is all very old-school and quaint – but it’s also specific to dance and the [greater-]greater-Baltimore region. No ads, no tracking, no algorithms – just you, your thoughts, and your community.

Both are linked in the main menu (upper-right in this design), and available as soon as you register. Registration is required, but it’s open and easy, and we’ll try to keep it that way until it gets abused.

Pardon the dust while we re-arrange the site a bit around the new features.

Baltimore Black Dance Collective / Black Choreographer’s Festival October 15 & 16, 2021 [fundraiser]

Just a quick note to direct a small bit of your attention (no one asked me to do this).

The parent organization is Baltimore Black Dance Collective – leadership of Camille Weanquoi, Kutia Jawara, and Ronderrick Mitchell. There’s been no fundraising activity for three moths, and the event is just three weeks away. As of now, just $240 of their $2600 goal raised. $2600 is a modest goal, and this is a sincere effort to do something meaningful in challenging times.

I know it’s still pandemic crazy time, but if you’ve got reach to attract some attention (and, hopefully, a few dollars) to the effort, please do.

Fundraiser is here.

And if you can attend (safely!), I know you know the value of an attentive audience….

[ UPDATE 2021.09.22]

Apparently there is some technical trouble with GoFundMe (of course, because I asked people to go there… of course. Of course.).

Anyway, the “donate” button at GoFundMe doesn’t work right now, but you can make a contribution directly to the Baltimore Black Dance Collective via PayPal or credit/debit card here.

I do suggest you follow-up any Black Choreographer’s Festival donations with an email and make sure they know your intention.

Thanks again, and sorry for the confusion.

Also, I forgot to do this in the original request…. and now I’m officially too late (east coast time), but… Do you remember? Demi Adejuyigbe does his thing and if you need that original dazzling late 70’s video, that’s here.

BREAD: Building Racial Equity in the Arts through Dance

Please join ClancyWorks on Wednesday, February 24th from 4pm-6pm EST AND/OR Saturday, February 27th from 12pm-2pm EST for BREAD: Building Racial Equity in the Arts through Dance facilitated by Devon Wallace. Presented by ClancyWorks, these workshops will remain free of charge to participants. Please email deti.programs@clancyworks.org with any questions.⁠

REGISTER HERE: https://forms.gle/X4eCqLRb6cFV9dST7

Love the Movement, Honor the People: The commercialization and exploitation of modern African American dance and culture for a world audience.

This workshop will directly address cultural and commercial treatment of African American dance encompassing the past 50 years. Many of the practices, traditions, and expectations of these dance styles have been compromised, disregarded, and in some cases sacrificed for outside forces to gain comfort or to thrive without full understanding of the art forms.

We will examine the many ways this presents itself, utilizing lecture, presenter-led movement, group dialogue, and music analysis. This will allow us to shine light on issues that stifle the beauty and brilliance of African-American artistic creations and the communities that facilitated their developments.
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Register for either session, or both sessions, whichever your schedule allows. Although we have the same seminar planned for both sessions, we know that conversations and the ways we participate will make each session slightly different. Our hopes are that weekday and weekend options will accommodate a larger audience and foster participation from more members of the artistic community; feel free to share this event with coworkers, peers, etc. all are welcome.

MSAC grant (due August 3) / MPT STIRcrazy / SBA grant / DETI

America is not doing very well with the pandemic response, which now puts the fall/winter season in serious jeopardy.  Be safe out there.

Also, since I’m unlikely to have access to archives and libraries for some time, I’ve decided to slice up the treatise on dance in the region and push the mostly-finished parts out to the world so you (and everyone else) in the community can start tearing it apart and use it to make plans and dream visions for the future of dance in the region.  At this point, I think it’s more important to get the material out there sooner, rather than better.  I still do need to assemble some resources to make that happen, but thanks for your patience on this thing.  The deep-dives into history and stories will come eventually.

