Watching Dance: Visions of Sugar Plums- An Interview with Lauren Ciobanu

Christmas time is here... and with it comes Nutcracker season! The Nutcracker is a dancer’s tradition-- many begin performing as small children or mice in Act One, and “grow up” into new roles each year. For most girls, though, the dream role is the Sugar Plum Fairy: the pinnacle of Act Two, the epitome of all things sweet and good.

This season, Houston Ballet will be debuting Lauren Ciobanu as Sugar Plum Fairy. Lauren received her early training from the Phoenix School of Ballet, then went on to train at the Kirov Academy and in Stuttgart, Germany. She performed with Sarasota Ballet before joining Houston Ballet in 2009. I recently got to ask Lauren a few questions about what it’s like to dance this special role.

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Notes From Upstage Left: Most dancers grow up with The Nutcracker-- either seeing it or performing in it every year as a child. Is there a particular production that will always be memorable to you?

Lauren Ciobanu: When I was three years old, my mother took me to see San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker. Even today, I remember seeing the dancers on stage and knew from that moment that I wanted to be just like the dancers on the stage.

NFUL: You are debuting as Sugar Plum Fairy this year with the Houston Ballet. Have you danced the role elsewhere?

LC: I ‘ve performed the role with Sarasota Ballet of Florida and in guest performances throughout the United States. While dancing with Sarasota Ballet, I had the opportunity to partner with ABT’s world renowned Jose Manuel Carreno! We not only performed Sugar Plum together, but he coached me in the role as well. It was an invaluable experience.

NFUL: I imagine you must have been excited to learn you would be dancing the Sugar Plum this year. Can you tell me what thoughts went through your head when you found out?

LC: When Stanton Welch told me earlier this season that I would be performing the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, I was elated. I was so honored that he would trust me with the role and I was determined to give it the respect it deserves, after all-- it’s the role that got my career started!

NFUL: Who are your partners? Have you worked with these partners before?

LC: I will be performing with Principal dancer, Ian Casady which I am so excited about. We have worked together in La Fille mal Gardee, Sandpaper Ballet and Stanton Welch’s TuTu. He is a wonderful partner and a joy to work with! I will also be performing with demi-solosit, Peter Franc. It is our first time working together, and we’re both debuting in these roles-- which makes it extra special.

NFUL: You got a lot of your training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet. How old were you when you began studying there?

LC: I went to the summer program at Kirov when I was 11 and was invited on full scholarship to stay for the year-round program. It was a difficult move at such a young age, but necessary for my training. The final two years of my training were spent on full scholarship at the John Cranko-Schule Pre-Professional program.

NFUL: Tell me about how you came to Houston Ballet.

LC: I was really impressed with Stanton Welch’s leadership. I admire his choreographic style; and I have always thought Houston Ballet has one of the most interesting repertoires’ in the country. I was also impressed with the high caliber of the dancers-- from the corps de ballet right up to the principals! Working with talented dancers performing interesting work was what I wanted to be doing, so Houston Ballet was my first choice.

NFUL: What was it like to dance in the Tree Lighting ceremony?

LC: It was so much fun! To see so many smiling children and bring them some Holiday joy was so special to me! I couldn’t believe how many children were present and hope that it brings more families to see The Nutcracker this season.

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You can catch Lauren Ciobanu and the artists of Houston ballet in The Nutcracker, running now through December 26th at the Wortha Theater Center’s Brown Theater. For more information, visit www.houstonballet.org. You can also check out Houston Ballet on Facebook and Twitter. Don't miss this wonderful production!

Tradition

For most of my life, the holidays weren't the holidays without a production.

I grew up with a youth theatre company that presented a different Christmas play every year; each with of a run of something like 25 performances in ten days. In high school, there were holiday vocal concerts and band concerts and dance concerts, and of course there was Nutcracker.

The tradition continued as I became an adult-- just a few months after I moved to Texas, I returned home to dance the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy one last time. During the time I danced with the contemporary ballet company here, I got to perform the title role in James Sewell's version of Amahl and the Night Visitors-- twice (and they're performing it again this year, too. They've got an all-new Amahl-- a lovely gal who performed with me in Letters You Wrote last year. She will be wonderful).

