Morgan Beckwith : Dallas, TX

*photo by Glenn Goettler 

Final Reflection:

I think I am in utter denial of having left the sacred space of the Mystic Ballet creative venture, waking up to the terrifying heat and structure that has welcomed back at school here in Texas. Yet I couldn’t think of a better mindset to find myself, in order to finally reflect over my exploit at Mystic Ballet this Summer.  

I will take time later to formerly assess the findings of my undertakings with this ballet company. But for now I would like to meditate on some more personal observations.

This summer I intended to be someone that conducted research, someone who observed critically, discussed intelligently, gaining a broader and more informed perspective on life in a dance company. What I did not expect to be was someone who wanted to be involved in every aspect of operations, teaching, socializing, making constructive criticism, participating in social media, and genuinely affecting the atmosphere of the company.

As I increasingly projected my efforts to influence and elucidate positivity in the company I found that I was the one who was the most affected. In order to present an opinion, and interact in meaningful ways at Mystic Ballet I was forced to assess my own methods of communication and solidify my point of view on a great range of matters. I was certainly pushed out of my comfort zone in aspects like social media and practical business matters. However, I found that if I simply approached the problem with all that I had to offer (even if applied what seemed to be unrelated skill-sets), while being humble enough to ask for advice in areas I was not familiar with, the results were respect and admiration for my honest work.

I found myself adapting seamlessly (for the most part) from social company settings, to strategy meetings, one on one interviews, and critical performance experiences like Jacobs Pillow. I discovered that it was not necessarily about finding the perfect and clearly identified place (or job description) where I could subsist and thrive in the company settings but graciously establishing my own identity within the fabric of the company. The goal was not to become irreplaceable, but at the conclusion of this summer season with Mystic Ballet I felt that I had been able to contribute to it’s larger vision, even if by proxy.

As I interact with more innovators in the art world I realize that this is where the true entrepreneurs and devisers of the current generation begin. They do not simply look for a position and fill it. There are many ways to go about following a passion. Fortunately I was granted time and resources to integrate and observe one of my passions (dance) in order to combined it with one of many of my other personal intrigues (writing, art critique, personal interaction, and arts management). I am not saying that I have come out of this experience with a grand master-plan. But I have come into a much greater understanding of what I bring to the arts world and that my potential should not have a discernable benchmark.

After a very long and tiresome rehearsal day I received an email from a company dancer. She explained to me that her driving force in dance is the inspiration she garners from others, along with the potential of being the provider of inspiration. Her comment made me realize that many times a powerful instance of inspiration from someone in the dance world can provide a sense of kinship almost instantaneously. I learned this summer that this exchange of charged artistic influence extends in both directions. It is not to be recycled, but to be executed continually.

Last week I sat down with an alum from my boarding arts high school, Walnut Hill. As someone who danced professionally for many years then sought to involve herself into other arenas like theatre production and entrepreneurial adventures she had poignant things to say to me about the current state of affairs in the dance world. She mentioned this concept of ‘influence’ and how instrumental it was to remember those in your life that had affected you in such a way to produce positive outcomes. But she also pointed out how we are challenged to remember that we have the potential to act as that influential individual for another human being. Not out of glory or self satisfaction but a greater understanding of how much we can affect change through influence.

As I remember all of those at Mystic Ballet and how they have positively affected the way that I carry myself, I have been given a new opportunity to continue writing. As a new contributor to the dance blog DIY Dancer (www.diydancer.com) I vow to continually reflect upon those who have helped me garner the potential to influence more people while writing about the exciting happenings of the Dallas dance scene.

I already miss the dancers and administrators at Mystic Ballet dearly. I wish all of you a successful and fulfilling fall!  

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

I have to admit it was not always a joy walking into an 8:30am class to teach Paquita or attempting to keep the focus of energetic children for extended periods of time (even with a steaming cup of coffee in my hand). However, the exuberance, the commitment, and the unrestrained passion that I witnessed on stage this past Saturday was certainly worth every early morning trip to Mystic School of Ballet.

