For the love of dance
2009-01-29
Marguerite Lombard
AT this time of the year, scores of little girls will enrol for their first ballet class. For the new intakes, the expectations are always high: mother dreams of ballet opportunities she did not have, and her daughter dreams of a pink tutu and wings that will transform her into a fairy. Bianca Baxter is one of seven ballet teachers working in Wellington and Paarl. “For many parents every girl must do ballet, maybe it is has something to do with the pink outfit, but most are also aware of the benefits of taking ballet: good posture, muscle development, and above all, the tough discipline it requires to become a good dancer. “Not everybody will become a ballerina. You only get a handful in your career as a teacher, but if a child loves to dance, the ballet will give him or her an excellent foundation for other dance types,” she explains. Bianca’s own career as a dancer and later as a dance teacher began in Wellington. “I grew up in Wellington. I think I was about five years old when I started school, and when I was about seven my best friend started ballet. “I went along and really loved it and I was good at it too! I think my parents were a little surprised and rather expected me to stick to athletics. “I continued with my athletics, but just loved to dance. So in high school I enrolled at New Orleans to take ballet as a subject.” After matric she auditioned for the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) ballet school. “I was accepted, but I always had a passion to teach ballet rather than dance professionally. UCT was not for me.” Instead Bianca joined Jennifer Louw’s programme in Bellville to learn how to teach. “Jennifer became my teacher and mentor. We had classes all week at her studio, danced and taught, and learned about the history of the dance, music, anatomy, and how to teach young children.” “There is a lot more to teaching than most people realise. You need to understand how the body works, and especially how children develop.” Bianca started teaching at the age of 18, first teaching in Wellington and then also in Paarl. “For a teacher it is very tough, because you get so little time to dance yourself – just demonstrating dance moves. You are also teaching all day, often until 20:00 at night.” To take time out and relax, Bianca has a fail proof recipe: “A slice of good chocolate cake and a massage. I love a massage. There must be no music. I hear music all day, so I just want to be very peaceful and quiet.” Her ballet school is based in the hall of Huguenot Primary School, and she also teaches at New Orleans and La Rochelle in Paarl. The first term of the school year is just about settling the dancers down into a routine, coping with the summer heat and teaching the young dancers all about posture and development. Then there are eisteddfods during the second term, and then there are the major exams in the fourth. The highlight of the ballet year is the end of the year production which Bianca choreographs to give all her dancers the opportunity to show off their skills. “Last year for the first time I got the feeling of really achieving something – quite something, considering that I have been teaching for almost 13 years! “You know, you are always building and building, and the children come and go. Now at last, I have three senior dancers that I have had since grade one. That is so satisfying.” What does she look for in a dancer? “Flexibility is the most important,” she explains, “then muscle tone, medium height, beautiful feet, and above all passion. “I would much rather have someone who maybe does not have the ideal body type, but is prepared to work; someone who has the heart and discipline.” Last year Bianca took nine of her senior dancers to Italy to take part in a Cecchetti Summer School. For the young dancers the experience was an eye-opener. “The standard was incredibly high, and the facilities absolutely amazing. There were seventeen-year-olds dancing six and seven hours a day preparing for the Royal Ballet School. Their muscles were beautifully developed and they looked absolutely incredible. “The exposure was fantastic. When we returned I noticed that my dancers seemed to be a lot more motivated and disciplined. They seem to have a lot more respect for what I was trying to teach them.” They had learned the essence of what it takes to become a dancer.
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