MNRI-MSAC Grant opportunity

Part of the Maryland Nonprofit Recovery Initiative, the Maryland State Arts Council has an emergency grant program, with a coming-real-soon-now deadline (August 3).  This is a pretty limited pool of money ($3 million), so make sure you address EVERY point in the rubric if you apply.  Detailed information here: https://www.msac.org/grants/emergency-grant

MPT STIRcrazy

This has been around a while, but… apparently still looking for submissions.  Dance is historically poorly represented with MPT (lookin’ at you ArtWorks…), so this is a bit of a chance to bend that curve.  MPT STIRcrazy is looking for “YOUR creative endeavors during this time of COVID-19.”  Submission information here: https://www.mpt.org/programs/stircrazy/

ArtWorks is re-tooling for their new season, so it would be great to see dance (and more importantly, LOCAL dance) in their new format.  Give them some amazing stuff with STIRcrazy – that might help.

SBA Grant/Loan program

For gig workers (teaching and performing gigs do count…), there’s an SBA program that offers a $1000 grant and $10,000 loan, but… it’s confusing.  If you are a sole proprietor, without employees, a contractor, a freelancer, or a gig worker, and you were in business before 2020, you qualify.  The best description I’ve found is from the Motley Fool people at USA Today ( https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/07/14/uber-drivers-gig-workers-get-an-extra-1000-coronavirus-stimulus-funds/112154302/ ).  Pay special attention to the “Are there any strings attached?” section.  You should be able to get the grant and refuse the loan (assuming there are still funds available).  If you have success with this, please do let me know, so I can forward your experience to others.

Dance Educators Training Institute 2020

DETI (Dance Educators Training Institute) is virtual this year. August 17-19.  DETI is presenting 12 sessions over three days from.  More information here:  https://www.clancyworks.org/deti/

Know anyone with Dance/USA?

I’m looking for someone at Dance/USA to talk about distribution for material about dance in the Baltimore Region… anyone connected?

And, because we gotta have a little joy in our lives… Some cut paper dance:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cib8MM_kxrE

Please #BRDS2020 and bring friends to #BRDS2020 ( https://inthedancersstudio.com/brds2020 )
Please stay home.
Please keep dancing.
Please reach out to people directly and personally.  They will miss seeing/dancing/working with you.  I will miss you.
Simple acts of kindness do matter.  Point out beauty when you can. Bring a little joy to someone.
If there is something I can do, please let me know.

Changing History – A Different First Dalcroze Eurhythmics

The Johns Hopkins Peabody Preparatory dance program is, rightfully, proud of its more-than-100-year history. In 2015, the Peabody Post ran a feature story on this history, which includes this:

Peabody Dance was born in December 1914 when the Peabody Institute decided to offer classes in Dalcroze Eurhythmics to teach musicians about music through movement of the body, says Melissa Stafford, the program’s director and department chair.

The first ongoing eurhythmics classes to be offered in the United States, they were taught by Portia Wager and then Ruth Lemmert, both of whom had studied under Emile Jaques-Dalcroze himself.

Rachel Wallach, “Raising the Barre,” Peabody Post, Spring 2015.

Peabody was close, but not quite the first ongoing Eurhythmics class in the United States. The first was just over a year earlier, about 90 miles to the northeast.

On October 1, 1913, Placido de Montoliu started teaching 15 students at the newly-opened Phebe Anna Thorne Model School at Bryn Mawr College. Montoliu served as an assistant to Émile Jaques-Dalcroze for years before coming to the Thorne School in Pennsylvania and remained on faculty for nine years. Eurhythmics instruction continued at the Thorne School after his departure.

Placido de Montoliu is listed in the 1912-1913 Annual Report of the President of Bryn Mawr College page x, and the 1914 Bryn Mawr College Calendar, Volume VII, Part 2, March 1914, page 14, as an instructor for Jacques-Dalcroze Eurhythmics, and a graduate of the Jacques-Dalcroze College of Rhythmic Training, Hellerau, Germany. In the 1913-1914 President’s report, Señor Monotliu is listed as “Teacher of Jacques-Dalcroze Eurhythmics (Singing, Dancing),” which may be more notable, given that Bryn Mawr is a Quaker institution and the Quaker views of both singing and dancing

Interestingly, Placido de Montoliu came to Peabody on February 16, 1918, giving a demonstration of Eurhythmics at the Peabody Concert Hall, assisted by his wife and Ruth Lemmert.

Some readers, Arts Summit 2020, and Broken History

I’m getting close to a next revision of “Dance in the Baltimore Region,” and once again looking for a few good readers. This revision is up to about 100 pages, about half of which will be mostly familiar to previous readers. So, if you’ve got some time on your hands and feel like telling me what I’ve gotten wrong so far, please be in touch.