When the dance teachers and crew (made up of entirely Mystic Ballet staff and company members) arrived at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum Auditorium I was pleasantly surprised by the high caliber nature of the theatre space. While I imagined that a stadium-seat performance venue would not cater to a dance performance, this was in fact a perfect set up. Every parent would be able to see his or her child’s expressivity and significant presence on the stage.

In order to accomplish this pleasant experience for the audience we began working immediately to set the spacing for each number. In a twenty minute block every piece was set and run twice. The entire staging process was operated with all of the proficiency of a professional program. The dancers were responsive, the teachers both concise and realistic, and the technicians (Mystic Ballet Company members) running the lights and the music were speedy and efficient. As we continued running through the diverse compilation of pieces in the show I could already see the girl’s excitement bubbling to the surface.

On the other hand it was extremely strange for me to be correcting spacing, and fixing mistakes in the dances while talking through a microphone. I have spent such a long time perfecting my ability to absorb criticism and correction that I have never taken the occasion to imagine myself as the instructor giving explicit directions. But consequently, getting to be on the other side of this performance experience was remarkably educational and satisfying.   

As I talked my girls through their jitters and apprehensions I felt myself being useful and proficient as their teacher and as their adviser. The girls in my Jazz dance (“A Little Party”) declared that they had used a whole bottle of glitter on their eyelids in order to dazzle the audience. “Do we look like we’re going to a party Miss Morgan?” I could only smile and reply “you girls look like you will be attending quite the soiree this afternoon.” The fact that they truly cared about the way they would be perceived on stage out of their own desire made me incredibly proud.

And then when it came time, I was able to watch almost the entire show backstage. Having taught every level except the “fairies” (3-6 yr olds), I found myself beaming for the duration of the performance. I had played a role in this production and I could call some of the elated energy on stage “my” creation. But my happiness was not a possessive one. In no way did I see myself reflected back at me on the stage. What I saw were girls as individuals who were proud of what they had accomplished, possessing the confidence and the respect to perform in front of an audience.

This summer I began teaching the school summer program as a part of the responsibilities that were included in my internship. But I greatly underestimated the possibility of artistic and scholastic fulfillment in being an educator. I witnessed and experienced so many moments teaching these children that made me question my own approach to dance and instruction. I will take this unique exposure to teaching with me as I return to the University environment, thinking about tackling my own learning experience with the same energy and perseverance as the students at Mystic Ballet School.

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

Lauren Edson returns to Mystic Ballet to rehearse her work Imaginary Love before its premiere at Jacob’s Pillow this Thursday at 6:15pm as part of the Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out series! This North Carolina School of the Arts and Juilliard graduate danced with the accaliamed Trey McIntire Project in Boise, Idaho before choreographing for major companies and and participating in festivals all over the country. 

After rehearsing this piece for weeks with artistic director, Goran, I am excited to see how a quick three-day session with choreographer, Lauren Edson, will get these dancers and this piece stage ready. 

*photo by Mystic Ballet's Alejandro Ulloa  

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

Gabrielle Lamb

*photo taken by Alejandro Ulloa*

When a choreographer is invited to set a work on a company it is always interesting to think about how the dancers relate to the “finalized” composition of dance. I say this because in the case of Gabrielle and her choreographic process the dancers – their brains and their unique bodies - are integral to every aspect of the work’s inception.

It is incredible to see what has been done in the studio these past four days just by working intelligently within the parameters of the human body. It all begins with Gabrielle charging the dancers to explore the capabilities and limitations of their individual bodies during class. Rehearsal begins and they hone this skill proceeding to use these cultivated instincts when Gabrielle starts to generate and manipulate the phrase material.

Then are multifarious ways in which Gabrielle approaches the shifting and rearranging of established phrases while simultaneously generating new substance to place in her back pocket. Gabrielle began by working with three men. She asked Aleks to look at a sketch of seventeenth century land surveyor tools and create a string of movement based on the idea of using these tools in a confined space. Alejandro was asked to repeat a phrase while thinking about himself partnering an (invisible) individual executing this phrase.  While those two were thinking about their tasks Gabrielle worked with William, manipulating the phrase to include different qualities, accents, and intent.

