Katherine “Katie Larry/Katya/Kath” Lawrence

Principal

Joined Ballet West in 2004, promoted to Demi-Soloist in 2005,

promoted to Soloist in 2007, promoted to Principal in 2011

How did you start ballet?

I was four.  My mom put me in creative movement because I was dancing around the house a lot and she wanted me to focus my energy.  I really liked it (dance class) and just kept taking ballet.

Was creative movement a class?

Mmm hmm.  That was the youngest level class at the school I went to.

Was the school a ballet school?

Yeah, it was Connecticut Dance School.  Well, that’s what it’s called now.  The school changed it’s name a lot over time, but when I was a kid it was associated with Connecticut Ballet Theater.  So, I got to work with a company from a young age.

Did you perform Nutcracker roles and things like that?

Mmm hmm.  I got to go on tour a lot too.  Starting when I was eight I went on tour with them all over Connecticut and Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  I got to miss school too!

Every kids dream …

Yeah.

After creative movement, at what age did you start taking regular ballet classes?

I don’t know because the school was based around RAD (Royal Academy of Dance).  So, I started taking RAD exams when I was five or six already.  It was called creative movement but it was based in ballet so I didn’t really notice a change [in class].

So, creative movement was more like a pre-ballet class that young kids often take?

Yeah …

Did you train at the Connecticut Dance School until you got your first professional job?

No, I started going to summer programs when I was in eighth grade.  I went to Harid (Harid Conservatory) for the summer and then I got into the school year program.  I went there for the summer, in between my sophomore and junior year of high school, because I wanted to go for the school year.  I got into the year around program [at Harid] and knew I wanted to go.  It was kind of cool because my ballet teacher in Connecticut told my parents, “If Katherine is really serious about doing this as a career, I feel like she can’t get any more here.  She needs to go somewhere more professional.  Here we let anyone into the school and we try and give everyone equal opportunity.  If she really wants to have this as her career, then she needs to go somewhere that she’s going to get more professional training.”  That was really cool because I think there are a lot of teachers that wouldn’t be able to do that.  So, he recommended a whole bunch of programs and I auditioned for all of them.  That’s how I ended up at Harid.  Then I was there for my junior and senior years of high school.  After I graduated [from Harid] I went to Hartford Ballet’s summer program because they had offered me an apprenticeship.  They wanted me to be there for the whole summer, but after that summer the director changed, and a lot of things happened with the company financially.  So, they asked me to be in their BFA program instead and dance with the company while going to school.  That’s what I ended up doing for a year until I burnt myself out.  I was going to college and I was taking a whole course load.  I was dancing with the company in almost every production they did.  Then I was in the student company that they had as well, which was made up of students from the BFA program and students from the high school program, and I was doing work study … it was nuts.  I got my first job after that year.

When kids are attending Harid or similar schools, away from home, what does their academic schooling entail?

The way it worked at Harid was that we went to public school for four classes in the morning.  When everyone (all the students) was going to lunch, you got on the Harid bus and went back to Harid.  We had lunch there and then technique class, pointe, variations, pas de deux, and rehearsals.  And then also some lecture classes like dance history, music history, music theory, nutrition, kinesiology … stuff like that.  You actually end up taking more classes than you take in normal high school.

Do you feel like those classes properly supplement the classes students miss in a regular high school?

I do … When I was going to Fairfield High, back in Connecticut, I was taking math, English, science, history, and elective classes.  I also took French, Spanish, PE, and health.   So, those classes, the elective classes, are the ones that you’re replacing.  When I was at Harid (in the regular high school) I took AP English and my science classes and history and math.  And then my PE was ballet [at Harid], and health [class] was nutrition [class].  You know, so you were still getting the aspects of a typical high school education.  I really liked it because I was still going to a normal high school.  It wasn’t as if you’re just with these thirty kids that are in the program with you for every waking hour of the day.  You got to go interact with non-dancers, which I really liked.  I heard that they’re not doing that anymore at Harid though.  I think they have all their classes on campus now with just each other.  I don’t think I could have done that because I made a lot of friends outside of Harid, which was great.

Was being away from home at that age difficult for you?

No … I loved being away from home.  I don’t know, I guess I was just mature for my age.  I was really ready to go somewhere else.

What’s your favorite thing about being a professional dancer?

I have a lot of favorite things.  I’ve enjoyed dancing with my husband (Aaron Orlowski) and being able to travel a lot.  I’ve gotten to go to a lot of places that I never would have otherwise gone to.  Basically all the cool places I’ve been to I’ve been because of ballet.  I danced with Universal Ballet, so I got to go to Korea.  And I danced in China and Taiwan with my old company (Ballet International).  Since I’ve been with Ballet West I’ve gone to Scotland, we’ve also dance in D.C. at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap.  And we’ve performed in New York.  I feel like I’ve gotten to dance on all the big stages in the US, which is really cool.  And then I like becoming someone else.

