Hubbard_Teacher_Guide_-_FINAL

PABLOPIANTINOMEREDITHDINCOLOWhat kinds of things do you do in aschool for dance?I went to regular high school andthen went to Juilliard. We had twoclasses a day, usually modern andballet. We also had to study thingslike music history, anatomy, and otherclasses. We also did acting classes orother types of dance, and at the endof the day we’d have a rehearsal forpieces. There were concerts three orfour times a year.I didn’t actually go to school fordance, but I can tell you more aboutour daily schedule here. If we havesomeone who has been invited in,sometimes we devote the entire dayto their creation. We may spendan entire day working on the samething, which can be really helpful tomake progress. Otherwise, we oftenalternate repertoire throughout theday and break up our day into differentrehearsal periods. We don’talways have set partnerships, sothere is a lot of discussion betweendancers trying to solve problems. It’sa pretty collaborative effort. Even ina creation, sometimes you need towait for direction, but also sometimesthey allow you to work things outdifferently from how they originallyproposed. In this company there’s alot of involvement with the dancers.Did you ever have trouble with nervesor stage fright? If so, how did you dealwith it?There’s always some nervousness, butnot stage fright. Maybe when I was16 or 17, things would go wrong andI’d kind of freak out, but you just learnto keep going. The idea is that you’vepracticed the moves enough that yourbody can keep going even when thingshappen. It’s mostly only afterward that Iworry, but during I don’t get nervous.I usually get a nervous excitement,but it doesn’t inhibit the steps.I’ve had moments right before thecurtain goes up where I’ll forget thepiece, but once it begins it all comesback to you. You’ve just rehearsed itso much that you can do it on autopilotif you have to. Personally, I likethat energy.How do you stay motivated? What doyou do when you don’t feel inspired towork hard?I just try to stay positive. My parentsand my teachers have been greatmentors to me. Every day I try to enjoymyself and remind myself that I’mlucky to live what I love.I think the physical nature of ourwork is such that you can alwaysget something out of it, and it canbe really cathartic because of thepure physicality of it, even if you’renot feeling expressive. We’re a littlespoiled in that what we’re doing iswhat we love to do, and it’s somethingthat we would choose to doanyway. And when it’s not somethingthat you want to do it can feellike work, but it is still satisfying.