This is also Maryland Arts Summit week. This is an all-virtual event, using Crowdcast and Google meeting, and recorded versions of the sessions will be available after the live event. Sorry I didn’t get this out ahead of the first day, but… MSAC probably has you on their radar already. In case they don’t, information is here: https://mdarts.org/summit/

Something that’s been in my notes for a while went public last week – an exploration of the first Nutcracker in America, and I imagine it’s not the one you’re thinking of… https://www.inthedancersstudio.com/2020/05/changing-history-a-different-first-nutcracker-in-america/

Please #BRDS2020 and bring friends to #BRDS2020 ( https://inthedancersstudio.com/brds2020 )
Please stay home.
Please keep dancing.
Please reach out to people directly and personally. They will miss seeing/dancing/working with you. I will miss you.
Simple acts of kindness do matter. Point out beauty when you can. Bring a little joy to someone.
If there is something I can do, please let me know.

Changing History – A different first Nutcracker in America

If I have to recommend a Nutcracker, my personal go-to is the 2004 San Fransisco Ballet version by Helgi Tomasson, so I very much appreciate the San Francisco Ballet (and not just because they’ve got the third-largest budget for a dance company in the country). It is widely published, and generally acknowledged that the San Francisco Ballet presented the first full-length Nutcracker in America. The idea that the Nutcracker in America started in San Francisco is, well, everywhere.

Ballet being ballet, the matter isn’t entirely settled. Some point to the 1940 Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo Nutcracker, with choreography by Alexandra Fedorova, after Lev Ivanov, which premiered on October 17, 1940 at the 51st Street Theater in New York City. New Yorkers do have their pride, and the Boweryboys (among others) aren’t afraid to lay claim to that first Nutcracker. This is an abridged one-act version, so not being “complete,” this one rarely gets full credit. Still, publications like the Los Angeles Times, Dance Spirit, and Pointe Magazine give the Ballet Russe a quick nod before breaking out the San Francisco title.

nutcrackerballet.net, like most places, doesn’t hesitate, putting San Francisco’s claim right on the front page. Variations of this story are everywhere, and it’s probably the history you know. No less an authority than Time Magazine, in 2014, says to us “When the San Francisco Ballet company performed the first complete version of The Nutcracker in the U.S. on Christmas Eve, 1944, they had no way of knowing that in time it would become as American as leaving the milk and cookies out for Santa.” This production, with choreography by William Christensen, working with George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova, usually gets the credit.

The San Fransisco Ballet, of course, makes its claim boldly and prominently, “Founded in 1933, the company staged the first full-length American productions of Coppélia (1938) and Swan Lake (1940) and, in 1944, we launched an annual holiday tradition when we produced the first full-length production of Nutcracker in the US.” They’ll even give you a nice, concise version of their Nutcracker’s story.

Let me tell you a different story…

On June 2, 1935, news of the the Bekefi-Deleporte Institute of Dance Spring recital appears in print…

Senora de Azcarate, wife of the military attache of the Mexican Embassy heads the list of prominent patrons for the forthcoming Spring concert of the Bekefi-Deleporte Institute of Dance Sunday evening, June 2, at 8:30 o’clock at the Community Center Auditorium at Sixteenth and Q streets. Among other patrons and patronesses are Mrs. John Francis Butler, Mme. Natalie Rimsky-Korsakoff, Mr. And Mrs. Richard W. D. Jewet, Mr. Frank La Falce, and Mr. William Nelson.

There will be many out-of-town guests for this colorful dance event, for the group of artist and students dancers to be presented by Mr. Theodore Bekefi, Mr. Maurice Deleporte, and Mr. Billy Lytell includes more than a hundred Washington dancers who are interested in the recital and who will participate in the varied program of ballet and character numbers, opening with the first presentation in the Capital of the entire “Nutcracker Ballet,” by Tchaikowsky, from which the often-seen Nutcracker Suite is but a part.

Evening Star, Washington, D. C., May 20, 1935, page B-4.