On stage?

Yeah, like becoming a totally different person.  I think that’s really cool.  And I like the physical aspect of dancing too.  Exerting yourself … it’s hard work.  It’s not just mental; it’s mental and physical.  I like that.

What’s the most difficult thing for you, being a professional dancer?

Ummm, I don’t know … when you have to do a ballet that you don’t like.  When you have to really make yourself like something.

When dancing becomes work?

Yeah, when it’s something you’re not enjoying.  That, and I think sometimes when you’re really sore it’s hard to make yourself be really on top of things.  To push through…

This is your eighth season with Ballet West.  What is your favorite thing about dancing for the company?

Well, Aaron and I were dancing in different companies for a while, so it used to be that we were here dancing together again, but that’s not the case anymore (Aaron retired after the 2009-2010 season), so … I don’t know, I like the people I work with, a lot.  And I think that makes a big difference.

It’s interesting you say that because the company dancers have changed quite a bit since you’ve been here.  Do you still like working with everyone that has replaced your old co-workers?

Yeah … yeah.

What’s your favorite role you’ve danced here at Ballet West?

Oh, I don’t know … I have a lot of favorites.  I really like doing Odile (Swan Lake) because I like playing somebody evil (laughs).  It’s fun to play characters that are kind of opposite your personality because I think it pushes you to do something different.  And I also like how strong her character is (Odile).

Katherine, I’ve seen your frustrated side.  That role may not be completely the opposite of you.

Yeah … no, I know (laugh).

You have to pull it from somewhere.

(laugh)  Ummm, I also really enjoyed doing Ghost Dances (Christopher Bruce).  That was my first season here.  That was a really cool ballet.  And I like Sinfionetta (Jiri Kylian) a lot.  Oh, I really liked doing Trapped (Christopher Ruud) too.  That really pushed me, which I liked.

Do you have any dream roles you’ve always wanted to perform?

I don’t know; I don’t feel like I have that one dream ballet.  I don’t really think about it.  I like getting to do new things a lot.  I’d be ok if I didn’t do a lot of the roles I’ve done if we did those ballets again.  But there are roles that I would like to do again too.  I’d like to do Ghost Dances (Christopher Bruce) again.  I think everybody would.  It’s interesting, once you’ve done a role, being able to come back to it, especially if it’s really hard, knowing that you can get through it.  So, you’re not just thinking about that (physicall difficulty), you’re thinking about the character.

Do you have a favorite Ballet West moment?

Ummm … I don’t know.  I’m not good at favorites.  I can’t make out just one thing.  I like a lot of things.  I really enjoyed the opportunities I got to perform with Aaron.  It’s not something that most people get to experience in their jobs.  Sharing what you love to do with the person that you love is really cool.

Ok, you’ve talked about Aaron a certain amount and that you’ve enjoyed dancing with him.  When couples are cast as partners in a ballet, I never feel like they are disappointed to dance with each other.  Although, couples often butt heads because they are so comfortable with each other.  They’ll say things that …

You wouldn’t say to another partner …

Right.  Then the partnership becomes a little tense.  Did you ever feel that way with Aaron?

Oh yeah … I think that’s natural.  You express your frustration more verbally then you would with someone else.  Of course that happens … but I feel like we worked really well together.  And when we did have moments like that, we would be able to recognize it really quickly and back off and be like, “I’m sorry.”  You know, I think we were both extra aware of that so we didn’t let it happen.

It’s almost like you have to remind yourself constantly …

Would I say this to somebody else?

Exactly.  So, what do you enjoy doing with your free time?

I like to read a lot.  And I like cooking and baking a lot too.  I cook dinner all the time.  ‘Cause I like doing it …

Not because you’re a good wife?

(laugh) No … no, Aaron cooks too.  We take turns.

I haven’t asked anyone about this yet, but I’m sure people are curious.  Cross training for ballet dancers.  Do you go to the gym?

Mmm hmmm …

How often to you go?

I usually go three times a week when we’re rehearsing.  When we’re performing I usually don’t end up going that much.  It depends on what we’re doing because ideally I don’t like to go work out at the gym until I’m done rehearsing for the day.  ‘Cause then I’ll know how much I can push myself or not push myself.  So, I usually go twice during the week and then once on the weekends.

Do you feel like your dancing would suffer if you didn’t cross train?