In the last few years, I've gotten to share that tradition with my students as well: Three years ago when I first danced in Amahl, a big group of them came to see me perform. Two years ago, three of my students (and myself) danced together in the Great Russian Nutcracker production here in Texas. And last year-- after I interviewed Elise Judson and Peter Franc about their roles in the ballet-- I went to see one of my own students perform as a clown in Houston Ballet's Nutcracker.

This year, the tradition is a little different. For the first time since Ireallycan'trememberwhen, I'm going to experience the magic from the audience and not the stage. It'll be a little strange for me-- this time of year I'm usually busy sewing up extra pairs of pointe shoes and stocking up on fresh tights and pan-cake makeup, not baking and planning my Christmas decorating scheme. But it will be a nice change: I'll have more time to travel and visit family & friends back East; and I can get out and see a bunch of different holiday productions in the city-- something I didn't do enough when I was performing-- and support my friends who are gracing the stages. My "Holiday production" tradition still continues; but for now I'm going to be on the receiving end of the performance.

In fact, there's a new tradition beginning this year: My boyfriend and I have agreed that we will go to see Houston Ballet's Nutcracker as a couple every year from now on.

...and speaking of my boyfriend: We're leaving for Louisiana in a few hours, so I better get going. Have a happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Cue up the Snow Theme...

May I have your attention, please?

It is snowing in Houston, Texas.

No, that is not a misprint. This happened last December, too, but here in Houston the very mention of "snow" sends everyone into a tizzy. As a Pennsylvania girl, I spent the first twenty years of my life seeing lots of snow every single winter. When I heard that it was supposed to "snow" in Houston, I was unimpressed and every kind of annoyed (it's cold, it's wet, it's slushy, ew).

But when I woke up this morning and saw the flakes coming down, I was actually pretty excited. Big puffy flakes were falling from the sky but not really sticking to anything, so it was just a pretty, Christmas-y scene. There was much excitement when I got to rehearsal-- everyone just kept talking about the snow the snow the snow, and did you hear? Snow! Our director would occasionally go open the door to see what the weather was, and all of us would crowd around her to exclaim about wow, it's really coming down!/hey, it's sticking to the palm trees!/isn't it pretty?/isn't it crazy?/what has science done? (that last one was me, as you can probably tell)

Rehearsal went well. I felt really strong today, and I feel like myself and The Mother have developed a strong connection in our characters. We had a pretty small group (a few out sick), but we were all in high spirits, and it was a productive rehearsal. Driving back wasn't as scary as I expected*, and Mr. Sozeberg and I exclaimed over how pretty the nieghborhood is and how we should totally watch Pine Barrens in honor of the snow day.

Know what else is totally appropriate to watch on a snowy day? The snow scene from The Nutcracker! Enjoy this version, from Walnut Hill's 2007 production.

Stay warm, y'all.

P.S. Needless to say, we aren't performing Letters You Wrote tonight. These are not ideal conditions for dancing barefoot on an outdoor stage.

*Look, it's been three years since I've had to drive in snow. I'm a little rusty, okay?

Watching Dance: Houston Ballet's 'Nutcracker'

It’s Nutcracker season, people! Wheeee (don’t give me that look. I love The Nutcracker). I recently cruised over to Houston Ballet and caught up with dancers Elise Judson and Peter Franc, who will be dancing the respective roles of Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince. Let’s hear what they had to say:

NotesFromUpstageLeft.com: So you're both premiering, I understand?

Both: Yes.

NFUL: Ms. Judson as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Mr. Franc as the Prince, is that right?

Peter Franc: Yes.

NFUL: Wonderful. So, you've both been with Houston Ballet for a few seasons?

Elise Judson: Yes, this is my third season.

Peter Franc: This is my fifth season.

NFUL: What Nutcracker roles have you performed in the past?

Elise Judson: I've done some corps work in the past--the Flowers and Snowflakes-- and various roles in the party scene, including Clara. This will be the first year that I've done Sugar Plum Fairy.

Peter Franc: I’ve done a number of different fathers in the party scene, I’ve done the Nutcracker in the battle scene; plus Arabian Chinese, and Merlitone. A lot of acting stuff.

