(bright music) - [Shelley] Welcome to "Kalamazoo Lively Arts," the show that takes you inside Kalamazoo's vibrant, creative community, and explores the people who breathe life into the arts.

(bright music) (logo swooshes) (bright music fades) - [Announcer] Support for "Kalamazoo Lively Arts" is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation.

Helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.

(bright music) So, congrats on being appointed artistic director this year.

Can you kind of tell me a little bit about what and how you ended up here at Ballet arts ensemble, how long you’ve been around before becoming artistic director?

Yes.

So, when my daughter um started taking dance lessons at ballet arts, um, I think the at the time, Cathy Huling and and Judy Holland were the owners of this school, and I think they caught wind of the fact that I was a professional dancer, and so they reached out to me to ask if I would be willing to to teach.

So I taught three classes on a Wednesday, one right after the other.

I was able to work with prepoint, intermediate, and then their advanced.

many of them who I now have in the ensemble, so that’s really cool.

But that’s that’s my history with ballet arts.

I had taken class a little bit as well, just some of the adult classes and had chatted with Cathy afterwards, and she had asked if I would ever be interested in some performing opportunity.

and I said, sure, like I’m here, I would love to.

Kalamazoo is small, so I didn’t have a ton of performance opportunities at the time, having just moved here and having had my son about a year after that.

So, um, yeah, so that’s kind of how it came about.

And then there was an announcement that she was retiring.

and so I had reached back out to her and said, congratulations on your retirement, what’s the plan moving forward?

And she kind of said, well, you were my plan moving forward.

so I went through the whole process of interviews and search committee and but was pretty much hand selected by Cathy to take over for the ensemble.

That’s amazing.

It sounds like it fell into place..

It really did.

exactly.

Plan B was the plan., that’s awesome.

Can you tell me a little bit?

we were just watching you guys do some rehearsals.

Can you tell me what we were watching?

Yes.

um so this is a very special performance.

I mean, they all are, but this one is very near and dear to my heart.

So you were watching the Coronation of the Dragon Fly Queen, and this is a ballet that was choreographed in the 70s by my artistic director and the founder of my ballet school, which is Maryland Youth Ballet.

I grew up in the DC Metropolitan area.

It’s a ballet that I’ve performed twice as a child.

So the first time I think I was like 10 or 11.

I was a little beetle.

and then my senior year of high school, I was the butterfly queen.

And the fact that I can now bring it here when now I’m in this role of artistic director and see this ballet to come to life really on my own dancers has truly been like such a gift in a special um just process.

Yeah.

So once somebody gets selected to be a part of the ensemble, what does that schedule kind of look like, or even before a specific show, can you talk me through, like how intense some of your rehearsals can be?

So I feel like there’s dancers that do dance more recreationally, and I mean, that’s fine.

I mean, it it’s a great it’s great for your brain, it’s good for your body, it’s great exercise, all of those things.

You teach a lot of the discipline and rigidity and even just kind of resilience through dance.

But as far as the ensemble members, it’s kind of like they’ve taken that extra step.

They’re really committing themselves to this really being like their lifestyle in their high school years, which, I mean, that’s exactly what I did.

You’re forfeiting the opportunity to go hang out with your friends or do some of the afterschool activities because you’re here and you’re working hard and you’re fine tuning your craft and your artistry.

So they’re here for as many as, you know, seven seven hours a week just on the weekend and then they have their regular classes at the ballet school as well.

So it’s it’s a huge time commitment.

It’s it’s an investment and it’s an investment from the parents as well.

So I always say, like, thank you so much for giving this opportunity to your children.

Yeah, they’re busy.

They’re busy, they’re super busy, yeah.

So, can you kind of talk to me about, I guess, what you feel like dance or just ballet has done for your life in general?

Like, do you feel like it’s really kind of allowed you to express yourself in different ways that other people might not have understood stepping foot in a dance studio?

Oh, absolutely.

um you know, being exposed to to dance from my young age, I felt like, okay, this is what I was put on this earth to do.

This is what I was created to do.

And so to be able to express yourself through the art of dance, um you know, it’s different than just your learning lines and you’re reciting it or you’re singing and you’re making melody.

But I feel like dance is the embodiment of creativity.

It’s like you get to take dance and bundle it, let it flow through your veins and touch every fiber of your being and then express yourself from that place.

So for me, as an artist, it has been the most freeing, the most liberating, you know, if I’m feeling like I’m doing great in life, I can turn to dance.

If I’m having a hard time, I can turn to dance.

It has been the backbone and the comfort of and the the constant in my life.

And I’ve been doing it a long time.

I started when I was three.