The announcement made, more details follow the next week…

Theodore Bekefi, prominent dance director of Washington will present Tschaikowsky’s “Nutcracker Ballet” as the opening feature of the Spring recital of the Bekefi-Deleporte Institute of Dance next Sunday night at 8:30 o’clock at the Community Center, Sixteenth and Q Streets. Victor Neal, concert pianist of this city, will play the accompaniment for the ballet, which will be danced by a large group of classical and character dancers in the leading roles, including Boydie Barry, Dorthy Ann Goodman, George Filgate, Boofie Barry, with Bekefi himself as Dreselmeyer, the leading character role.

In the ballet will be seen also Virginia Barry, Charlotte Bolgiano, Mary Bolgiano, Theresa Clancey, Ronnie Cunningham, Margaret Mary Edmonston, Margie Gibson, Mary-Beth Hughes, Ethel Mevay, Elise Pinckner, Marguerite Reese, Lila Zalipsky, Dorthy Barry, Josephine Parther, Mary Renkel, and May Tenn.

Evening Star, Washington, D. C., May 26, 1935, page F-6.

I include this list of performers, first to afford them some credit in this 21st Century, but also to point out that (it seems) Lila Zalipsky would go on to make many ballet things happen, particularly on the west coast, as Lila Zali. The others in this performance didn’t ring any immediate bells for me, so that’s some research for a future date.

This is “just” a spring recital for a local dance school, but before the show, there’s a third piece in the Evening Star, this time with some casting details…

For the first time in Washington, the complete production of Tschaikowsky’s “Nutcracker Ballet” will be staged by Bekefi: opening the program of the occasion, with Bekefi in the leading role of Droselmeyer, and included in the dancers, Boydie Barry as the Nutcracker; Dorothy Ann Goodman as Clara, George Filgate as the King of Mice, Boofie Barry as the Doll and a large group of little girls, mice and soldiers.

Evening Star, Washington, D. C., June 2, 1935, page F-6.

Finally, at the end of this thread, we have a review.

The program, in four parts, any two of which would have made a delightful entertainment, was late in beginning and very long. Tschaikowsky’s “The Nutcracker Ballet,” staged and directed by Theodore Bekefi opened the program. The pantomime was well carried out and the cast included, in addition to Mr. Bekefi, Dorthy Ann Goodman, Boydie Barry, Mary Boudren, Barbara Culley, Mary Coen, Lois Heckinger, Betty Jamison, Mary Renkel, Sonya Samkow, Izetta Simon, Boofie Barry, Bill and Jack Smoot, Melvin Goldberg, Bernard June, Phyllis Schwartz, Mary Quick, Edith Klee, Eleanor Klee, Barbara Ramey, Barbara Schwartz, Jackie Smith, George Filgate, Dorthy Barry, Josephine Prather, May Tenn, Elise Pickney, Marguerite Reese, Virginia Barry, Charlotte Bolgiano, Ronnie Cunningham, Mary Bolgiano, Mary-Margaret Edmonston, Marie Gibson, Mary Beth Hughes, Ethel Mevay, Lila Zalipsky and Bernice Susser. In the finale of the first act of their pantomime, a choir composed of members of Mme. Zalipsky’s vocal studios was heard from behind the scenes.

Evening Star, Washington, D. C., June 4, 1935, page B-20

And the clue that ran me down this rabbit hole? the Bekefi-Deleporte Institute of the Dance presents the “Nutcracker Ballet” on June 20, 1935 at Lehmann Hall in Baltimore, Maryland:

Dozens of Dancers Whirled and pirouetted on the stage of the Lehmann Hall last night as Theodore Bekefi, a former soloist with the Diaghileff Ballet Russe, brought a company of his dancers from Washington to perform the “Nutcracker Ballet.”

The story, a fantasy of Christmas Eve, told a tale in dance of a nutcracker toy, which came to life, killed the king of mice after a duel, and then journeyed through the land of snowflakes to the palace of sweets. The dancing throughout was smooth and expert, especially in the snowflake scene.

R. L. W., “Nutcracker Ballet,” Baltimore Sun, June 21, 1935, page 10.

So there you have it… a new first Nutcracker in America, this one performed nearly a decade before the commonly-accepted first complete Nutcracker in America and five years before the Ballet Russe in New York.

A Christmas ballet. In June. At a Jewish Community Center. In Washington, D. C. Maybe that’s why nobody noticed…