I consider the way that Gabrielle approaches work with her dancers as an ultimate collaboration. They try in tandem to replicate and revise phrases of improvisation, connecting ideas that register in the body rather than through any outside emotional element. There is no ego involved in this practice, the dancers act as open-minded and fearless artists while Gabrielle facilitates the process by creating certain sources for inspiration and impulse. She often asked “where does the movement want to go?” Gabrielle empowers the dancers to be makers of their own physical destiny. If they are truly focused, responsive, and open to her process it shows that they are able to make decisions with their own bodies that clearly fit into the programmatic material Gabrielle is constructing.

After observing this process reoccur throughout the week I believe the success of this approach can be accredited to a combination of Gabrielle’s ability to recognize when the connection of movement ideas truly resonate and her articulate and highly accessible instructions. She uses an interesting combination of dance vocabulary, simple colloquial language, and evocative visualizations. In order to have her dancers successfully translate something as simple and elegant as performing a task ( like what Aleks and Alejandro were asked to do) into redolent action in space they first need to be able to register a strong idea about the movement and its intended direction internally. It is only after accomplishing this that the dancers are able to convince any observer of the movement’s truth.

Eventually this phrase material becomes pervasive enough to be used as vocabulary to establish relationships with the other dancers in the space. After the first few days of fostering material Gabrielle began creating interactions with the dancers, starting with something as simple as Coco performing a certain phrase on the floor and Alejandro entering into the space to lift and manipulate her at certain moments. This is where I saw Gabrielle make the most distinct and intriguing chorographic choices. She was extremely precise yet experimental with where and how to place the connections between the dancers. Each moment of contact was carefully deconstructed in order have a particular force of impact for the audience while still transitioning smoothly into what came before it and what was to transpire after. When taking time to create these moments of physical communication between the dancers Gabrielle would persist in unearthing the connection between the physical movements and their qualitative value. She would not move on if a gesture or transition did not encompass the evolving organic thematic material of the piece.

It was only after this meticulous process of the conception of the relationships between the dancers that Gabrielle began to incorporate music. During rehearsal time Gabrielle had been playing music on a loop. It appeared the music was playing for inspiration and a general sense of dynamics during the birthing of the phrase material, something for the dancers to pull from in order to discover levels of nuances and depth in the movement material. Things changed when she placed a phrase alongside a piece of music with the intent of creating moments of synchronization and significance. Gabrielle would then discover where to begin the music, often having the dancers start in silence before playing the music on a fixed gesticulation. Throughout this trial and error period Gabrielle tries to highlight the elastic feeling or the “influence” of the movement through its alliance with the music. The idea of this is to accentuate and feature the internal motivation or an impulse in the phrase of movement that the dancers had created for themselves in the beginning stages of this process. Once again Gabrielle observes creative license with when and how to do this according to her artistic own methodology for this piece.

One may think that this type of piecing together of movement and music can ruin the invigoratingly animate nature of the movement. However, the movement material is already made from an organic process. So even if they are what some may call “synthetically” attributed to the music they will still feel and appear organic in the space. At this point in the process there is a fine line between happy coincidence and manufacturing spatial and human relationship. Gabrielle has to make decisions about how to keep the vitalized consistency of the piece. This entails being absolutely certain there are no dead moments or instances of neutrality in the space. It was here that she began filing the sections of dance in order to establish the ability to recall the material as it was at this point in the process when she returns to Mystic Ballet in September. But ultimately the dancers who Gabrielle worked with have a knowledge of this choreography that no one will quite ever be able to replicate. An approach to this type of original material is not necessarily the same way one would approach revisiting a ballet variation from Paquita. The movement was generated uniquely from these dancers, this choreographer, and the specific creative environment that was established during that one week.

I was fortunate enough to see these intriguing dance vignettes being created from an introverted internal period of exploration, to the clearly established development of succinct ideas and into actual movement that an audience could respond to. It is fascinating how Gabrielle allows the audience’s psyche to absorb the ironic gestures of every day physical labor and social relationships through her extremely fast yet seamless transition of ideas. I am extremely intrigued to hear about the next step of adjustment before a live performance that I will hopefully be able to attend later on this year.

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

Happy Friday! 

