FROM BANGKOK TO CLEVELAND What did you impart on the dancers during this re-staging? The variations I taught are through the lens of my understanding and influence with my Trockadero background. I have danced all of the variations at one time or another. I tried to impart to the dancers that they are limitless if they are willing to push the envelope and explore their own possibilities within any dance. Sometimes it can be as small as a tilt of the head or even the way the hands are used within a movement of the arms. Expecting the unexpected and giving new life to even time-honored
Guest Dancer: Robert Carter Photo: Kolman Rosenberg (2020)
classics.
Guest Artist, Robert Carter, has been an American primo donna ballet dancer for Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo for over 25 years. As a lead dancer of the all-male dance troupe he has performed across the globe. We sat down with him to talk about staging the Paquita variations. Tell us about your background that led
After taking a class with the
you to dance with Les Ballets
company and hanging out for
Trockadero?
rehearsal, he asked if I was free to
My first teacher spotted me at a
come again. I did and upon entering
local arts festival in my hometown
the studio was presented with my
of Charleston, South Carolina while
first contract. That was twenty-five
I was performing with a children’s
years ago and I’m still going strong.
theatrical group. I went for my first class at age seven and a half and
How did you end up in Cleveland?
instantly I was hooked. After seeing
I met Dr. Carlson years ago when
Les Ballets Trockadero for the first
she came to work with Trockodero
time around age twelve, I just knew
as a company teacher and ballet
that it was a company for me. I
mistress. I have always loved her
didn’t know how or when, but I was
energy! Unfortunately, like many
determined to dance with the
other companies my dear Ballets
company of men who did what I did.
Trockadero has not been able to
I managed to get the contact
work during the pandemic as the
information from its director Tory
majority of our work includes
Dobrin and called to inquire
traveling. I am grateful that she
about auditions.
reached out and offered the opportunity to dance as a guest while my normal work is shut down.
13
verbiculture | February 2021
What is your favorite memory of dancing Paquita variations? I can recall many memories that makes each of the variations special to me in their own way. One of my fondest was when I danced before a crown princess of Thailand in Bangkok and later meeting her on a red carpet following the performance.
