This month our “Artist of the Month” is the writer, Nadine Lavi.
Nadine has written regularly for Dance International magazine for the past decade, and has a regular blog, “Nadine Lavi’s Dance Notes,” at Forum Artistico. She published her first book last
year, and is working on several others, a screenplay, and is teaching English Composition to college students in New York City.
Nadine Lavi
Forum Artistico: Why did you choose to become a writer?
Nadine: I didn’t choose it, it chose me. I wrote my first “novel” when I was 10; a sort of western with a female heroine. It was 36 pages long. I always loved reading and felt drawn to words and their powers of description and a sense of understanding that they give about the world, much as movement in dance does.
F.A: Where did you study?
Nadine: I never actually studied writing. I went to Brooklyn College when I thought I would not make it as a ballet dancer because I had had bad training which resulted in injuries, so I turned my attention to academics. In college, I had two professors, Karl Beckson, who was from Harvard, who taught me how to understand and analyze a text, and Carole Rose Livingston, who was very down to earth. She was the first person to look at my writing in college and tell me I needed to improve, a lot! It was her attention that pushed me to explore how to write better. That eventually resulted in my first book, Facing the Blank Page: Making Writing Easy, which I now use in my classes when I teach.
F.A.: How and when did you start writing professionally? Was it easy for you to start?
Nadine: I started writing professionally with my first article about Paloma Herrera for Dance International magazine in 1998. She was and still is a big influence on me. Her performances inspired me to get back into dancing and also to explore the idea of writing both an article and a book about her. I made a study of how to write – in other words, I broke down the steps for myself so I could understand it, for example with magazine articles, then I would put it all back together like a puzzle. If I wanted to write for a particular magazine, I also studied their format – what style their articles were like and then I tried to match that so my article would fit in with the others. That gave me a security about writing, and I still do that with everything I write, so I am not afraid. If I have any doubts, those are the natural ones that all people have, but they disappear when I get into the work and just focus on accomplishing.
F.A.: Reading your biography, it seems that your grandfather has had a great influence on you. Can you tell us a little about him and why is an important figure in your life?
Nadine: My grandfather was a remarkable person. He was elitist, very educated, a renaissance man who spoke 9 languages, was a chess master, a child prodigy of the violin, a painter and a writer, and he had a great international career as a soloist and concertmaster of some famous orchestras around the world. He also survived the war (WWII) with much courage and incredible luck and determination, and his life is the subject of a screenplay I am currently working on. As a person, he was intense and domineering, a powerful figure who was also charismatic, cultured and funny. He was a very strong voice and influence in my life. Perhaps because he was such a strong figure, he gave me a role model for how to be and also for how to carry great fame (should I ever attain that :) and how to be confident and secure in one’s talents and abilities. He was also very smart and sharp. I still hear his voice sometimes and especially now that I am writing the film, I hear it even more.
F.A.: You wrote and keep writing a lot about dancing especially for Dance International magazine. Why write about dance? Tell us about the dancer behind Nadine the writer.
Nadine: It was really Paloma who inspired me to put down in words all the beautiful and moving things she was and is doing on the stage. It was a privilege to be able to interview great dancers like Paloma, Julie Kent, Veronika Part, David Hallberg, Susan Jaffe, Herman Cornejo, Angel Corella, and to get to know them for those articles for the magazine. There were other great dancers and coaches like Wendy Whelan, Willy Burmann, David Howard, and Fabrice Herrault, whom I also interviewed for articles, which I am hoping to turn into a book on dancers. I was inspired by those great dancers, and seeing them in class, being alongside them at the barre or in the center, gave me even more of an understanding of what they were doing and of how I myself could improve as a dancer. I had competed in gymnastics as a child and then I switched to ballet after seeing the NYCB perform on tv. I ended up performing with a few little companies but was always getting injured so that was frustrating.