Photo of Goran and dancers watching a video of a run of Imaginary Love during rehearsal last night. Only six more days before they perform at Jacob’s Pillow for the annual Inside Out series August 8th, at 6:15. 

see this link for more details :

http://www.jacobspillow.org/festival/insideout-schedule/

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

Goran came to me yesterday with some ideas to boost the activity on Mystic Ballet’s facebook page. His number one priority is to get the dancers of the company involved to facilitate connectivity of their younger friends who are consequently the new generation of emerging artists. I am definitely on board with this idea an am happy to help beginning to manage more conversation on the page.

Even though I (like the a majority of the world) use facebook constantly I am still very uneducated about how the basic mechanics can really be used to promote an organization or Dance company like Mystic Ballet.

My first attempt at sharing a video and a probing question failed miserably because of technical issues. However, I learned tonight that even though my patience with technology is very lacking I am still able to post and comment as an administrator on the Mystic ballet timeline.

The above photo was used in conjunction with the following post as my first topic of conversation on the page:

“Photo taken by Aejandro Ulloa of Mystic Ballet, of

William from Gabrielle Lamb’s class this Monday

Gabrielle’s class is certainly not what you would call a traditional ballet class. With movement improvisation and exploration one finds themselves more in-tune with the way their body moves rather than trying to ascertain specific ballet steps.

Do you think it is important for contemporary ballet companies to have these types of classes/workshops and why?”

I gave a small speech to the dancers (possibly a little preachy at some points) about the necessity of their involvement with the online arts community. Not only is it in their contract to be ambassadors of Mystic Ballet but in order to compete with a world that is growing dangerously close to underestimating the true value of live performance we must use this venue to spark people’s interest in dance. I think this is a huge part of preserving the future of this performing art. 

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

What would dancers gain without sight?

The younger “School of Mystic Ballet" dancers began their first week of classes for their summer workshop on Monday, and I have the privilege of teaching this group of young students along with my original two upper level classes. There is one girl in this new class who has such fortitude and pluck that it baffles me every time I teach this level of ballet girls. This particular girl is blind. The trust in herself and in her own body is incredibly powerful, clearly visible for those of us who are witnessing her feat of grace.

Two summers ago I worked with Alex Ketley at San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. Notorious for his strange, yet impactful teaching style Alex taught me a couple things about being thankful and perpetually humble for the basic mechanics of my own body. One day Alex had us close our eyes for the entire class, an hour and a half class that included various improvisational exercises and choreographic explorations. In that short amount of time I stepped away knowing more about the way that my body moved an how it wanted to move, by allowing those stigmas attached with sight (ego, judgment, insecurity) to fall away. I felt that I had to close my eyes in order to express some internal monologue that I would not have felt remotely comfortable exuding with any person (even myself) watching.

While thinking about this super-girl ballet student and Alex’s class I found myself closing my eyes while on the sidelines of Gabrielle’s class today. Allowing myself to enter my own little world to feel and not think or judge with my other available sensations. I found that when I had to repeat phrase material in the center I was able to use this internal focus and exploration to better my understanding and confidence of the material and of my own artistic interpretation.

What would I do for a precious hour without sight?

What would you do for an hour without sight? 

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

And as if all of my queries about the lack of organic movement in Goran’s teaching program had been answered, there walked in Gabrielle Lamb. A returning choreographer and artistic visionary for Mystic Ballet, Gabrielle Lamb’s  extensive career includes highly classical and contemporary work ranging from seasons with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and Christopher Wheeldon’s Morphoses. She has clearly be searching for and has found her own extensive expressive voice through exhibiting her work at festivals and choreographing for companies like Mysitc Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet and Ballet X ( see her website for additional bibliographic information along with some of her other ventures including incredible short film clips).