I won’t tell you how old I am.

but I started dance when I was three and it has been like the thematic thing that has carried me throughout my life.

So what does it feel like then to like watch all of these dancers just grow and improve over time and knowing you get to do that year after year after year?

It’s I mean, it’s incredibly satisfying um and figuring out like how to kind of pull out from each of them.

And, you know, I’m still this is my second season, so I’m still getting to know some of the dancers.

Um and some of them are just more timid by nature.

So, you know, I would I would work with them differently than I would somebody that’s like, I’m gonna give it 150 percent every time I’m just gonna go for it.

There’s a wide range of personalities and just approach to the technical side of dance and the artistry side of dance.

But it has been really, really neat to just kind of try and figure out how how do I get the result that I want from this particular dancer in this particular moment and figuring out the right verbage and how to even just kind of give imagery for what I’m trying to achieve.

But it has been so satisfying.

I mean, like I said, I taught at Ballet Arts School of Dance in 2020 and 2021.

So then some of those dancers that I had who were like little, I say little peanuts, they weren’t like that little.

They weren’t like the biddy ones, but they were, you know, I was deciding whether or not to put them on point that year and now to see them in the ensemble.

It’s like, oh my gosh, you’ve grown so much in your technique and your ability and your confidence and just in your artistry.

So that’s that’s definitely a very satisfying feeling.

So with that, do you have a favorite dance memory, like whether it be a specific show or a specific number, maybe directing your first show?

I was a little bit nervous, my first time directing what I would feel.

like, okay, I know how I feel as a dancer after performance exhausted and fulfilled and like, oh, you know, I just contributed so much of the arts, I poured my heart and soul out.

um you know, and you know, if if you have a bad show, you’re like a little down on yourself if you’re a good show, you’re like, yes, like this is why I keep doing this, I love it.

But last year, after Nutcracker, it was so weird stepping on the other side of the curtain because I had to give the curtain talk.

And I think I even said to our audience members, this is a very strange, like surreal feeling to be on this side of the curtain.

I felt more nervous, I think, than being on the other side getting ready to perform.

But afterwards, it was just this huge sense of fulfillment and like, gosh, I really have contributed to the art and I have created art and I have carved an opportunity for dancers to come do what they love to do.

And it was like, ooh, I think I just caught the bug.

Like that was that was really special for me that moment.

So what does ball arts ensemble look like in its Betty condo era?

Like what what can we expect to see in the future, I guess?

What I have said repeatedly is that I’m trying to not come in like a bull in a china cabinet and I want to pay homage to the past and make way for the future legacy of dance.

So your question is, what is that future legacy of dance?

and I think, you know, this is a ballet school.

It’s a dance school, but it is a ballet based school.

and so staying true to the foundations of classical ballet is still my goal, but I think it’s a disservice not to create well-rounded dancers so that whether they choose to pursue dance professionally or at a university or recreationally, I want them to feel like well-rounded dancers that under the, you know, four or five years that they’ve spent with me, that they feel prepared for whatever career they are choosing, whatever career path they choose.

So I would say definitely lots of classical ballet, but also I want to explore some other options.

And, you know, one of the exciting things about me being in this role is because of my professional career, I have this huge vast network of professional dancers, some retired, some still dancing all over the country.

So I’m hoping that I can continue to pull in some of those friends of mine and former coworkers from other, whether they’re still dancing with professional companies or directing their own schools now or artistic director of a youth company like I’m doing, just to kind of help broaden and diversify the dance language and education for these ensemble dancers.

You know, I I I feel and and I’ve said this in my bio, I feel so incredibly honored to step into this role.

Like, I feel like for me, as as a dancer myself and having had a professional career and knowing what it’s like to make those same sacrifices day in and day out, I feel incredibly honored to be in this position where I get to personally invest my time in efforts and artistry and hopefully inspiring them.

like I said, whether they choose to have a professional career and dance or not, but that they’ll look back on this time that they’ve had under my leadership and think those were some of the best years of my life.

you know, that three or four years where I could be a sounding board to them and an encouragement to them and an inspiration to them and hope, you know, just foster their love and appreciation for dance which will hopefully carry them for the rest of their life.

That’s like truly the legacy I want to leave.

(bright music) All right, I’ll start off with the, I guess, the strongest question.

talk about the academy.

Okay.

So, Crescendo Academy of music really offers classes for all ages.

I mean, we have students who are infants all the way up to however old you want to be while you’re still learning how to play an instrument, um, really all ages and stages of life.

When did you get interested in this field of music?

I cannot remember not singing.

I got into musical theater and drama and that kind of stuff, so went the voice lesson route, and I’ve just kept singing my entire life.

Where does this happen?

