A very successful second edition of the series of Teacher Training Seminars, organised this academic year by the National Ballet Academy, took place on Sunday 22 November. Over thirty ballet teachers from all over the Netherlands, as well as some professional dancers wanting to retrain as teachers, are taking part in the seminars. Up to now, the reactions have been unanimously positive. ‘At last, something is happening again in the Netherlands in the field of further training for ballet teachers’.

The theme of this second seminar was ‘positions’, divided into the direction in which the body faces and moves, the position of the shoulders, the placing of the head, the focus and direction of the eyes and the placing and direction of arabesques.
In the morning, teacher and pedagogical coordinator Laurence Korsenti gave a class that focused on the theme. This was followed by a lively exchange of ideas and experiences over lunch. The afternoon programme included two workshops, followed by a Q&A session. The workshops were led by artistic director Jean-Yves Esquerre, who – assisted by Korsenti and NBA students Kayla Fitzpatrick and Dorian Browne – enthusiastically stressed that he did not want to impose a particular style on anyone. This makes the seminars interesting to teachers from all sorts of backgrounds. Esquerre: ‘There is not just one correct style. We don’t preach fundamentalism, especially not these days’. The seminars, he says, are mainly about the basics and structure of ballet, based on the ‘architecture of the body’. But of course they also deal with the intention with which a movement is executed. ‘Dancers are not robots. Every shape and every step must come from the heart’.

Here are the reactions of some of the participants:

Mirjam de Zeeuw (48), owner of Balletschool Attitude in Alkmaar and Bergen:
‘I really fight the cause for classical ballet. To put it nicely: there’s not a lot of great teaching going on. I sometimes get pupils who have been attending classes for eight years and can still hardly do anything. All too often, teachers operate on their own ‘little island’. That’s why this initiative is so good. It brings us into contact with one another. However experienced you are, as a teacher you can always learn something new, and it’s also very important to have a sounding board’.

Dario Elia (24), dancer with Dutch National Ballet:
‘I hope I can continue dancing for many years to come, but I am already thinking about my future. A dancing career flies by and I regularly see dancers realising too late that they want to become a teacher. I’ve had the ambition for quite a while already, maybe because I had such inspiring teachers at The Royal Ballet School. However, I’m fully aware of the fact that I wasn’t born a sort of ‘magical teacher’. Things don’t happen on their own, and I’ll have to acquire the skills of the profession. That’s why I’m so happy with these seminars, which incidentally have an effect on my dancing as well. In class, I now challenge myself much more to remain strict and to clearly define each position and angle of the body’.

Eefke Heitbrink (42), owner of Balletschool Heerhugowaard:
‘When the outreach coordinator Jane Lord asked if I was interested in these seminars, I was enthusiastic straight away. There is very little happening in the Netherlands in the field of further training for ballet teachers, and I’ve felt the lack of it. Besides all the know-how that’s passed on by the National Ballet Academy, I also really enjoy exchanging experiences with colleagues. I’ve been teaching for twenty years now and it’s good to get some fresh ideas and to discover different approaches that will click with your pupils. It’s also great fun to do classes again yourself’.

For more information, please contact Jane Lord: jane.lord@ahk.nl.

NB: in the previous e-mail newsletter, the Teacher Training Seminars were announced as Inspire Seminars. They should not have been given this name, as that is the name used by The Royal Ballet School for its teacher training programme. We apologise for this mistake.