NFUL: I have to ask this, because it seems like this role exists in every production of The Nutcracker… have you ever played the drunk guy in the party scene?

Peter Franc: Yes.

NFUL: Awesome.

Peter Franc: I’ve played the drunk grandfather, and most of the parents get drunk as well. So yes, many times.

NFUL: So what are your favorite roles in other ballets? Mr. Franc, I know you love Le Corsaire; and Miss Judson, you enjoyed Romeo and Juliet and Le Petite Mort. Can you tell me a bit about those as well?

Elise Judson: I’ve never actually performed those ballets. Those are just two of my favorites that I’ve watched. But there are many roles in both that I would like to perform! Some of my favorite roles that I've done here at Houston Ballet have been Swan Lake­-- the Neapolitan Princess that I got to perform in June. And that's probably one of my favorites so far in my career.

NFUL: Great! So, you're from California. Can you tell me a little about your background-- where you trained, where you danced before you came here?

Elise Judson: Yeah! I grew up in Sacramento, California and did some dancing with my studio there-- the Dean Dance Center--as well as with the Sacramento Ballet. I started dancing when I was five, so it's 15 years that I've been dancing. Four summer intensives here at the Academy, the Houston Ballet Ben Stevenson Academy, before I joined HB II and then the company.

NFUL: Wonderful! And what about you, Mr. Franc? Did you dance out in Pennsylvania?

Peter Franc: No, actually, I started dancing when I was living out in Atlanta. I started training at Metropolitan Ballet Theater.

NFUL: I've heard of them!

Peter Franc: Yeah, a girl in the Academy here is actually from that same school. It's a great school, and I started coming here for the summer programs when I was 15. I came to the Academy after I graduated high school, then I got into the company.

NFUL: So is this the first company you’ve danced with after training?

Both: Yes.

NFUL: Can you guys tell me about the Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 5^th?

Elise Judson: Yes! It’s from 11am to 1pm and it’s free and open to the public. The tree lighting itself will be at noon, where I will dance the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy and light up the 25-foot tree in front of the Wortham Theater. Santa Claus will be there, as well as other characters from The Nutcracker.

NFUL: That’s so cool. I’ll be there, and I look forward to seeing you both dance.

The Nutcracker runs from tonight until December 27^th, a grand total of 35 performances. Get your tickets and come on out!

Nutcrackery at NFUL: Round Two

You may recall that myself and three students performed in Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker last year. My schedule probably won't allow for that this season, but my students are keeping the Nutcracker tradition alive and well.



A few weeks ago, four of my students made the trek from the suburbs to audition to be Polichnelles in Houston Ballet's Nutcracker. Seeing as the studios were all of THREE BLOCKS from a friend I was visiting, I decided I cruise over to the studios and support the girls.



I got there thrity minutes before the audition and found they were already stretching in the lobby, bursting with a sort nervous energy. They seem to nervous, though-- certainly not as nervous as I've been known to be-- and were all in high spirits.



Three o'clock rolled around. The twenty girls who had arrived to the audition were upstairs to begin the process. I sat downstairs and chatted with the moms for about an hour. Eventually, the kids all came back downstairs, chattering about the experience and about how the studios were OH MY GOSH AMAZING (Our studio is also pretty awesome; but the main studio there makes our main studio look like a coat closet). I asked when they would find out, and they said "they told us we'd know in a couple of days."

Well, three days later, I got an e-mail from my boss: One of my Level Four girls was cast! She's into week four(ish) of rehearsals. She hasn't really said a whole lot about the process, other than that it's a positive experience and she's really enjoying it. My boss and I are super proud-- one of our students will perform on the same stage as the fourth-largest ballet company in our country.

Long-Winded 'Great Russian Nutcracker' recap

9:45am. 30 Texas dancers armed with ballet shoes, makeup, and digital cameras piled into the Stafford Centre theatre in Stafford, Texas. We were shepherded into our dressing area, introduced to the wardrobe mistress and the company photographer (both lovely people-- flawless at working with kids), fitted in costumes, and photographed. I was super happy about my Spanish costume, because it was super gorgeous and super fun to turn in (I found it necessary to do chaine turns down the hallway while saying "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!").

