SAN DIEGO—The dedication of scholars of the Torah is legendary; starting at an early age – it never ends.  In a cheder, properly dressed, they greet the teacher with utter respect, begin with a blessing and prepare for a long day of study.  Across the world (Occident, Orient and in between) ballet students gather in studios, properly dressed, greet the teacher with a reverence (bow/curtsy) and begin their day with the basics from which even the most glorious dancer never graduates.  After the applause of the previous night, before the flowers have begun to wilt, the ballet dancer is back in class the next morning to be corrected; a humbling experience on a daily basis. 

Torah is not learned alone – it is studied in a group setting; so, too, the classical dance.  It cannot be self-taught – the body misinforms the mind, misleading it and ultimately undermining it.  Private lessons are not sufficient; the dancer must learn to relate to others in space.  The Torah directs us how to relate within a community – there is no need for a civil structure when one lives alone.  Just as Torah is transmitted from teacher to student – correcting pronunciation, presenting concepts, the teacher shaping and sharpening the mental capacity of the student; a ballet teacher shapes a foot, turns a hand, tilts a head and teaches the student to discipline both mind and body.

The Torah student is aware of the long line of historical scholarship, the commentaries inform his thought.  The ballet dancer is the product of centuries of study and structure; the achievements of those who came before influencing how the dance is taught and presented.

Hebrew binds together a people dispersed to virtually every corner of the earth speaking hundreds of different languages.  Hebrew has always been the binding thread, giving entry to the history the people carried on their backs as well as a living language today. Enter a synagogue in an uncharted village and the worshipper at Shabbat services may sing a different tune, but will pray essentially the same words. The ballet was born in Italy, codified in France, thus French is the language through which dancers communicate with one another no matter where they go to study or perform. An Israeli ballet dancer taking class in Ulan Bator (yes, there is ballet in Mongolia) will understand what is being taught.

After the Torah student finishes reading Deuteronomy he (or she) returns again to Genesis.  Every day at the barre the ballet dancer starts once again with pliés and tendus. There is a prescribed order - a unifying structure.  Judaism has Ten Commandments – ballet has Five Positions.  Judaism has 613 Mitzvot – ballet has almost that many variations of pas de bourrée (a series of three small steps).

Sometimes the Torah Student finds it advantageous to study with another teacher or a visiting scholar will join the group.  Recognizing the benefit of this concept, a serious ballet school will often invite in another – or several – guest teachers to come to teach a “summer intensive.”

City Ballet of San Diego, founded and directed by Stephen and Elizabeth Wistrich, has invited in three such renowned guest teachers:

Susan Jaffe: retired Principal Dancer, American Ballet Theatre; David Howard, internationally recognized ballet teacher; Evelyn Cisneros:  retired Principal Dancer, San Francisco Ballet.
 

My Observations of the Class   Retired ABT Prima Ballerina Susan Jaffe began her weeklong teacher-in-residence with City Ballet of San Diego on July 30.  The two 90 minute morning classes were divided between an upper and lower level each with 20-30 students which is more than normal for ballet class but is not unusual for a summer intensive.  Every student was neatly attired in pink tights, black leotards, tidily confined hair, a few very short black skirts; no leg warmers or other distracting bits and pieces so beloved by ballet dancers. Respectful and ready to work the students took their places at the barre.  Several had traveled across the country for this series of classes; name tags were pinned to chests so the teacher could readily communicate on a personal basis.

Susan Jaffe

I was immediately struck by Susan Jaffe’s positive manner: corrections, whether for an individual or group, were given as “what can be improved” rather than emphasizing “what’s wrong.”  Teaching negatively is a fairly common failure among teachers.  It is especially important to set a positive tone when the guest teacher is such a famous ballerina - and this she did. 

Although Jaffe wore plain practice clothes and her beautiful feet were shod in clogs – one could still feel her presence as it once filled the world’s finest theaters.  She actively walked around the class, adjusting a student’s foot (uninhibited to get down on the floor to do so), tucking in an abdomen, tilting a head.  No area of the class escaped her attention. 

She stressed “design and beauty over height” (of leg in extension) – something that needs constant emphasis as young dancers often mistake sport for art. She concentrated on the necessity of engaging the muscles at the back of the leg, the requirement for square pelvis/hip placement and alignment of the torso as it reaches up from the hip.  Active use of the muscle group under the derriére which supports and stabilizes the structure above was her constant concern:  “There must be a strong rod of steel going up through the body, ” she said. When one student continued to practice after the music had stopped, Jaffe took advantage of the student’s efforts and walked over to give her additional help.  A good teacher does that.

In the centre milieu (sans barre) she gave an adage exercise (slow work involving large extension of the leg) before a tendu exercise (stretch of the foot to a pointe on the floor.  These two exercises are often given in reverse order – the tendu exercise first as a warm up to the larger shapes in adage.  She did the same thing after the students put on their pointe shoes.  A series of petit sauté (small jumps) of echappés (“escapes” – feet flashing out to the side on pointe) and relevés (springs onto pointe) came before the tendu exercise – which is, again, often reversed.  Although I’ve seen those two exercises reversed before, it’s always puzzled me why that should be so.  One wouldn’t give a jump or adage at the barre before a tendu – so why reverse it in the centre?

