This month our artist of the month is Hernan Justo, dancer, choreographer and artistic director of the Carolina Ballet Theatre. Hernan started his dancing career in Argentina and
during his career he performed throughout South America and Europe. In the U.S he has been principal dancer for the North Carolina Dance Theatre.
Forum Artistico: What has been the reason that made you become a ballet dancer?
Hernan: The main reason was the family situation that pushed me to have some extra activities; the decision of ballet was because I went with my mother to see the movie “Singing in the Rain” and I couldn’t stop dancing after the movie so Gene Kelly was my first inspiration.
F.A.: Did anybody influence your decision and support it from the beginning?
Hernan: My family, my mom especially, was a great influence. Also I was very cute at nine years old as a dancer so I got a lot of acceptance from the people around me; it built my self-esteem.
F.A.: What kind of dance training do you have?
Hernan: Mostly ballet and some contemporary work and jazz in the early years of my training. But even today now that I choreograph more contemporary ballets, my training is 100% classical academic training.
F.A.: You began your career in Argentina in the 70’s; your country was under a military dictatorship; how hard was it for a young artist like yourself to find the resources and opportunities to make a living?
Hernan: I actually started in 1974 and the military junta took over in 1976. The unstable political environment started in 1972. That made it a tough situation in my family because they were involved in politics. That was one of the reasons that I started ballet. Democracy came back in 1983 (in that year I was serving my military service that was obligatory at that time) the actual economic collapse of Argentina came with democracy. The collapse made it really hard to find a job. I did everything I could: musicals and many other types of work. In 1985 I was hired by the second major company in my country but the economic crisis didn’t allow us to perform much. Then in 1988 I left the country to join the Ballet de Santiago in Chile. A fantastic company where I actually made most of my connections that resulted in my coming here to the USA.
F.A.: You danced in many countries. Which one has been the place that you liked the most?
Hernan: I loved all of them for different reasons but America is the place where I like to live. For me Argentina and Venezuela have the best and warmest audiences while Chile is more organized administratively and Italy has good taste in ballet. Bulgaria has the love for ballet and America has the greatest energy.
F.A.: Do you have any anecdote that you want to share with us?
Hernan: I performed Black Swan Pas de Deux under the rain in an open theatre at 3:00AM when I won the Best Couple award at the XV International Ballet competition in Varna Bulgaria.
F.A.: Can you tell us how your dancing journey brought you to the Carolinas?
Hernan: After I won the competition in France in 1993, the director of North Carolina Dance Theatre, the late Salvatore Aiello, contacted me to audition for his company. In December 1993 I flew from Caracas to Charlotte, NC and spent a week taking classes with the company. I fell in love with his vision and decided to join the company. I retired in 2000 after 8 seasons and moved to Greenville, SC. The company there, the Carolina Ballet Theatre, was searching for a teacher and director for the pre-professional company. After 5 years I created a professional ballet company with 10 full time employed dancers.
F.A: Tell us more about the company and your role?
Hernan: I teach, choreograph and direct the company. It is a small organization: 10 dancers and 2 staff members that work really hard to keep the company alive. We do 5 major shows per year including The Nutcracker. Two shows are children oriented and two shows include contemporary works. We are proud because our repertoire includes works by Balanchine, Alonzo King and other guest choreographers and we have resident choreographers in the company too.
F.A.: As Artistic Director do you choreograph the pieces of the company?
Hernan: I choreograph a lot; sometimes I choreograph too much but it is the most inexpensive way to set a season. Guest choreographers are expensive but every season we try to have at least one piece from a guest. I never do a full evening of my work. I believe that very few choreographers can handle a full evening of their work.
F.A.: Now that you are at this stage of your career and you are regularly teaching dance, do you teach only ballet or other dance disciplines?
Hernan: I only teach ballet because I studied methodology. We have to be careful sometimes because even if I danced Paul Taylor ballets, and Martha Graham ballets and Balanchine ballets that does not mean that I can teach those different techniques. I only trained to teach ballet because I study for that. Today, way too many ex-dancers believe they can teach ballet after they quit. Teaching ballet is a whole different profession than dancing. Your dancing experience is very valuable for your teaching but before you teach there is a lot of reading to do, there is a lot of methodology to learn.
F.A.: What are you looking for in a young dancer auditioning for your company?
Hernan: I don’t have an aesthetic look for my company. I have tall dancers, short dancers, dancers with perfect ballet bodies, and some other ones that do not have great feet and extensions. (Does not really matter what kind of legs you have if you don’t know how to move them). The major requirement is being enthusiastic and understanding our role in society. We are entertainers and our mission is to entertain audiences no matter what. Being an artist is about generosity. If you are not willing to give as much as you can in your dancing for your community then this is no company for you.
F.A.: In your long career you have been playing a lot of roles. Which one is your favorite?
Hernan: Classical, probably Albrecht in the ballet “Giselle”. In Balanchine works the Phlegmatic in the ballet “The Four Temperaments”, but the highlight of my career was to work and perform choreographies by Alonzo King.
F.A.: How was your transition from dancer to teacher?
Hernan: It was really good. I stopped dancing at my peak and was physically in very good shape with no injuries. I was 39 with an extensive professional career. My first professional work was at 17, so I had 22 years of professional experience with one year interval of military service. But today looking back I feel that dancing was the pre-stage of my real passion which is teaching and coaching. I knew in 1998 that I wanted to start teaching and it took me two years to change from a full time dancer/part time teacher to a full time teacher/part time dancer and now I am a full time teacher only.
F.A: What is the advice that you would give to a young dancer?
Hernan: Try to realize if dancing is for you as soon as you can. The only reason to dance is because we can’t live without it. No other reason should drive you to dance. The pay is bad, you get injured a lot, it is a short career, it is a lot of unhealthy competition, very often people treat you badly, it is a lot of politics but if you love it, it is worth all the hassle. However, it is a very honorable profession. Being an artist is being an instrument of beauty. I have a huge respect for artists that give it all even when they are in physical or emotional pain and they do it just to deliver beauty. I love my dancers just for that reason. I have endless meetings to fundraise money to pay their salaries just because they give so much in their art that is inspirational to me.
F.A.: Do you have any upcoming projects?
Hernan: I want to do a ballet inspired by the life of Beethoven. I have all the music picked and the storyline set. I know that it will be contemporary but in pointe shoes but I have not choreographed a step yet.
F.A.: Do you want to share anything else with us?
Hernan: I believe we are in tough economic times to keep art alive. A lot of commercial art is taking the lead, some with good quality but most without. Some works out there are cheesy and are cheap versions of what real deal of what it is to be an artist. Bad actors on TV doing bad work, bad dancers with no real training. Sometimes it is frustrating seeing people working really hard everyday for very little money per week when you see on TV people making thousands with no training at all but this is our time. I am not saying that you can’t be an artist and be financially successful but in these times what succeeds are things without any depth or sophistication. That’s why bad quality gets rewarded.
Please whoever reads this don’t get tempted to do bad work because it pays better. Keep pushing for quality work. What makes you noble is not the result, it is the process.
If you want to know more about Hernan Justo see his profile in our community.