Cut to: stage rehearsal. Dance Captain Anna Tyutyunnik looked over all the local dances and integrated us with the main cast. I expected chaos, but it went pretty smoothly. Shout-out to Paul The Stage Manager (possibly the coolest stage manager ever), who answered my questions about the GRN's touring process. Such as:
1. How long have you been on the road? (Six weeks)
2. How many casts of GRN are touring? (Three: Southwest Tour, Northwest Tour, and Northeast Tour, AKA A Tour, B Tour, C Tour)
3. Bus? Plane? (Two Buses: One for dancers, one for cast and crew)
4. Exactly how insane is your touring schedule? (The dancers sometimes spend 10 to 12 hours on the bus, then have to dance. Or they get to a hotel at 4am, and have to be dancing by 10am.)

Cut to: Performance. It was the last show, and in grand tradition of the theatre, the last performance of a run is a scared time of focus and reflection and....pfft, I'm kidding. The last show of a run is when the cast has FUN. There was so much laughter backstage, thanks to:
- The Nutcracker-- with missing teeth
- The Arabian Doll dancer had these huge fake teeth in the entire time she was dancing, and when she came offstage she literally doubled over laughing.
- During the party scene, a woman was "falling down drunk."
- All the party scene women had their hats on backwards.
- The pièce de résistance: The snow was falling during the snowflake scene, like it always does. The curtain came down as they snowflakes were dancing in a big circle...and the moment the curtain touched the stage, Paul dumped ALL THE FREAKING SNOW, a huge pile of white stuff in one big ka-pow. The dancers shreiked, we all laughed, "snowballs" were thrown, and Paul got high-fived by me. And then knighted as Coolest Stage Manager Ever.

The kiddos did great. The Party Scene children had the most stage time and the most interaction with the main cast-- ya know, those folks that they had never seen until today-- and they handled it like little pros.

Mouse costume= lots of jokes about wearing no pants.

Oh, here's something that I've never done before: I put on the wrong costume. Yup, just strolled on into the dressing room, saw a dress that was Spanish-y and absently put it on. Never mind that said dress was A) Elle's, B) definitely not hanging anywhere near mine, or C) not the one I had on earlier. Yeah, um, sorry about that, Elle.

Cut to: Act 2! I had a blast doing Spanish. Smiled, didn't screw up, and then it was over before I knew it. I got offstage (grinning like an idiot, as usual) and thought "...wow...that's it, huh?" My "Little Spanish" came up to me, said "Great job!" and gave me a hug. Awww!

One of my buddies was an Arabian, and their duet was lovely. The Russian dance was awesome, except I still don't get why the "Little Russian" girls danced holding giant roosters on sticks. Can someone enlighten me on that? Anybody?

I got to mess with someone named "Tork" on headset, that was fun.

The rest of it, I didn't get to see too much of. When I get the DVD, I'll fill you in. For now, all I can say is that what I did see was really lovely.

I love the guy who danced Drosselmeyer. His stage presence and interpretation of his character were outstanding-- whimsical, charismatic, a magician. I hate the creepy/incestuous Drosselmeyer that some ballet companies are so fond of. I mean, really? This is the ballet that's supposed to enchant children, not make them creeped out by Uncle Molesty. At least GRN gives us a guy in a cool cape who makes magic happen.

I could tell you more, but I have to pack for my trip to Austin in twelve hours, and I should probably shower somewhere in there. And this post is really long. So allow me to sum up my entire Great Russian Nutcracker experience thus:

"That was fun."

Oh....hey!

Oh....hey guys! It's been a little while, huh? Did you have a good Christmas? I sure did. That's why you haven't seen me around here all week: I spent the holiday up north with my family...you know, the one I haven't seen in close to a year. I would love to tell you all about it, but I've got a pretty packed weekend to tend to over here: I'm about to head to our last rehearsal of Great Russian Nutcracker, because we have a show tomorrow. And somewhere in there I should deal with the mess of half-unpacked suitcases clogging my living room and clean up the house a bit (how in the world does one little condo accumulate so much dust in the space of a week?).

