Beatriz Stix-Brunell: First-class dancing from a young dancer on the rise

If you haven’t heard the name, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, then one may well ask where you have been lately, because this lovely young dancer has been making quite an impression on the ballet world for some time. Though just 16, she has already been featured in Vogue magazine, Pointe magazine, New York magazine, and has garnered the attention of London and New York critics for her first-rate technique and her beautiful dancing.

Already a member of Christopher Wheeldon’s The Morphoses company for over a year, she has held her own at performances with such stars as Maria Kowrowski and Wendy Whelan. She has also made of Wheeldon’s occasionally angular movements and pretty enchainments interspersed with unusual transitions, a seamless whole in which the beauty of her form and expression is paramount.

This is no small achievement for anyone, let alone such a young dancer.  Stix-Brunell has a definite poise, a sterling technique, excellent coordination and musicality, and a keen understanding of how a dance is composed and of how to put it back together again so that it is like a film, unfolding with just the right tone, tempo, dramatic sensibility, making for a complete composition that is quite pleasing to the eye. 

It can be said that both her vision, (and one must be able both to envision and to handle a great career--which Stix-Brunell is likely to have), and her intelligence, informs her dancing. She is very aware of how she relates to space and to other dancers. Indeed, there is a completeness to her dancing in terms of artistry, technique, musicality, dynamic, polish and presence that is startling to find in such a young dancer today, and that surely heralds great things to come.

Stix-Brunell has been blessed with a beautiful body; with long legs and arms and pretty feet, a slender neck and a lovely face, a pleasing line, innate talent, and the willingness to work hard so as to realize her fullest potential. This is the kind of dancer about whom one can say, “Fortune favors the prepared.” Part of that good fortune is being under the tutelage of her teacher, Fabrice Herrault, who has a gift for training dancers so that they acquire the purest technique and the highest level of artistry which can then be applied to any school of dance.

And though one would hope that other dancers at the professional level are able to handle neoclassical Balanchine ballets or traditional Petipa classics like Sleeping Beauty, it is an open secret that in fact, many dancers are less than capable when it comes to switching between different schools and styles of dance. One can see that here is a Balanchine dancer, or say that this star or that one is just a bit better in Swan Lake than in Balanchine’s Theme and Variations because of stylistic emphasis that recalls the training of a particular school and which may not be as suited to a different type of choreography.

But although Stix-Brunell has been trained in the Paris Opera Ballet syllabus, both from her days at the L’Ecole de Danse de L’Opera de Paris, and Herrault’s private lessons and coaching, she can, happily, dance any style. One cannot say that, in reality, she is more of a classical dancer than a contemporary one, or vice versa. This suggests that she has a pure technique that is free of mannerism, and this, in and of itself, is a remarkable thing. It is one of the reasons, in addition to her talent, that she is such a joy to watch.

Whether one sees her in class dancing Herrault’s classical combinations, some of which come directly from the Paris Opera Ballet’s company class, or whether she is dancing Wheeldon’s contemporary choreography, she is effortless, on the music, and draws out the steps to their fullest, with an energy and sensuality that delights. It should also be noted that when Stix-Brunell dances, there is no tension in the body.

This is the hallmark of a stellar technique, and a quality that is, sadly, illustrated very rarely, and only by today’s greatest dancers; Herman Cornejo and Alina Cojocaru come to mind in this regard. It is no exaggeration to say that Stix-Brunell, although she is just at the beginning of her career, already embodies all of the elements necessary to make a dancer of the caliber of these two wonderful artists.

Certainly Stix-Brunell’s own sensibility is the foundation for this, along with her training by Herault. She evinces a maturity and discipline that is very commendable, and dedication: she trained at the gym for two hours every night for a time to improve flexibility and increase strength, and now she does Pilates three times a week. She takes private class with Herrault six days a week along with his open class on the weekends. Herrault often devises specific exercises and combinations for her that are quite challenging and build strength which are unique to the French school, for example, doing multiple beats with the legs to increase the speed of all of the movements.

In addition to this meticulous training, in which he emphasizes not just clarity of execution, but also to “finish the position each time…this is what the audience remembers,” Herrault also provides the kind of mental preparation that goes into training a dancer who is not only an artist, but also an athlete. To that end, he has discussed “pushing through the body’s tiredness” on an off day to still give one’s all in class, and has given her books to read such as “Talent is Not Enough,” a concept which Stix-Brunell seems to appreciate, as evidenced by her admirable work ethic.

And there is something special to this young dancer-- and excitement, a joy of movement, and a rightness that makes her seem at home on the stage, no matter the role. Watching her rehearse and later perform in Mophoses’ Commedia at City Center last year, was a revelation. Aside from the quality of her dancing, the effortlessness and lack of tension, which surprisingly enough, was not always the case with other members of the company, there was something else, a mysterious and lovely quality to her dancing, which is surely the result of all of her gifts melding into one beautiful whole.

One can see that there is much to this young talent, the unfolding of which will dazzle and delight as she continues to grow as a dancer. As she gains more experience on the stage (she has already danced in Colorado, London, and in Australia with the company) she will add to the sophistication of her interpretations while still retaining the beautiful clarity and simplicity of her movements.

In performance at the Guggenheim’s Works in Process earlier this year, she danced Commedia again, but it was different, better somehow, as if she has grown in artistry, attack, subtlety, and in the understanding of how to dance Wheeldon’s choreography with even more polish than before. Recently, she was videotaped dancing Wheeldon’s Polyphonia for the candidates who will compete at this year’s Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition, and soon, she begins rehearsals for Wheeldon’s new works, to be performed on Aug. 16 & 17 in Central Park’s Summerstage. She has attracted the attention of some major companies here and abroad, but for the moment, continues to be a kind of muse for Wheeldon, and to complete her high school studies.

Go see this beautiful dancer if you can; she is well worth watching.

copyright©NadineLavi2009 for Forum Artistico

Nadine's past blogs:

Nadine Lavi's Dance Notes "Highlights of ABT's Spring Season"

Nadine Lavi's Dance Notes "In Appreciation: Fabrice Herrault: Ballet Master Extraordinaire"

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