GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) - The dancers’ faces are focused, their postures straight and their moves fluid and graceful as they move across the dance studio floor.
When dance director Kara Felmlee pushes play and the music begins, two reactions follow simultaneously: It turns on the dance and turns off everything else.
The class has an emphasis on Cecchetti - one of the most rigid, demanding and most respected methods of ballet. And the students understand the challenging undertaking.
Not for the casual dancer
Felmlee and staff teacher Maggie Poloncic make it clear at the beginning of their Gillette class that learning Cecchetti isn’t for the faint of heart or the casual dancer. It’s for those who truly have a desire to learn the art, even possibly taking their craft to the next level of professional dance.
“The goal is education in terms of competing,” Felmlee said. “Here, we’re very dedicated in what we’re doing. I talked with all of the students and told them and their parents that this is for the serious student. If there’s no love of ballet, this isn’t the right school for them. But the students are very enthusiastic about it.”
With the demanding nature of the class, Felmlee and Poloncic thought they would be happy with five to seven students who would embrace the challenge.
They now have 21.
“We found a lot more interest than we thought we would,” Felmlee said. “We wanted to focus on teaching and we were pleasantly surprised. We even had to tell some that we are full.”
Cecchetti dancers move up through 10 levels of certification and a final diploma level, much like a martial artist rises in belt colors, Felmlee said.
Once a technique is learned, the student performs an examination in front of a Cecchetti member unaffiliated with the class to be certified on the level. Felmlee and Poloncic have a goal for each of their dancers to earn one certification every season, but the first few classes may take a year each.
“The dancers prepare physically, they need to know the terminology, the theory and we prep them for that,” Felmlee said. The testers “put them through a series of prepared classes to make sure they know their stuff and they’re graded upon that.”
Within the next year, Felmlee and Poloncic hope to become the first Cecchetti-certified dance studio in Wyoming.
The students
Kendall Gemar is one of the dancers learning the method. The 11-year-old has been dancing since she was 3 years old and is excited to get to know as much as she can.
“I like it because it feels very free, so I like doing that,” she said. “Kara helps us make everything correct and she’ll fix us if we’re off.”
The class is separated into two groups: a younger, less experienced bunch that Felmlee teaches and an older, more veteran group of girls coached by Poloncic.
Emily McElvery, 14, is a member of the veteran group. She has been dancing for 10 years and was initially surprised by the learning curve of the Cecchetti method.
“It’s difficult. The hardest part has been adjusting to the intensity,” she said. “But the teachers are really good. It’s my second home here, and it’s not possible without the teachers and the other students.”
In mid-October, Felmlee welcomed Betty Seibert, director of examination for Cecchetti USA, to Gillette to put on a workshop for students and instructors. The workshop consisted of five hours of ballet instruction a day for four days, and Seibert said she was impressed with the students and her warm reception.
“We look forward to welcoming Kara Felmlee into Cecchetti USA,” Seibert says in a press release. “We are also excited to be adding Wyoming as another state which can provide qualified Cecchetti ballet instruction.”
McElvery said the experience was “phenomenal” to bring someone who knows so much about the art and adds another unique perspective.
Rigorous and extensive
Felmlee pushes play on the music and a quick, melodious tone plays through the speakers. Kendall is one of the first students to get her turn to dance diagonally across the studio while Felmlee offers instructions.
“Hey, what’s wrong with this picture?” Felmlee points to the hands each dancer has folded above her abdomen.
A bunch of hands shoot up as each girl wants to throw out an answer. Felmlee chooses a hand in the first row.
“It’s too high.”
“Right, where should it be?”
“The stomach.”
“Yeah, remember, where’s your beach ball? If you hold it like that, it’s going to fall. Listen to the music,” she instructs. “It’s telling you to be graceful, easy.”
Another young dancer, Emma Hayden, 10, has been dancing for seven years and said the hardest part of the class is staying on the music, because Felmlee will correct them when they’re off.
One of the differences between Cecchetti and other styles is that Felmlee and Poloncic are students just as much as they are teachers. They also have five teacher certification ranks to complete, and the hope is that they reach the top level within the next few years.
“The best teachers are the best students,” said Felmlee, who has been practicing several forms of dance for 20 years. “It takes a lot of time, but I love it. It’s important to me.”
After the last note wafts through the speakers, Felmlee gathers her dancers to the center of the studio where they all hug and talk about their next rehearsal.
It’s not an easy art to learn, nor is it quickly adopted. But that’s why the reward is so much better in the end.
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Information from: The Gillette (Wyo.) News Record, https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com
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