So, while I'm doing that, here's some stuff to keep you occupied:
Selly's review of A Beautiful Tragedy
Great Russian Nutcracker's website
Oooh, check it out, it's an article about the Texas cast!
This video
Points in Case, which has absolutely nothing to do with dance but which I find hilarious and endlessly entertaining nonetheless.

So, now that I've successfully managed to locate my pointe shoes in the mess, I'm off to get my Nutcracker on.

Cracking nuts

I started this post on Sunday, but things got a little crazy, so....it took me a while.





Anyway. Great Russian Nutcracker, people! Rehearsal was great on Saturday. Elle and I went over our Spanish duo countless times while the younger ones were dancing, then ran it several times for the local director. By the end, we feeling pretty good about it. Sweaty....like, really sweaty...but confident nonetheless.
The most noteworthy part was when our local director, whom I'll call Ms. M, gave us the low-down on what to expect at the show. It's actually going to be a really interesting day. Think about it: These Moscow dancers have been on the road for months upon months, doing this exact same show in goodnessknowshowmany cities. To say that they can dance it in their sleep probably doesn't even begin to describe it. To those guys, performing The Nutcracker is probably about as natural as brushing their teeth. And all that has got to be beyond tough on the body (I always think of the scene in Dancemaker where Patrick Corbin talks about the painful process of getting out of bed in the morning while on tour). They travel with a massage therapist and a trainer to aide with this (plus all kinds of costume/makeup/set staff.




Now, add in the local cast: kids (plus me). Lots of kids. And while many of them have danced in GRN before, performing in a major professional production isn't exactly something these kiddos do on a routine basis. The children will spend a day in a wonderful, extravagant, unfamiliar world.... and its inhabitants, to whom their world is completely routine. Both sides of the coin, represented in a big way.





(And then you've got me, the wild card, square in the middle: an adult [who looks like a kid] professional dancer [on a much, much smaller scale and in a different genre]. Always the oddball child, I am.)





Now, here's one for ya:


Q: How many times will both groups run the show together- in the space- full out?


A: One-- the performance.





Don't get me wrong, there is a rehearsal-- one-- where the local cast runs the show and the Moscow dancers are present on stage. We are the last stop on Moscow Ballet's very-lengthy tour; those dancers do not need rehearsing. They come on stage, they stand in place so the local folks can get a feel for the spacing, they save their dancing for the show.

That day...will probably be a little on the crazy side.

I can't wait.

Every year, the Moscow Ballet comes across the country with their production of The Great Russian Nutcracker, hitting multiple cities in 38 different states.

Yesterday, three of the girls from the dance studio went down to Sugar Land to audition for the Houston production. Since the production requires small dancers (5'0 and under), I was able to join them and audition as well.

Officiating the Houston audition was Moscow's Olga Balbocean. She taught a brief center combination for everyone, then taught the youngest dancers a brief section from the snowflakes scene. Having finished that, the younger ones waited in the back of the room while older dancers went across the room with grand allegro and turns.

From our studio, we had two girls in the younger group, plus myself and one of my advanced students (who I'll refer to as Elle) in the older group. Elle and I were the only ones wearing pointe shoes, which caused us some initial worry when we saw the wood floor (thankfully, there was a rosin box in the corner). Whenever I glanced over at the gaggle of little ones at the back, my two students were standing still in first position, arms en bas, not talking or goofing or fidgeting. I told them afterwards that I was very proud of them for behaving so professionally.

The audition was scheduled for two and a half hours, but within forty-five minutes casting was being announced. The little ones from our school got two roles; both are snowflakes; one is also a mouse and the other "a French (Aka the Meriltones/Marzipan/Shepherdesses/ Pan Flutes)." Elle and I were cast as the Spanish duet. Yay everyone!

Excitement was high afterwards, especially when it was announced that Ms. Balbocean would be teaching a master class this afternoon. My students are all excited to be dancing in such a big production. I'm happy, too-- It's one of the greatest Nutcracker productions and it's going to be a wonderful experience that I'll get to share with the kiddos. Elle and I are excited to be dancing a role together-- Spanish is a new role for both of us.

And that said, I'm off to pick up Elle for the master class.