Keen on
Balanchine: Italian Dance Student Joins PNB
By Rosie Gaynor
Posted
September 8,
2008
Two hundred
and forty students took part in Pacific Northwest Ballet
School’s intensive summer camp this year. Between the ages of
twelve and eighteen, they came from 35 states and Canada—and one
even came all the way from Italy.
His name is
David Mannara, he was born in
Torino, he just turned 18, and coming to
Seattle to
study Balanchine was a dream come true.
“When I was
14, I moved to
Vienna
for the Vienna Opera ballet school,” he said. “We were studying
the history of ballet and we saw a video of Serenade.”
And that was it: he was smitten with Balanchine.
Although
Mannara later moved to Switzerland to study at the Ballet
Academy of Zurich, he didn’t lose sight of his goal. “I always
wanted to come to the USA because of Balanchine, and so I was
waiting to turn seventeen to come here. For a visa, seventeen is
the magic age.” And now he’s here in the US, studying
Balanchine. “Finalmente,” he says with a great smile.
Why PNB?
“I know that New York City Ballet, PNB, and Miami City Ballet
are the three most important Balanchine ballet companies,” he
said. And, in fact, Miami City Ballet School was his first stop
in the US. “I did a videotape last summer with my teacher in
Torino and I sent it to many places in
America,” he
said. Miami was the first to respond and although he was just 17
years old, Mannara jumped at the chance.
When asked if
it was frightening to move so far from home at such a young age,
he said no. “It was more exciting than scary. I couldn’t wait.
Finally the moment had arrived! There was no fear.” And did his
family worry? “My family is happy. They know that that’s what I
want to do and it’s my dream. They trust me.” I try to imagine
what it would be like for a Balanchine fan to actually take
class with the legendary Edward Villella, the former Balanchine
star who runs Miami City Ballet. “It was fun,” said Mannara, and
judging from another one of his great smiles, I take it this is
an understatement. Indeed, he added later that these classes
with Villella were “really exciting and precious to me.”
Through all
his moves, Mannara has kept up with his education in Italy.
That, he says, is not the easiest part of his life. “It’s very
hard for people to leave their home country when they are really
young. It’s hard to keep up your studies. I don’t go to school,
but I have my books.” Mannara did not have access to an online
school. “I have just myself and my books. During the holidays I
[go home and] take exams.” Mannara has one year left in his
Liceo Europeo program at
Altiero Spinelli, with courses consisting of Italian, English,
French, German, Math, Philosophy, and Art History. “I’m really
grateful to my headmaster, that he gave me this special
permission,” said Mannara.
When it came
time to look for summer 2008 classes, Mannara was determined to
stay in the
US,
and this time was able to audition in person. He didn’t look at
a lot of programs, though, he said. “I just wanted to come to
PNB.” He auditioned for PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal in Boca
Raton—just one of the 1,500+ students who auditioned this year.
(The program is well respected. It dates from 1978, the first
summer Francia Russell, former co-artistic director of the
company, was in Seattle.)
It’s an
intense day of dancing for these dance students. How many
youngsters willingly get up at
6:20 am in the summer? Classes generally go from
8:30 am to
about 3:30 pm. “I like every class,” said Mannara. “Each teacher
has his own way to teach. I think it’s really helping me.” He
commented on the anger and screaming students in some schools
face. “Here it’s different. Here they want you to understand the
movement, to work with the brain, to know what you are doing,
and to take care of your body. The teachers are really nice; and
when they explain, they’re really precise.” This, for Mannara,
is key. “They are really precise when they give corrections and
this helps me because I can remember it and put it in my body.”
In Europe,
Mannara’s training had been in the Vaganova style. (Agrippina
Vaganova of
Russia’s Imperial Ballet School taught such legendary stars as
Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, and George Balanchine.)
“Here it’s
Balanchine, so it’s very different. Every movement: different.”
One example he points to is the use of the arms. “In Europe
you’re taught that the arms are more low, and clean, and the
fingers are closed. Here, in Balanchine, it’s more open, and up
a little more. It’s more ampio. You fill the stage more.
It makes the moment more big. Vaganova is more controlled;
Balanchine is more expressive. And the musicality is different.
And the counts you have to control more. It’s brain work.”
Not
every dance student can survive the disheartening frustration of
relearning basic techniques, but I sense only eagerness in this
young Italian dancer. He can’t wait to learn more. It is a
quality Peter Boal mentions right off the bat, when I corner him
later at a PNB Backstage Pass* event. Mannara has “great
potential,” Boal says, adding that Mannara is “open-minded and
eager to learn.” I interviewed Mannara at the end of the day,
just after he and fellow students traipsed back to the
Seattle
Pacific University dorms many of them lived in during their
Seattle stay. How do you feel at the end of this long day, I asked.
“Tired,” he said, “and happy at how I passed the day.”
The students’
days occasionally included more than classes. In addition to
outings around town, they’ve watched company class (“It looks
different. It looks more fun. You can see that everybody can
really control and they’re ready to dance,” said Mannara) and
they were invited to watch the company rehearse for its recent
tour to Vail. More Balanchine, including Agon. “I like
the men’s part. I also like the pas de deux with the girls. And
I liked the uniformity the dancers had, the way they move and
fill the stage.”
From
the moment Mannara first entered PNB’s Phelps Center, he loved
it. “It was amazing. I felt like this was the place I was meant
to be. I felt like I did a good thing to come so far from my
country; that it was worth it.”
Apparently
the feeling is mutual. Mannara is one of 27
summer camp students invited to join PNB’s Professional
Division in the fall. If all goes well with visas, scholarships,
and housing, this young man will do just that. And he’ll have
the joy of watching one of his favorite ballets – Jewels
– in January. It is, of course, by Balanchine. ‘“Rubies,”’ says
Mannara, ‘represents the American style of dance, “Diamonds” the
Russian, “Emeralds” the French.’ These different styles are
something Mannara has thought a lot about in the last four years
and I take it at more than face value when he says, ‘I really
like “Rubies.”’
In the
meantime, Mannara has returned to
Torino,
to visit his family and spend time with his twin brother,
Manuel. Buon viaggio, and come back soon!
*
PNB’s
Backstage
Pass is a social and educational group for folks in their
twenties and thirties. It’s a fabulous program: members receive
discounts on subscriptions and the receptions and parties are
stylishly good fun. Check out the details at
http://www.pnb.org/season/subscription/backstage.html
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