After Goran and I discussed my further findings concerning the approach of training his dancers I walked into Gabrielle’s class. She used a combination of exercises and improvisational investigations to allow the dancers to explore their own body through certain slim ramifications. I couldn’t help but be beaming the entire rest of the class. This is exactly what I felt these newer dancers were craving, an intelligent yet explorative means with which to find organic movement in their bodies. Not only did she provide this charged environment but the way in which she connected the evolution of the ideas in her class was conducive to the way she taught her choreography later on. This process is also incredibly similar to the way that I see Goran work with his dancers, I can certainly see a uniformity in their approach however, I must note the difference in means of execution

I was so thrilled so see all of these artists move using the unique undulations of their bodies. Having lived through this venerable yet exhilarating process of inquiry I can say that it is so incredibly exciting to see ideas nurtured and taken hold in the physical movement of a human being. After two weeks I already feel extremely invested in the progress being made by each of these dancers and throughout the class I began seeing a true unfolding of potential and maturation taking place.   

One of Lamb’s exercises involved a progression of spinal movement, beginning by isolating three distinct types of spinal movement: front to back, side to side, and twisting. From there she challenged the dancers to play with the initiation of these movements, finally asking them to combine an improvisation of these options into a fluid exchange of spinal movement. I remember first figuring out how such a logical movement of the body can be such an expressive avenue of possibility for a dancer and it felt so nice to hear her articulating and physicalizing this crucial concept of the multiplicity of choices a dancer has the potential to make.

This is such an incredible opportunity to be able to witness these malleable and willing young dancers evolve this week in the company of this erudite individual. I cannot wait to see what the remainder of her time here brings.

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

Where does Goran want his dancers to find organic movement?

As my second week at Mystic Ballet came to a close the initial grace period of observance had passed and Goran and I begun to engage in active discussion about the ways in which he carries out the fundamental philosophy of his company.

I had witnessed him promote the use of organic and expressive movement throughout the two weeks of meetings and rehearsals, but I am beginning to wonder what exactly his master plan is for facilitating this type of movement and discovery in his newer dancers.

I came into his office with questions about the lack of modern, contemporary, or atypical training in his current company schedule at Mystic ballet. It baffled me that the dancers would transition from a classically structured class to very contemporary repertoire. I referenced my own experience with the Gaga technique (a type of movement language employed by Ohad Naharian and his studentshttp://www.batsheva.co.il/en/?iid=4 ) and mentioned how I thought it would be an effective type of tool for the way he wants  his dancers to work with organic movement. Goran is strongly against employing a stylized form of technique to facilitate discovery when he believes that the rehearsal process can accomplish the exact same thing. Rather than investing in a “marketed and capitalistic” dance workshop phenomenon like Gaga, Goran spends time working with the individual dancers as they work through the choreography stimulating their artistic process and being present in all aspects of their evolution in the company. It is obvious that Goran is passionate about molding his dancers to think and work in a specific way. Therefore, he would not take the time and the capital to use a “recipe” to do this for him. While I don’t believe that Gaga technique or various other uses of psychological and physical exploration of movement are a “recipe” for cloned dancers I do understand where he is coming from.

I decided to take a look back at my own revelation, a personal unearthing of contemporary movement style that was finally unique to me and not a larger part of an established technique that I had been trying to perfect for so many years.

After years in strict classical ballet training I continued a technical study of ballet and modern at the Southern Methodist dance program. Graham class forced my body to move in strange and new ways, proving to be frustrating yet eventually rewarding undertaking. However, this was still a continuation of a prescribed teaching model that left little room for personal discovery. It was not until the beginning of sophomore year that my good friend set a piece of her choreography and risked taking me into her fold. I performed a soloist role in this piece of pure and raw gestural movement, a type of individuality that I did not think I was capable of exuding in the intimate setting of student choreographic work. I had to completely step away from the mechanics of the steps and realize how my perception and my body needed to work to make it happen. This was the moment in my dance career where I began to understand how important it was to define movement based on my own personal investigation.

Goran is trying to find these moments for his dancers. He is trying to prod their artistic soul and draw out conceptual thought about the choreography through the ways they react physically and spiritually to the movement. This is how the dancer is able to truly identify with the movement and add multiple dimensions of individuality and quality come performance time. Personally, I think that this type of investigation requires a technical counterpart other than ballet, a full vocabulary of modern movement. I have witnessed and lived a dance that was almost always characterized by a strong technical background. But who I am to say that achieving this type of choreographic maturity in a dancer is no possible without a full dance education in multiple fields. Goran used Coco as an example. A classically trained ballet dancer who did not want to move in any sort of natural or grotesque manner is now the star of these contemporary pieces. With more intimately real movement than I often see in classically trained dancers she certainly counts as an example of Goran’s ability to mold dancers into eloquent artists.