Where does this this talent that’s nurtured happen?

Where does it happen?

Well, we’re here at the epic Center in downtown Kalamazoo, so that’s where a lot of our teaching happens, where a lot of our classes and rehearsals take place, but then I know that a lot of our artists are out in the community offering recitals or they play with other organizations in the community, our teaching artists are really like walking the walk and talk in the talk, you know, they practice their own instruments and then they go out and play in the community as well.

I’ve been playing for just over two about two and a half years and I started as an adult beginner, so I had not taken piano before, and it has really enriched my life in ways beyond what I expected.

I remember when I first came from my first lesson, you asked, what is it that you’re hoping to get out of this?

And beyond just learning to play, beyond that challenge, I actually wanted to work on my fine motor skill and my neuroplasticity.

And you told me I was the first student to say that.

and it has done that, but it’ it’s really enriched how I listen to music and um it’s really had a just a positive impact on my broader experience of the arts.

Yeah, so I guess for me, it’s it’s it’s it has been part of me since I was seven, and I guess it’s like the water that that I drink and the air that I breathe as a teacher, um I think for me personally, um I don’t I don’t know if it applies to all the teachers, but for me, I I like it when my students enjoy the, you know, enjoy the instruments, enjoy the piano.

and and I try to or or actually even broader, I would say when they enjoy music, that’s when that’s when I think I am very happy, also for them and also for myself as well, and I think I’m doing something right if if we can have um fun.

Well, I’m a first year student.

I started in May, and I’ve not ever played a string instrument.

So I have a musical background, not strong, but never a string instrument.

I’m really enjoying it.

I get frustrated.

I’m not gonna deny it.

It’s I tend to be a perfectionist, so, for me, it’s I want to be able to do it and do it right, right away.

And so it’s this has taught me that it’s not about being perfect.

It’s about being slow.

and taking your time and learning the instrument, feeling the instrument, feeling the sound.

I would say my greatest success recently is that I’m able to tell on some of the notes now when I’m out of key, and I can just I know just to move my finger just a little bit to get into key, and that’s that’s a small victory for me that I feel good about.

I will say when I first started, I would maybe like hear a piece of music, and I’d be like, ah, if I can learn to play that, then that will be it.

I will have achieved what I set out to do.

And that has actually changed.

And now it really is about just um getting better at the instrument and experiencing other kinds of music.

So, and we did the Scott Joplin piece and, you know, just really getting more versatile.

There was a point I would say that she was hooked.

So there was you know, we were doing this method book and then and then I introduced this other piece and then somehow she find it very, you know, fulfilling and challenging at the same time.

It’s like very challenging.

and yet and yet she wants to really play it really well.

So all of a sudden it kind of sparks this desire, I would say, right?

With with the jump Thomps and pieces, would absolutely, yeah.

I’ll like look ahead.

my technique, though, I’m sorry, my tech is still challenge.

But but so anyway, so like there was that kind of moment and and it it it happens to not just Angela, but all of all of my students, I would say, well, there there there are moments where it kind of hit like a spark or something, and then it just kind of takes off.

So, I yeah, so that’s that and then, you know, we’re waiting for another one, but, you know, the first step, yeah.

Music together versus the academy two different animals.

Um, yeah, but we coordinate really well together.

So music together is a worldwide organization.

So music together worldwide offers classes around the globe.

So you might be in Italy or Japan or Taiwan or Australia.

You might be in Mexico or Kalamazoo, right?

Yeah, or Chicago or New York or San Francisco.

And you can be singing the same hello song.

So not only do we have these communities that happen in these small classes, but we have a worldwide community to rely on.

Well, I’ll tell you, the the teaching artists from Crescendo, who teach violin or piano or guitar, drums or any of that, they always say, oh, I know that this kid was a music together kid.

because they’ll come into their private lessons sort of having this mastery, really, or what we call basic music competence where they can already sing a song by themselves.

They can already hold a steady beat and they’re ready for that next step, then, of private instruction.

Describe maybe a class for me.

So we always sing hello to each other, right?

It takes a couple weeks for the kids to get used to that, and then they want you to sing their song, and they can’t wait until it’s their turn to hear their song or their name in the song.

And then the same thing happens at the end.

We always do a lullaby and then sing goodbye to each other at the end of class.

And I imagine there are other skills learned through music together or the academy, getting along with the person next to each teamwork and coming together for a a song, other, you know, obviously stage fright, maybe?

Maybe, yeah, but I’m I’m really glad you brought that up because our classes my music together classes are a little bit different from, you know, people who might be taking piano lessons with the goal of participating in, say a recital or some sort of like cumulative culminating event to show what you know, right?