Jaffe emphasized that the preparation for pirouette begins long before the pirouette actually occurs – that the plié is not a time to “rest” but to “prepare.”  The arms in pirouette need to be supported, she told them, at navel height – which makes everything closer to the center of gravity, more aerodynamic and therefore the arms are a helpful (rather than a hurtful) component to the execution of the pirouette.

The centre enchainement (series of steps) danced on the diagonal (upstage corner to downstage corner) integrated pirouettes both en dedans (inward – toward the supporting leg) and en dehors (outward – away from the supporting leg) as well as balancés (“rocking” step) and waltz turns gave the students ample opportunity to “dance” the exercise – which is what Jaffe asked them to do.  There is a difference between “doing” an exercise and “dancing” it. In the changements serré (series of small jumps changing the feet front/back in 5^th position) she insisted on heels coming down and contacting the floor, not over crossing the 5^th position, having an expressive face and to be aware of “the journey of the arms in space.”

Jaffe alternated lines in the centre – bringing those in back forward so everyone had a chance to be in front.  One of the most difficult things a dancer has to learn is to stand still especially after finishing with any particular sequence.  This includes work at the barre.  As each segment was completed, Jaffe insisted that they finish cleanly and hold that finish “its not easy standing in 5th position,” she said; a central lesson in protocol, classical dance structure, discipline and muscle memory.  She did not encourage any extremes either in height of extension or pirouette rotation.  Jaffe gave them cautionary corrections before they began as well as not allowing them to proceed when she spotted problems.  All too often a teacher will only correct when the exercise is over and the student therefore has no opportunity to incorporate the corrections.  What I didn’t see was the requirement to constantly test placement at the barre by letting go of it; a major area of concern, in my opinion.

Class ended – with applause and individual reverences to the teacher.

The Interview and Lunch with Principal Dancer Susan Jaffe

Q: In the relatively short time a guest teacher has with a class -  other than addressing overt problem areas....what do you think you can bring to the class?

Jaffe: It depends upon which segment of the summer intensive I am teaching – in the beginning such as now I have to go with what I see before me.  Every group is different. I can’t assume beforehand what I will find. But I know this is a good school and I am aware of how the Wistrichs teach.

Q: Some teachers come with a preconceived idea and then no matter what proceed with it.

Jaffe:  That’s so RAD. (Royal Academy of Dance – a set syllabus method of teaching.)  A teacher has to go with what’s happening.

Q: On the other hand having a relatively short time with a guest teacher, what do you think a student can gain?

Jaffe: Each teacher emphasizes something else - the students have to know the basic structure - I can see how the Wistrichs teach and I try to add to that.  I think it’s good for the students to hear a different voice.  Sometimes they get used to always hearing the same words from the same teacher.  A different voice – even though it’s the same concept – makes them think.  In the short time I’m here – if they get one thing that helps them – I’ll be happy.  It takes a long time to understand something in ballet, to be able to incorporate it.

Q: What do you think about the so-called “advances” in technique such super high leg extensions when performed in Romantic ballets such as Swan Lake or La Sylphide?  Do you think these are “advances” or exaggerations?

Jaffe: Generally, I’m not against it, but it has to be within the style, musicality, the movement, and the point of view.  The body needs to reflect the mood of the music – dance transcends physicality, it is much more.  In a ballet like La Sylphide it’s uneducated to exaggerate.

Q: Do you think such “advances” should be a goal in class – aiming for higher and higher extensions – 6/oclock penchés?  It tends to destroy the line between the raised leg and the extended arm….and blocks the ballerina’s partner’s head…

Jaffe: Yes, it does. It does destroy that line. Dance is about learning the mood of the music – (choreographer Wm.) Forsythe is not danced the same as Petipa and Mozart or Tchaikovsky.  The student has to learn the style and dance that style.  But it is also important not to be too careful – we do have to push the body but we can’t forfeit position of the body – it must stay within the limits of the classical ballet.

Q: Will you be conferring with the regular teachers and sharing your observations of the students?"

Q: How do you keep your teaching refreshed?

Jaffe: I enjoy talking to and observing other classes and teachers.  It keeps me thinking.

Q: In the past ballet has always been taught hand to hand.  However, in the last several years teachers have been constrained from touching a student – to correct a head position – shape a foot – how does this affect your teaching and what do you think about it?

Jaffe: I couldn’t teach without touching but we have to be aware of where the touch occurs.  It’s much more difficult when men teach women.  When I teach men I always say “Excuse me, I have to touch you.”

***As our lunch continued she said when she retired five years ago she was completely done with performing – mentally as well as physically and went on to say:

Jaffe: “I told myself I would never want to teach, never choreograph and would never (laughing) come back as the “Queen” (in Sleeping Beauty – which she performed in July).  I was centered on myself and I didn’t think I was interested in enhancing others.  But after six months of sitting around and watching my waistline grow I felt the need to do something.  Now I found – it was a very happy surprise - that I love teaching and choreographing.  I was asked to choreograph the Waltz of the Flowers (Nutcracker) and it took me months.  Now I’ve choreographed an entire Nutcracker and I enjoyed doing it.  I have a school and am working toward a chamber size company.”

“I realized I’ve been a creative artist all my life – I can’t let what I’ve learned die with me.  It felt selfish.  It was a gift to discover that I liked passing it on – took me six months to recognize it.  It’s poignant, fun, beautiful and I love it.”