I also have to consider that my current perspective relies on only the first two weeks of his operation. I have not be able to see how the addition of choreographers to the rehearsal will change the dynamic of the studio and the learning process for the dancers. Gabriella Lamb will be coming to Mystic Ballet for the next week teaching class and directing company rehearsal. I look forward to observing how she affects the artistic process of the budding company for the next week in order to broaden my opinion on Goran’s larger scheme.

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

“ So who is afraid of water?” This question was met with a combination of blank stares and quizzical faces. After Coco translated the question for the Japanese girls a few of them sheepishly raised their hands. Everyone was wondering what on earth Goran had up his sleeve this time.

Even with this apprehension all of Mystic Ballet could be found in the pool today, experimenting with underwater pictures for the website. Goran had the idea to display pictures of the dancers suspended in water next to the headshots, in order to show a unique view of these dancers in action. Everyone had to practice gracefully moving through the water with open eyes and a relaxed mouth, and after getting in the water myself it is certainly a lot more difficult than it looks.

For me it was extremely interesting to see how a dancer could still be a dancer in an extremely different environment. Of course I have lived this myself and seen whole groups of dancers in summer programs completely out of their usual studio element. But in this case it was for a particular purpose and it meant something throwing the unsuspecting group of bodies into the water. It will be intriguing to see what characteristics and personality traits show through in the pictures. What happens when these graceful creatures are pictured completely submerged and out of an ordinary studio setting? This was obviously part of Goran’s original intrigue, to draw out those individual qualities in a setting that would create a fascinating picture quality.

This is the perfect example of Goran working effectively to originate raw and original material to use for the good of Mystic Ballet outside of the performance venue. There is so much work behind creating and maintaining a company image that happens outside of the studio and performance hall. In this case it required the dancers to be creative while being open-minded to the will of the artistic director. This is the type of innovative experiment that can only succeed with both sides (artistic director and dancers) willing to carry out an idea while responding to challenges that arise. Sometimes the dancers just have to relinquish control and trust in the artistic director’s idea. We will see how everyone faired once we take a look at the photos. Regardless, it appeared as though the company had a nice afternoon around the pool enjoying each other’s company. 

Morgan Beckwith : Southport, CT

Last week Goran and I ventured out of the studio for our interview. A tour of Mystic Ballet’s local theatre production space. The theatre is located in the midst of the specialty shops and attractions of Olde Mystic Village (http://www.oldemistickvillage.com/).

It is modeled after a vintage theatre, serving customers who are inclined to see indie movies, musical musings, and most importantly live dance. This venue caters to both the local population and the onslaught of tourists who descend annually.

This concept is blatantly reflected in Goran’s programmatic advertising in conjunction with the theatre. He has positioned two advertisements bookending the vintage Olde Mystic village sign (pictured above). This invites the residents of Mystic and to claim Mystic Ballet as part of their contemporary milieu while welcoming the many travelers to experience the work of this evolving young company. Combining the historic and established continuation of Mystic’s history as a township with current and inventive performing arts forges a cultivated relationship. These billboards work in association with the classic sign by juxtaposition, acknowledging that these two concepts of tradition and innovation can appreciate each other and work off one another to create something quite unique. The combination of antique turn-of-the-century decoration with modern amenities creates an dynamic atmosphere. While the theatre also combines new and old technologies with foot lights, illuminating the dancers in a very traditional manner while also incorporating modern recording and staging capabilities by way of the sound booth and extra facilities.

Goran has invested a great deal of capital into the technology and professional nature of this venue. It is certainly an intimate space for viewing dance, but this is arguably the most advantageous way to experience this type of contemporary work. Goran acknowledges that as the whole concept of live performance becomes even more convoluted with available technology the trend is to get audience members closer to the things they simply cannot receive through digitized information. Human passion, interaction, and vulnerability witnessed in the flesh is a completely different experience through any alternate means. Therefore, company artistic directors and venue managers capitalize on this advantage while they can.

