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Stephanie Saland in her NYCB years |
You’re never too old to dance.
That’s what former New York City
Ballet soloist Stephanie Saland says.
Actually, she never used that
phrase in conversation with me; that's the attitude, and the reality, I saw when I sat in on a class she
leads most Wednesdays at Seattle’s Velocity Dance Center.
Saland shies away from calling
this a ballet class, but the ten women who were there were quick to tell me that,
of course, it IS ballet. They focus on ballet technique, and execute it to the best of their abilities.
All of these women are over the
age of 30; a couple are over 50. Most have been part of Saland's Wednesday
group for several years at the very least.
I think of Stephanie Saland as a
‘dance whisperer.’ I was assigned to profile her for Dance Teacher
magazine, and as soon as we met I felt a spark of recognition. Although we have led vastly different career paths, Saland is, like me, une femme
d’un certain age.
(That translates into ‘middle aged
woman” for those of you who don’t speak French. Actually, we have both ascended
into early senior status, but that’s another story.)
Saland danced with NYCB for more
than two decades. After she retired in 1993, she swore she was done with
ballet. But after she moved to Seattle with a romantic partner, Saland was
tapped to teach classes at the Pacific Northwest Ballet school. Although you’d
think that would be a perfect fit for a Balanchine-trained ballerina, you’d be
wrong.
Saland discovered she was less interested in traditional ballet teaching methods, and more interested in developing the skills she needed to help her students discover their inner artists. Not to say that she doesn’t understand and teach great
technique, just that she’d rather help her students unleash their love of
movement and self expression.
Which leads me back to the Wednesday class.
Saland started things off with a slow warm up done
to music that you might hear in a yoga studio. Yes, it’s true, older bodies
need more time to stretch stiff muscles.
This class doesn’t work at the barre; Saland wants the women in the center of the room
because she feels its the best way for them to work on core strength and balance.
That said, one woman spent most
of the 90 minute class dancing while seated on a wooden stool. Her arms and upper body glided to the music, which Saland had switched to more traditional ballet accompaniment. Another woman steadied herself by placing her hands against the studio’s brick wall. Like their classmates, they focused intently on the
combinations Saland set for her students. Everyone smiled, everyone was
thrilled to be there.
I sat and watched from the floor in the corner of the studio. And wished I was up dancing with the rest of the women. Unlike most people who write a lot about dance, I was never a dancer. I just love the art form, so I spend a lot of time watching dancers.The
last time I took ballet I wound up herniating a disk and aggravating the
arthritis in my knees and hips. I was never very flexible, but grand plies
after 50…in my experience not the best idea.
Stephanie Saland’s class was the first one that made
me think, oh, maybe I CAN dance, despite my age and my physical limitations.
That glimmer of possibility
is something to hold onto in these short dark days at the end of this challenging year.
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