A Dancer and His Patron Build New Program, and Studio, Here
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/08/24/content/dancers_sm.jpg"By JESSIE ROYCE HILL
In an airy studio redolent of newly sanded wood and fresh paint, 15
teenage dancers surround the floor, their eyes fixed upon a legendary
dancer.
Ann Reinking, Broadway star, is teaching a group of promising
classical dancers their first Bob Fosse steps - swiveling hips,
tipping bowler hats.
For three weeks, these elite 16- and 17-year-old students from
around the country and beyond have been inhaling new steps and
techniques in preparation for a first-of-its-kind Island performance.
They are charter members of Stiefel & Students, a program offering
pre-professional dancers a chance to learn from the stars of the field.
The dancers' selection was based upon audition tapes and
recommendations. They arrived on the Vineyard early this month; here
they have lived and rehearsed in a brand-new 8,000-square foot facility
along Curtis Lane and Upper Main street in Edgartown.
The program and the studio compound - cause of some concern
for longtime neighbors in the adjacent residential area - are the
result of a collaboration between an American Ballet Theatre dancer and
a Vineyard patron.
Ethan Stiefel, the dancer, organized a touring company, Stiefel
& Stars, several years ago to bring ballet's greatest hits to
regional audiences.
Tom Melone, the patron, is an investment banker based in New Jersey
and a Vineyard summer resident. Father of four children, one of whom is
an aspiring ballerina, he approached Mr. Stiefel about creating a summer
school based here.
Less than a year later, the project has windows, doors, two dance
studios, bunk beds and a handful of ballet greats as visiting faculty.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/08/24/content/dance_studio_sm.jpg" "We met Ethan a few years ago when Brittany [his 16-year-old]
was in a local production of the Nutcracker in New York," said Mr.
Melone, a softspoken man of slight stature, sitting out on the lawn of
his new property as students drilled the steps of Balanchine's
Tarantella, taught to them by Melissa Hayden in the studio a few feet
away.
"We got to be friends. We were looking for a summer program
for Brittany, and Ethan was wanting a place for Stiefel &
Stars," said Mr. Melone, who owns a house on Eel Pond. "I
knew August was the nicest month here, but there was no place to
dance."
So while some doting fathers might buy a promising daughter a new
pair of toe shoes or schlep her to dance classes, Mr. Melone built his
daughter a studio and sponsored a program to inhabit it: Stiefel &
Students is the result.
"This is more interesting than normal investment banking
things," he said.
After scouting Vineyard venues for possible rehearsal and
performance space with Mr. Stiefel last November, Mr. Melone decided to
buy and renovate property within walking distance of his Edgartown home
- and within easy reach of downtown, where students can roam on
foot during brief snatches of downtime.
He and Mr. Stiefel agreed that the three-week summer program would
culminate in two performances, both benefits for the Martha's
Vineyard Hospital. Stiefel & Stars will showcase an array of
selections from popular ballets on Thursday and Stiefel & Students
perform Saturday, both at the Performing Arts Center at the regional
high school.
The facility Mr. Melone built, with the help of off-Island
construction crews working overtime, is state of the art. Each of the
studio spaces is equipped with professional lighting, stereos, baby
grand pianos and modern flooring designed to limit impact on
dancers' joints. Mr. Melone would not discuss the cost of the
project.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/08/24/content/ann_reinking_sm.jpg"A Day With the Company
On an afternoon last week, Mr. Stiefel prepares a group of boys (a
third of the students) for a Neapolitan dance from Swan Lake. Their
physiques, like Mr. Stiefel's, manage to look at once compact and
elongated, depending upon the step. Their thin frames are deceptive
- male dancers are among the strongest of athletes.
"Come on, you have to make it happen, man! It's up on
one. The glissades have got to be quicker. You can't just wait
there!" Mr. Stiefel stands in front of the boys as they work,
admonishing them without berating. Much has been written about his
Harley riding and "one of the guys" upbringing in Wisconsin.