I started going to the gym right before we started rehearsing for Swan Lake a couple of years ago.  Before that I had never done any serious cross training.  I’d occasionally go for a bike ride or hiking, but I never did anything on a regular basis.  [Since cross training], I’ve noticed a difference in my stamina and my muscle strength, especially now that I’m getting older.  So, yeah, my dancing would definitely be effected if I weren’t doing it (cross training).  And then in the summer I try to do more than I do while we’re dancing.

I bring up the subject because I don’t know if people realize how much dancers are constantly working on their bodies to be able to do their job well.

Yeah, and then at night you usually have to ice something or stretch.

Or else you’ll be in trouble the next day, right?

Mmm hmm …

What is your favorite message you’ve received from the insert of a fortune cookie?

(laugh) I don’t know … do you have another question?

Ok … If you could write a message on the insert from a fortune cookie, what would you write?

Oh no, this is even worse (laugh).

Katherine this is a creative question, you can say whatever you want.

(laugh) I know; I’m not good at those.  Umm … Oh I do remember getting one one time about being studious.  I was like, “That’s not a fortune.”

Was that your favorite one?

I thought it was weird.

My favorites are usually the weird ones.  Who do you like the most, your mom or your dad?

I like them both for different reasons.

Ok … You’re not actually supposed to answer that question.  So, you answered it correctly.

Yeah …

That was a joke question I added in …

Yeah …

Ok, good.  What do you think was the real cause of the first world war in 1914?

Are you serious?

I am …

(two minute pause) I don’t know.  Ummm … I can’t remember how world war one started.  (laugh)  Don’t put that in the thing!

It’s going in.

No it’s not.

Well, some say the assassination of Austria’s archbishop Franz Ferdinand (and his wife, I learned) domino effected events to lead to the war.

Ok, I do remember that.  I think, uhhh, Austria just had a leader that wanted to take over the world … like Pinky and the Brain.

So, Austria had a leader that was into cartoons about two mice?

Mmm hmm … That wanted to take over the world.

I didn’t know that Pinky and the Brain has existed for that long.

I didn’t either.

That’s amazing.  So, this is a lesson that cartoons influence everybody, even adults and leaders of countries.

And cause violence.

-Beau “Lipton”

Adrian Fry

Artist

Joined Ballet West in 2010

 

First “question” … Guess what the first question is.

Ummm … What age did you start dancing?

Good.  Correct.  That is the first question.

Great … Would you like me to answer that question?

What age did you start dancing?

Well, I started dancing when I was six years old.  My parents took me to see The Nutcracker when I was five.  After the show, we came home and I had a cassette tape of [Peter Ilyich] Tchaikovsky music.  One side had The Nutcracker and the other side had Swan Lake.  I just played The Nutcracker side of the tape over and over again.  And then spring rolled around, and I told my parents that they should come to school on Friday to see the talent show.  They were like, “Why?  Are you gonna sing?  What are you gonna do?”  And I said, “No, I’m gonna dance.”  And they said, “Really?”  They were very surprised.  So, my Mom rented a video camera, and they left work early and came to my talent show.  As a first grader at Westridge Elementary I performed my own choreography to the Russian dance [from The Nutcracker] in front of [grades] K through five.  Afterwards my parents came up to me and said, “Well, do you want to be a dancer?”  And I was like, “Yes.”  So, it was my covert way of telling them that I wanted to dance.

After that I started taking classes at a local studio.  I took ballet, tap, jazz and tumbling, but the predominant dance of that studio was clogging.  So, from six to thirteen I was really into clogging.  When I was thirteen I clogged in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.  I had always been in The Nutcracker in Omaha … This is a terribly long answer.  I started taking a ballet class there at my old studio, and it was the hardest class of my week, without a doubt.  I just became so much stronger from taking one ballet class that at the end of that year I decided to quit going to the regular studio and go full time at a ballet studio.  The old studio’s way of teaching was to allow girls who graduated the year before suddenly teach the next class.  So, when I was very young I was always in very high levels and there would be girls from my class from the previous year teaching me how to dance in the current year.  I left my old studio because I wasn’t learning anything new.  At the ballet studio I was always learning something new.  I was never the best student and it was always hard, so I started doing that full time from there on out.

Did you truly know that you wanted to be a professional dancer when you were six years old?

Yes.  I didn’t really know what it meant to be a professional, but I knew that I wanted to take dance class all day, everyday, and not do anything else.

At what age did you realize what being a professional really meant?

I think I probably knew when I would perform in The Nutcracker in Omaha.  I knew that the dancers dancing big parts were professionals, but I didn’t understand that it is a job.  So, it was probably when I went away to PNB (Pacific Northwest Ballet) for the first summer when I was sixteen, which allowed me to see a very large and established company.  I saw that it was a job for these people, and I saw that it was work.  I think that was when I realized what I really wanted was just, to dance.

