Photo by Jonathan Sharpe
Burmann, along with Jerry Robbins, Peter Martins, and all of the choreographers and ballet masters and mistresses she has worked with, for teaching her “what dancing is all about.” Calvert asserts that there are many aspects of dance to explore, from working in a corps de ballet and being able to follow, to learning the nuance of a solo and improving technique. “You’re always learning something,” she reflects. In her time at USC, Calvert has made invaluable contributions to the program, not the least of which being the Ballet Stars of NY Gala. Now in its seventh iteration, the fundraiser gives high level university students the opportunity to perform alongside principle dancers from the New York City Ballet in works from The George Balanchine Trust. Key to Calvert is giving her students plenty of time on the stage. In many companies, expensive theatre rentals give dancers little to no time for exploration. There is hardly room to change, grow, or “let the material shape you.” In regards to dance in Columbia in general, Calvert encourages the existing diversity, “there should be many voices,” she urges, but acknowledges a dearth of funding.
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While the University’s program continues to grow, experiencing the growing pains any organization does, 48-year-old Calvert isn’t slowing down any time soon either. On any given day, the reader might find the impossibly young looking Calvert rushing from studio to theater, to pick her daughter up from school, grabbing a bite at an organic market or an espresso from Starbucks to keep that spritely spring in her step. Wiry and fit with closely cut blonde hair and an energy similar to that of her strikingly similar 13-year-old daughter, Calvert knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to demand it. “We need a theater,” she says confidently. She elaborates that she wishes for the city a 500-750 seat theater where dance companies could sell packed houses for multiple evenings of performances, instead of the one or two evenings of partially filled houses that most companies are fighting to afford now. Calvert dreams of her own school and company on Main Street and the room, funding, and audience for all of the artistic voices that want to be heard. Let’s hope her dreams come true, and rest assured, Stacey Calvert, the hardest working woman in Columbia ballet, won’t be satisfied until they do.