(upbeat music) (gentle bright music) (gentle bright music) - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

Growing up as a kid in Newark, New Jersey, my mom loved ballet.

She'd always take us to the ballet.

And never really understood it, but here's a chance for me and everyone else to understand more about ballet in 2023 and beyond.

Maria Kowroski is Artistic Director of New Jersey Ballet, we'll have their website up.

Maria, thanks for joining us.

- Thank you for having me, Steve.

- Now my mom still talks to me about ballet and the beauty of ballet.

Do most people appreciate and understand how incredibly beautiful it is as an art form?

- That's a tough question, because I think, you know, ballet isn't for everyone.

But the people who do go are really, they call 'em balletomans, balletomanes, sorry.

People who are really just focused on the ballet, appreciate the art form, go to escape.

And you know, I think the music and the dance together is something very special that I think really captures people's hearts.

- For us, it was Swan Lake over and over and over again.

You danced, you did, you performed in Swan Lake.

- I did do Swan Lake.

It's actually one of the hardest roles to do.

(chuckling) - Why?

Help me understand that.

I'm just watching as a kid.

Why?

- Well, you're playing two different characters.

So if you're doing the full length Swan Lake you're playing the White Swan and the Black Swan, so you're already investing in two different roles right there.

Technically they're very challenging and you're on stage for about three hours.

So it's, it's really long.

- Wow.

- It's a very, very tiring performance.

But you feel completely fulfilled when you finish.

- You started, and beyond, we'll talk about New Jersey Ballet.

The website is up.

Part of our job on The Arts Connection is to promote not-for-profit arts organizations who are making a difference, who need to get more exposure.

And that's a big reason we're doing this.

But before you joined the New Jersey Ballet as Artistic Director, you danced for many years.

How old were you when you started?

- Well I started when I was five at the local YMCA.

But then, you know, I danced for about 26 years with the New York City Ballet.

- Describe the transition from dancing and being engaged as an active dancer in ballet, being someone who performed to someone who's running the business of ballet.

- It's really, I have to say, it's very challenging.

You know, it's actually two years today I did my last performance with New York City Ballet.

And it kind of, it kind of blows my mind to think that it's been two years already, and how much I've learned as, you know, in this position as Artistic Director.

It's very different to be on the other side.

You know, when you're dancing you're responsible for yourself.

You're responsible for being out there and, you know, knowing your part, sharing with the audience.

And I think being on the other side, I'm responsible for the entire organization.

You know, I have to really make sure that the dancers are happy and nurtured.

You know, I'm choosing the repertory for the company.

I'm looking at new venues for the company.

I, you know, wear a lot of hats.

- What about money?

What about money?

- Always looking for money.

It's a very small organization, so we're always looking to fundraise and bring in money.

And, you know, I wanna see this company grow and flourish.

And it's been very challenging.

Rewarding at the same time.

But I still, you know, I find days where I get a little bit frustrated because I just want things to happen a little bit quicker than they are.

But I'm trying to be very patient and hopeful about the future of this company.

- All of us who run nonprofits and spend more than, way more than half of our time trying to raise money, get sponsors, keep underwriters and sponsors, we love the art form, but you don't get to do the art form unless you are good on the other end.

So we wish you nothing but the best on that.

And let me ask you this, speaking of money, do most ballet dancers make a livable wage?

- It depends on what company you are a part of.

I mean, I think, you know, I was with New York City Ballet for many years, and I was able to sustain my life and live on my own in New York City.

That's not said about every company in the country.

I think New Jersey Ballet dancers, unfortunately, I would love to be able to pay them more.

I would love, they can live on their own, but I think a lot of them have roommates and, you know, we don't have enough work weeks at the moment to sustain them to work throughout the year, so some of them have other jobs to kind of supplement the rest of their income.

- The level of dedication to be a successful ballet dancer, you know, our daughter danced for many years, and now at 13, right before she got into softball and other sports, she's like, enough with dance.

And I was sitting there going, I'm trying to push it.

But the reason I'm raising this is because it strikes me that the level of dedication, the amount of time and effort and practice to be a successful ballet dancer is something that most of us can't even begin to comprehend.

Talk about that.

- I mean, it's basically like being a professional athlete.

You start at a very young age.

You dedicate your entire life.

I mean, thinking about growing up, you know, I didn't get to take part in a lot of sports at school because I was going to ballet after school every day, you know, and I trained for three or four hours.

And it just gets more and more intense the more you get into it.

And conditioning your body, doing extra things, like let's say Pilates or, you know, swimming or, you know, just conditioning class, doing cardio to kind of get ready to do a hard solo.

There's a lot of things that go involved to making a dancer ready to be on stage.

And it's, when you're working on new ballets, you go home, you're going over them in your head, you're listening to the music.

You wake up, you're listening to the music.

You're constantly, it's a 24 hour job and not easy.

- Maria, let me ask you this.

As a student of leadership as well, I'm fascinated by how people give feedback or don't.

When you have to talk to a dancer first.

do you know when a dancer has it?

- Yes.

- You do?

- Yes.

- When a dancer doesn't have it and you have to give constructive, specific, hard to hear feedback, as a leader, how challenging is that for you?

- It is very challenging, I will say.

I, you know, during my time as a dancer, I went to, I did some life coaching.

And I have to say, that really helped me to learn how to talk to a dancer, because I also know how sensitive we all are.

We're looking at the mirror all day long.

So I think we're being very critical of ourselves already.

So you try to kind of hone in on that person's personality and how they can handle criticism or something that might not be easy to say.

And I really try to be a little bit motherly about giving the advice.

You know, I have a son as well, so I know, you know, how sensitive it can be.

And if it's wrong, it's really difficult to kind of take it back.

So.

- Let me ask you this.

In the spirit of trying to help build the brand of New Jersey Ballet, what's the message you wanna share with everyone watching right now about why the work of the New Jersey Ballet is so important and why they should log onto your website and find out more, please?

- Well, New Jersey Ballet has been around for 65 years.

I have taken over.

This is, I'm going into my third season with a company.

We are going through a massive renaissance.

There's a lot happening, a lot changing.

I'm bringing a lot of new repertory.

And my vision for the company is really to make this an elite company in New Jersey, kind of, you know, offering performances like they would get in New York City, but not having to go across the river.

I feel that the repertory that I'm bringing in is very high standard, and I'm choosing dancers with more and more qualifications.

And I think that, you know, I really want this to be something that the state is proud of.

You know, this company, we are called the New Jersey Ballet.

We've broadened our reach.

We're going into about three more theaters this year than we had in the past, because we wanna make it accessible to the community.

- Important work.

That's why it's called The Arts Connection.

Maria Kowroski, Artistic Director of New Jersey Ballet, I wanna thank you for joining us and wish you and your colleagues all the best.

Good luck.

- Thank you so much, Steve.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

The North Ward Center.

NJ Best, New Jersey'’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Johnson & Johnson.

The Fidelco Group.

And by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Promotional support provided byROI-NJ.

And by Insider NJ.

At the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, we are working now more than ever to fill the emptiness caused by hunger.

We are the state's largest anti-hunger organization.

And together with our 800 plus community partners, we are committed to delivering food, help, and hope, to our hundreds and thousands of neighbors in need.