He is reverential about his art without falling down the prima donna
trap that engulfs some of the dancers who make it to the top.
Blond, blue-eyed and confident, Mr. Stiefel, 31, seems at ease as a
coach. He knows that to reach these boys he has to get to their
psychology, not just their feet.
"I know that's not how you want to finish, but you have
to finish the position," he says to a student whose frustration
over a jump is shutting him down. "You have to work with what you
have today."
Sitting at the piano after they break for lunch, Mr. Stiefel talks
about his motivation for adding instruction to his repertoire while
still in the prime of his performing career.
He says he wishes that when he was coming up, there were more
opportunities for students to learn from their idols, to actually share
a stage with them. It is this model on which he's based his
fledgling school.
"Through working and actually performing with professionals,
kids get a feeling for how it's supposed to be," he says.
"They need to be exposed to diverse repertoire, too, from the
corps de ballet to Broadway choreography - that's the
reality of dance in America today."
He stresses the need for a strong base of training -
"clean never goes out of style in ballet" - before
dancers attain the artistry that comes through experience.
Mr. Stiefel credits Mr. Melone with the idea for the program, and
for funding its first year. He will charge tuition to students in future
summers but admits, as does Mr. Melone, that the American dance world is
seldom self-sustaining.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/08/24/content/ethan_stiefel_sm.jpg" Another champion of Stiefel & Students is Ms. Hayden, former
New York City Ballet star who has taught at the North Carolina School of
the Arts for years. "I've never had such pleasure working
with students," Ms. Hayden, 80, said by phone. She said it was a
joy to watch the students become friends, bunking together two to four
to a room, watching dance videos, creeping back into the studio to dance
after formal rehearsals had finished.
But it was the collision of "firsts" that made this
teaching experience stand out, Ms. Hayden said. "The newness of
the building, being part of something that's never happened
before. The leader of the pack sets the tone, which Ethan has done.
He's built an ambience. And Tom Melone created a place for
dancers. It's first class."
Neighbors' Concern
The large dance compound lies partly in a residential zone and
partly in a commercial zone, and some of its neighbors along Curtis Lane
are questioning its intended use.
"The house is lovely but it's not in keeping with the
neighborhood," said Sylvia Thomas, whose family has owned a home
at 40 Curtis Lane since 1935. Among her complaints are the traffic
imposed on the street by the house's six-car parking area, and
trash cans lining the fence, creating an eyesore for neighbors who only
drag their cans out on pickup day.
"The cars are stacked one behind another, hanging out onto the
road," Ms. Thomas said. "There's no illusion of this
being a private residence."
The issue of usage is key. The building inspector's office has
informed residents like Ms. Thomas and Jean Andrews that the dance
studio and several bedrooms in the building, at 26 Curtis Lane, are
intended as a private space for Brittany Melone and her dance tutor.
"It's a fine line between a business and a
residence," said Ms. Andrews, who lives on Clark street.
"Private use doesn't mean a dormitory or a dance
school," added Ms. Thomas.
Also in question is how these two studios will be utilized the other
11 months of the year.
Mr. Melone has indicated a willingness to let the community borrow
his facility if interest is expressed. He said he will take any proposal
to the town. "I want to stay in good graces with the town,"
he said. "I don't want to jeopardize the neighbors."
Meanwhile, he has also purchased two more commercial lots on Upper Main
street; one of these is an abandoned house which he hopes to renovate to
provide additional housing for dancers.
For the moment, all energy inside the walls of the Melone studios is
focused on showtime. Both Mr. Stiefel and Mr. Melone hope to attract an
audience eager for top-drawer dancers and repertoire on the Island. With
it, they say, Stiefel and his Stars and Students will become an annual
August fixture.
Stiefel and Stars perform Thursday, August 26, at 7:30 p.m. Stiefel
and Students perform Saturday, August 28, at 7:30 p.m. Both shows are
the Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $25 to $60, available at the
high school box office Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. and at
the door.
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