On Technique

7. Gloria Govrin

56 Gloria Govrin “Ballet is a very clever art form—just eight or nine movements can produce a trained dancer.” Gloria Govrin has been a soloist with the New York City Ballet and associate director of the San Francisco Ballet School. She is now the school director of Minnesota Dance Theatre. We lived in Newark, New Jersey, and I had a mother who had wanted to be a dancer. She was a very arts-savvy person and found a Russian teacher whom she took me to when I was only two and a half. I was lucky she was a good teacher. I next went to Fred Danieli, who had Marie Jeanne teaching for him. I didn’t get to the School of American Ballet until I was 12. Gloria Govrin. Photo courtesy of the artist. Gloria Govrin 57 I took one class and knew SAB was where I wanted to be. I was put into level C. My mother’s philosophy was that if you’re the best in your class, then it’s time to change classes, and if your school is not training you to standard, then it’s time to change schools. She was very mindful of getting the best training. When I was only 14, Mr. B watched class and wanted me to go to Australia on tour, but I was too young, and when he found out how old I really was, he said it would be too much trouble, having to have my mother along as a chaperone, tutor me, and obtain a visa. I worked hard to graduate from high school—going to summer school and never taking time off—so I could graduate at 16. It was a joy and a highlight of my life to be able to work with Mr. Balanchine . The first thing he choreographed for me was one of the variations in Raymonda Variations, which is really a waltz with variations, in 1961 when I was 18. He did the whole variation in only 45 minutes. He treated dancers very kindly and would work with us to make us look good. He expected loyalty, dedication, and hard work. He made the role of Hippolyta in Midsummer Night’s Dream for me. I was kind of like a short-distance runner in that it’s all jumps and entrances and exits. He revised Coffee for me in Nutcracker. I laugh every time I recall that he told me he had wanted to do a ballet version of Salome but was not sure how much he could have had us take off. I love ballet, and I try to have the students here share in that joy. You have to be very focused and, in a very real sense, leave everything else behind. It means that you have to keep “climbing the mountain.” I try to inspire the students to work harder and know there is a lot more in the well if they are not digging deep enough. I retired from performing in 1974 and am now in my mid-sixties. I decided at 50 to get back in class. I was at Pennsylvania Ballet and can still recall the feeling that came over me when the pianist struck the first chords and I remembered what had been missing from my life. As a teacher, I consider myself a taskmaster and ask a lot from the students. They know it’s possible. Effort counts, although results often come later. The body learns through repetition. With command of the body and native intellect, you can learn choreography. I believe we can focus on only one thing at a time and that it’s better to be simple. Class should be about basics. 58 On Technique We want the girls to look feminine and everything they do to look “beautiful,” otherwise they can get buried in among the competition. We look for footwork, pointe work, extension, musicality, and strength. All of the teachers watch each other’s classes, and we borrow and learn from each other. I try to be very aware of all the students and their strengths and weaknesses. I want our students to be hungry for ballet and ambitious . I want them to eat, drink, and sleep ballet. They all have a good attitude. I love talent and talented people. Being surrounded by people who are better than you—it’s what makes you reach...