For example, this morning in my class, we were working on early mathematical concepts.

So I’ve got babies, toddlers, three year olds, four year olds.

We do a dance and it’s a pattern, and that’s a mathematical concept.

We do a little counting game with our hands and we wait until the very end to go woo!

and that’s another pattern, and it’s also counting, and it’s another mathematical concept, right?

So music learning supports our math skills.

It supports our reading on our verbal skills.

It supports certainly our social emotional skills.

I mean, I don’t know if you’ve had any experience as a music maker, played little clarinet, little bassoon, little trumpet.

Okay, yeah.

There’s nothing like those people you make music with, right?

We also know that our littlest people, they learn the best when they feel safe and connected to a grown up in the room.

So if I can tell you a secret, we won’t tell...

The real, the real student in the room is that grown up who comes in with their child.

because a toddler may look at me and be fascinated by me or really excited about what I have to offer.

Yeah, because I’m the teacher at the front of the room being silly.

But if they’re grown up, plays along, sings along, dances along, they are so much more likely to feel like, hey, I can try this too.

This is something that I can try.

And my my big, big goal is to get grownups comfortable with going home and doing that without me.

I love when they come to our classes and we can sing and dance and play together, but if they’re also doing it at home, that’s where it really hits.

I would say one of the unintended consequences is that it is actually very therapeutic, and I’ve discovered like, if I’m under a lot of stress, you would think that practicing something completely new would be stressful, but it’s not because I think because it involves, you know, your eyes and your hands and your brain and your ears, um it really allows me to disconnect from the world in a really helpful way.

So I’ve actually found that when I’m having a lot of stress, and I’m like, I’m going to go practice piano.

and it’s really it’s really quite awesome.

For me, it’s purely the enjoyment of learning something new.

I love classical music, I love all genres of music, couple I don’t, but classical has always been a love and I’ve always loved the cello.

I have a deep voice, so the tones, the deeper tones resonate quite well with me.

And my granddaughter started lessons a year ago and on violin, and I got to thinking about it and I’m like, you know, I really like cello.

I’ve always liked cello.

So I decided to dive in and give it a try and I really do enjoy it.

It’s therapeutic for me in a lot of ways.

This is my happy place.

I come here once a week and let go of all the other things and learn new things, challenge my brain as a retired person.

I’d say it’s become more therapeutic for me now than I’m older.

I lost my folks three years ago.

and I just felt like something was missing, obviously.

And this has just allowed me to just close myself in a room and play, or even just enjoy listening to cello music, just to hear the sound and and be more more meditative with it.

But I do.

I enjoy just being able to shut myself in a room and and play.

My instructor Sylvia is wonderful.

She is very patient and encouraging and has little tricks to teach you how to remember things.

and it it just has been a really great experience.

I think if you’re a serious musician and a performance musician, I think that this is also a wonderful place because they’ve got a wide range of experienced teachers here that can help you work really, really hard and or else just have it be a little bit more relaxing.

I I would never be yo yo ma and I’ve been just it’s like, don’t you can watch him, but don’t think you’re gonna play like him.

And I said, no, I know.

that’s not gonna happen.

But if someone aspired to that, I do truly believe that they could get what they needed here to help propel them that direction.

How rich is Kalamazoo to have not only its own epic art center, yeah?

Plus these opportunities, you pretty lucky?

So rich.

I don’t know what kind of little mini utopia this is, but people believe in the arts in Kalamazoo and people believe in education in Kalamazoo.

And you put those two things together, like the opportunities are endless, so many great organizations really supporting arts education here.

I don’t live in Kalamazoo, so there’s a reason why I drove, you know, the highway to come here.

So the community itself, I think is very supportive, but also specific to Crescendo, I think, you know, the, you know, Audrey and April, who works here, um I think they are worth, um, you know, coming, yeah.

coming to Crescendo is, I think, is worth it because of the staff.

I find this community, especially the Crescendo Academy community, I would say, like really thriving.

and and you know, parents are going to recitals and we have recitals all the time and sometimes we get like really filled up really quick, you know, and so, you know, so those are good signs, in my opinion.

I think there is a richness below the water line that not everyone even fully understand how really fortunate we are as a community to have the depth and quality and access to the arts that we do.

And I think, you know, if you’ve been in other communities and you come here, you’re like, oh my goodness, this this is this place has it happening.

And so I think, yes, and there’s even more there than people I think necessarily understand.

Thank you so much for watching.

There’s also more to explore with Kalamazoo lively arts on YouTube, Instagram and wgvu.org.

We’ll see you next time.

Support for Kalamazoo lively arts is provided by the Irvine S. Gilmore foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.

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