But I felt and still feel, that one of the ways in which I can honor the inspiring dancers around me, some of whom I have come to know quite well, is to commit my understanding and appreciation of them to print, so that people will “see” them dancing when they read my words, and then want to go see them on stage. To be an artist, and here I am talking about a dancer, is in my view, the highest contribution that can be made by a human being, because the arts are the symbol of hope and inspiration for people, they are what carry humanity beyond the mundane and elevate human expression to the level of the divine. When all else is taken care of, when basic needs are met, we look to the arts to enoble the spirit, to channel our deepest hopes and dreams, to symbolize our highest ideals which are then realized in expression, in this case, in movement. It is also that dance is the most difficult and the noblest, I think, of all art forms; it exalts the human body and draws from it the highest realization of its potential and beauty.
Nadine Lavi
F.A.: Now that we know that you danced professionally in NYC, tell us a little about your beginnings and your actual training.
Nadine: I don’t know if I would say that I danced professionally. I was paid, and in a company and danced the classical ballets in the corps and did a few other roles, like character roles and pas de trois, etc., but when I look at my technique at the time, I see many flaws that I would not have paid to go watch had I been in the audience…whatever impression I made on the stage was surely due more to potential, presence and some dramatic focus as opposed to technique. What I can say is that I had training by someone quite well known, with whom the dance community has a love/hate relationship. Many people were helped by this person and many were ruined in terms of technique. I had shin splints, and probably other problems that I didn’t realize, throughout the time I was trying to progress in dancing, and I didn’t know that physical therapy and a different approach to some of the things I was doing would have helped. At one point they became so painful that I had to quit. It was only after I began a kind of therapy with Robert van Buren, a physical therapist who works on dancers that I began to change certain things.
When I returned to class, I started with Dawn Hillen at Steps, whose gentle approach was really good. She is a really good teacher and she gave me many good corrections that helped me a lot. She has a keen understanding of what works to make technique easy and I still take her class to work more slowly and carefully on technique. She draws a lot on her own experience as a principal dancer and says many things that really work and make you a better dancer. She is also great in terms of making people feel confident in themselves and many beginners make progress and find her classes very rewarding as a result.
After a time, I began taking Fabrice Herrault’s class at Steps. With his Paris Opera Ballet training, he is, in my opinion, the kind of teacher who has no equal and for me, in particular, it was a great fit. When you find a teacher like that whose corrections make sense to you in a very deep and organic way and who teaches you to dance organically, you just know it is a great gift. He was kind enough to give me his time in private lessons for a year and a half. During that time, he said we would start over from plie and he threw out pretty much everything I thought I knew. With his remarkable training and gift for teaching, his emphasis on placement and alignment, musicality, and no tension in the body, he was able to change my body physically and to give me a foundation for French training. His class is also a joy to take because it is designed precisely to make you work the most efficiently, logically and beautifully. If you look at his dancers, some of whom are in big companies today, you see the completeness of the training he offers. Of course, it’s up to the student to maintain it, and these days, between everything I am doing, I think consistency is the hardest thing. It remains a challenge, but I find that his classes invariably help in every way to pull the most out of me. At this point, he is in my head in terms of corrections and comments, and whenever I teach, as sometimes I sub, I give his combinations and his corrections, as much as I am able.
Nadine at ABT gala 2010.
F.A: Because of your work you interviewed a lot of famous dancers. Do you have any anecdotes to tell us?
Nadine: I have a lot of stories, but they are all off the record. But I can talk about the time last year, when I was invited to cover the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition in Switzerland for one weekend on an all expenses paid trip. I got no sleep because I was so excited to be there to see all the dancers in the final competition rounds, and also because I was trying to interview as many of the dancers and their coaches as possible, most of whom didn’t speak any English, so it had to be conducted through interpreters who came with them. After the final round, when the winner of the Prix was announced, everyone celebrated, and I happened to see him when the evening was over, as we were staying at the same hotel. I wanted to get an interview, but as he spoke no English and was there with his mom who also didn’t know any English, it was a challenge. He was from Spain, but knew French. I knew if I didn’t get some quotes from him it would ruin the article as he won the competition. So we sat in the hotel lobby at around midnight and did a whole interview in French and somehow I remembered enough to actually have a conversation. It ended up being a good interview with me taking notes in French with lots of mistakes I am sure, but I was able to translate it after and use it for the article for the magazine. So it seems that when you are on the spot, you can rise to the occasion.