This modest-sized and personal theatre situated in the whimsical and quaint town of Mystic has incredible potential to hold a spectacular night of stirring live dance. I look forward to seeing these dances being realized in this stimulating space.

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

The Mystic Ballet Family

Mostly unlike the concerns that occur in a large-scale ballet company, the small contemporary ballet company is often plagued by issues of private life that make their way into the studio space. Goran does not feel like this is a hindrance or a curse, but rather a simple necessity for raising and training young dancers. In the dance world insecurity, low self-esteem, and other self-destructive contributing factors are inevitable and unavoidable for almost every budding young dancer. At the beginning of Goran’s involvement with dance a colleague told him, “Goran, why do you think so many people consider dancer’s to be just past the point of clinically insane?”. That would be because any other member of our society that looks at themselves in the mirror for seven to eight hours a day is bound to have some form psychotic break. If this strained and self-critical environment is reduced to fourteen dancers in a quaint coastal town, working on dances that require intense mental focus and adaptation, emotions and grievances are bound to make their way to the surface.

Goran acknowledges that the practice of adapting young dancers (such as the current Mystic Ballet two members) to such a rigorous artistic process requires an incredible amount of patience and time. He says that he would be capable of lashing out at these dancers and in ten minutes and they would never be able to dance again. But that is something he truly does not want for these young people. Ultimately, he considers his dancers, as the people who devote their time and energy to his mission, to be his family. And with a majority of these individuals coming from countries all over the world, (including Japan, Australia, and Nicaragua) they need a community of more than just circumstance to thrive as artists.

Goran says that if you really care about your dancers as artists and as human beings you have to be receptive to these issues. Not only does the presence of negative energy effect the troubled individual but it affects the entire atmosphere of the company workspace, and only has the potential to bring more negativity. Issues that range from concern about weight, to private family matters have to be dealt with respectably and on a case by case basis.

However, any business that produces their artistic product, live and in the flesh, has to be prepared for immediate crisis. It is not just the long term psychological and social issues that force a small dance company to be flexible. On one occasion Goran had a dancer injured during the first act of a ballet. Without a second thought he took the dancers and re-worked the entire rest of the show. This is not uncommon in live performance work, but it is especially difficult for a small cast of dancers to adapt quickly to these large amounts of intense choreographic material. There is no way to avoid an open and receptive mindset, and especially in a company like this one, it is simply in the job description.

Goran might have created this company to fuel his creative and innovative spirit, but when it comes to the well being of his dancers he views the company as an extension of his own family. 

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

Goran Subotic: the economist to the impassioned artistic director

After his wife, Desiree, coaxed Groan to stop at the famed attraction, Mystic Pizza, (made popular by the 1988 chick flick starring Julia Roberts) he felt like he had finally come across his ideal community. The secluded, but charming seaside port appeared to him as the perfect place to establish himself in America.

The couple made the ultimate investment in 1995, signing a lease on a house by the shore, making a commitment to call Mystic/Stonington, Connecticut their home. They settled into the community and after purchasing a different plot of property Desiree opened her own ballet school. Goran describes himself backstage of one of the school’s first performances as completely mesmerized by the “operation.” The possibility of a dance company, it’s combination of careful, methodical planning and the ability to employ creative license immediately re-kindled Goran’s entrepreneurial propensity.   

Meanwhile the relations between the United States and Goran’s native country of Serbia became regrettably tense. As Goran watched President Clinton discredit his nation on national TV he decided he could act in one of two ways. He could either employ violent action on his intense emotions or show the American community the culture and respectable business Serbian people were capable of generating.

On top of being an excitingly new and creative business venture Goran thought of this company as a, “beautiful thing to leave for the future of my family, a foundation and a legacy.” Unlike the precise and unemotional act of signing a contract as a prominent businessman this company would give Goran a type of “unparalleled happiness and satisfaction.” He compared

And with a heart full of enterprising spirit, thus began the process of forming a ballet company.