F.A.: Who are your favorite female and male dancers?
Nadine: Paloma is always a favorite. Alina Cojocaru, Marie Agnes Gillot, Claire Marie Osta, the entire corps of the Paris Opera Ballet, many Kirov ballet dancers, Sylvie Guillem, David Hallberg, Veronika Part, Gillian Murphy, Wendy Whelan, Herman Cornejo, Angel Corella, Julie Kent, Polina Semionova, Lucia Lacarra, Alessandra Ferri, all the greats…and there are some very talented up and coming dancers like Sarah Lane, Mathilde Froustey…basically anyone who has a clear technique and who dances without tension, has a dramatic sensibility, great artistry and the potential to develop their gifts.
F.A.: Is there a special dancer that you’d like to write about that you haven’t yet?
Nadine: Daniil Simkin, Alina Cojocaru are two who come to mind.
F.A.: You also teach English in New York City and you published “Facing the Blank Page: Making Writing Easy” which is your first “technical” book in its second printing. What makes your book different from others on the art of writing? What new ideas can we find in it?
Nadine: My book is actually based on all the handouts I made up over the years of teaching trying to find what worked for students who didn’t know how to write anything other than the compositions they learned to write in high school. I put all the handouts together in a book and asked my former roommate, Elena, who is an artist, to design the cover. The difference between this book and others is that this is a writing and reading guide with very specific explanations about what to do and how to do it to write clearly. The goal in writing is to inform and entertain, but if there is no structure, much like in ballet, it is impossible to understand what you want to say, much less be entertained. So my emphasis is on using a format of ideas, explanations and examples, and to stick to a structure that I have broken down for the students so that it’s clear. Once one has mastered the structure, then there is freedom, the same as in dance.
F.A: You are using your book when you teach. What response are you getting from your students?
Nadine: The book has gone over quite well. We have a very high success rate in particular with passing the ACT exam which all incoming college students are required to pass, based on the techniques I came up with. Pretty much everyone who applies the ideas in the book ends up writing at a higher and more organized level by the end of a semester than when they first started. And the stories in the book are varied and entertaining for the most part so students don’t seem to get bored. I add things in class when I discuss the book. In particular I try to emphasize that the students should not take it all so seriously and I try to give them extra examples to make them laugh, after all it is only English and not brain surgery. I find that many students are afraid of writing, they lack confidence and they think it is an impossible task. But writing doesn’t have to be hard or mysterious; it is doable and it can be fun and easier once you know what you are doing and you do it consistently, as with ballet.
F.A.: Did you ever think about writing a novel?
Nadine: I actually started a romance novel with David Granovsky, who is collaborating with me on a number of projects. But right now, I am attending to other things.
F.A.: What projects are you working on now?
Nadine: Right now, I am working on the screenplay about my grandfather’s life. I am also working on a book about a dear friend, Marc Brew, who is a dancer who was paralyzed in a car wreck 13 years ago. He is amazing and so inspirational and he still dances and choreographs. There is the chance for his life to change as stem cell treatments are available and there have been cases when paralyzed people walked again after the treatment. David Granovsky, who is a stem cell advocate and expert, is working with me to add information about that area to the book, and together we are also planning to form a foundation in Marc’s name to help him and other paralyzed dancers get money for this treatment. It may extend to non-dancers with paralysis as well; at this point we are trying to set everything up. In addition, I am working on other articles including another one about Fabrice, his protégé Beatriz Stix-Brunell, an article for The New Yorker magazine on David, and other articles. I am also always working on improving as a dancer. Future projects include a book about David, and two other screenplays.
F.A.: Anything else you want to share with us?
Nadine: I hope that the screenplay will become a movie. There are so many people who have helped me get to this point, and I already have a big list of people I will have to thank who have helped me along the way should the film be realized. But I wonder if, because of the war scenes, whether I will be able to watch my own movie! At any rate, I think it is a special project on many levels and I hope it will happen. And I want to thank Forum Artistico for giving me this opportunity, both to write my blog and to share a little bit about what I am doing personally and professionally to realize my potential in all areas of my life.