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

Vaneav's Swan Lake

By the end of this week the dancers have learned (or meticulously reviewed) a sizable portion of Vaneav’s ironic yet intelligent take on this paragon of classical ballet. In this step of the process the company’s social and hierarchal dynamics become tense and every dancer seems to be on the defense. The newcomers are feeling the pressure to not only perform the material they have just learned so speedily but to also adapt to Goran’s specific yet highly subjective way of cleaning choreography. The seasoned Mystic Ballet dancers simultaneously aid the newbies during their adjustment process while trying to renew and cultivate their own personal perspective on the material.  

This grotesque, sarcastic, and carnal interpretation of Swan Lake incorporates brute force with gesture to achieve a musically attentive and abstracted piece of choreography. Goran has spent the past week probing each dancer to find what it is inside of them that propagates this movement.

Goran tells his dancers to “grab it, chew it, and don’t let it go,” referring to their animalistic sensibility towards another member of the production. He often questions the dancer’s sense of focus in their role, “close your eyes and envision the material with the music.” He demands they have a “clear vision of what is happening in your[their] head, every single atom of your [their] body has to react. In this sense he asks his dancers to use the studio space as not only a place to experiment with the physical body but to utilize the room for constant psychological investigation. This is no longer the ballet school environment where one can simply agree with their superior. Here Goran could call on a dancer at any moment asking them to come up with their own elucidation of the choreographic material. Goran gives them the steps but asks that they think and move in their own intelligent and informed voice.

The environment of this experimentation is crucial. Goran begs of his dancers to “eliminate the reality around them, to keep their own focus and build on it because this ultimately a work place.” Giggles and insecure answers to Goran’s questions are meet with a stern yet patient speech about the serious mindset required to complete the difficult task of learning and perfecting choreography in this manner. There is no time to waste on individuals who are not comfortable enough to act as the choreography and sensibility of the piece requires. Creating multiple layers of meaning and sentiment for each step does not leave any time for dancers who are not present in every moment. Each person in the room must be on the same level of commitment and reasonability.

However, it is obvious that this particular approach needs to be adapted in the case of group work. For example there is one signature step that is repeated several times by dancers. In trying to determine how to best execute this with the same quality on different bodies Alex came up with the imagery of hitting a nail into a piece of wood with the side of his head. Funnily enough, this visualization made a huge difference in the similarity of the dancer’s performance of the step. So much of this work is strategic problem solving. However, in this case the artistic can never rely on a formula to solve his or her challenge.  

At the end of the day Goran acknowledges that he is a very difficult person to please. But I have to say I do not know of any artistic director who is easily satisfied. 

Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

Origins of Mystic Ballet

Goran equates the creation of his company to the birthing of a camel (with two humps). After retiring from a life of an economist with a PHD in business management and marketing Goran was fortunate enough to explore what intrigued him. For him this meant leaving Serbia, being able to truly see the world and make new and enchanting acquaintances. He was involved with the arts his whole life. However, he received pressure from his parents at a young age to become a “provider,” and learn a lucrative skill. It might have been this very restrictive and socialist upbringing that urged him to get deeply involved with the arts later in his life.

In America he met his wife Desiree, a principal dancer at the time, and sought to be involved in this intriguing cultural world. After marrying Desiree and acknowledging that the feuds in his native country were not going to be resolved in the near future Goran knew he would not be returning to his hometown. This would be the first time someone in his family had emigrated from their town in five hundred and seventeen years. But he acknowledges that he was in fact already the black sheep for marrying a foreigner. Originally him and his new wife were to move to the Caribbean Islands. However his friends rolled their eyes saying, “Goran, you will either blow up this island or dig a tunnel.” So the day of his flight reservations he decided to make his stay in the United States permanent. However, the process of choosing a town was more difficult than imagined. They drove from Phoenix, Arizona up and down the east coast narrowing down their search to New England. Goran new that he wanted to settle in a small community, one where him and his future family could belong. But he said there was the slight problem that, “people in New England take twenty years to accept you.”

And here he is twenty years later, the artistic director of a ballet company who serves the children and adults of the community through an extensive classical ballet school, and thought-provoking performances.

More to come about the unique formation of this Ballet Company germinated from this steadfast and idiosyncratic entrepreneur.