Did seeing PNB change your perception of what a professional dance career entails?

I think it just made me realize that it was possible.  There were thirty other boys in my class [at PNB], and it was always just me in my studio.  The added element of competition really took my dancing to a completely different level.  I got a lot stronger and more confident in my dancing.  I realized it could be a viable option as a career, not just something to think and dream about.

You were sixteen when you left home and went to PNB for the first time.  How long were you in Seattle?

Well, when I was sixteen I went to PNB for the summer.  When I was seventeen I did the summer at SAB (School of American Ballet), and then the last two weeks of PNB’s program.  PNB asked me to stay at that point, but I was seventeen and not done with high school.  So, there was some talk about doing correspondence work to finish high school.  At the end of it, my parents actually wouldn’t let me go, which in hindsight I’m very grateful for, because I needed to be home.  I wasn’t ready to live two thousand miles away from family yet, but back then I would have told you that I was [ready].  When I was in Omaha, for my senior year of high school, I was pretty much a full time apprentice with the Omaha Theater Ballet.  So, I would take one class at school in the morning, and then I would drive downtown and dance for a full day at work.  When I graduated with my class, people didn’t know that I was still living in Omaha.  After high school I went to PNB for a year to study in their professional division.  Then I got a job with OBT (Oregon Ballet Theater) and danced there for four years.  Then I came to Ballet West, and this is my second season here.

Speaking of Ballet West, what is your favorite thing about being with the company?

I would say that I really love working and performing in the same building.  That’s a really great luxury.  When we move to the stage, all of our stuff is already there.  There’s not a big exodus to the theater.  So, that makes things feel really comfortable.  I also like the amount of performances we have here.  We perform more here than when I was at Oregon Ballet Theater.  So, it’s nice to have more time on stage.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being a professional dancer?

I just like the work.  I just really like to work.  I like that we’re creators.  I like that we get to create things together.  And I like being tuned in with my body.  I enjoy the physical aspect of knowing when something hurts or when something is different about my body, but then through dance it will be able to almost heal itself.  There are times when certain parts of my body will be aching, and if I keep taking class or keep rehearsing for whatever reason it will just kind of flow out.  I really like the healing quality that dance can have in a physical way as well as what dance does for an audience.  I like what it does for a community of people because I think it can heal the observers as well as the participants.

I suppose my least favorite thing would be the shortness of it (the career).  As I get older I desire to find creative ways to continue to be a dancer, because I feel like the time when the body stops reacting and responding to dance is the time when the artistic level is honed in a really great way.  So, I guess my desire as I grow as a dancer would be to have that growth artistically continue even if the physical aspect of it stops or is different.  I don’t know; I love it so much that I don’t want it to ever be gone.  I think there are some people that can just kind of hang it up and leave and are ok with that.  I guess my hope is that there will be ways to still have movement in my life even when it’s not to the full extent of my professional career as it is today.

Do you fear your body not responding to dance or do you think you’ll embrace “hanging up your ballet shoes?”

I think I’ll embrace it.  I don’t have fear about it, more anticipation about it.  I feel like that’s a question that I’m often asked, like, “How long are you gonna do this?”  Future planning in this career is very difficult to do, because it’s kind of on a day-by-day basis where it’s like, what hurts and what doesn’t hurt?  And can I still do it?  So, it’s not so much fear.  Just in my career, thus far, the way that things have unfolded has pleasantly surprised me.  I’m hoping when my career is at that [ending] point, there will be something waiting that will be also surprising in a great and pleasant way.

I’m glad you talked about how you have to evaluate this career day-to-day, because I’m not sure outsiders realize what struggles dancers go through with their bodies.  Waking up everyday is like a new …

Body.

Right.  What’s your favorite role you’ve performed with Ballet West?

Of course I really like Phlegmatic (The Four Temperaments – Balanchine).  That was the first role I danced at OBT when I was nineteen, and it was the first role that I performed with Ballet West, so it’s a very special piece that I feel like I’ve grown up with in a lot of ways.  I think I’ve done that role four or five times in six years.  And I like Sinfonietta (Jiri Kylian).  I’ve done it across the country with Ballet West, and it’s great music, and has steps that I really enjoy doing.  This is kind of small, but I really enjoyed doing Stars and Stripes (Balanchine) for the Gala (2010).  It was just really fun.  In Innovations I really liked doing Avichai Scher’s White Noise.  I got to do the first pas de deux with Emily Adams.  I really did like that part, and I feel like it was a good way to end a first season.

Are there any roles that you’ve always wanted to perform?

Yeah … I’m nerdy so I have a lot.

You’re going to get “bun head” on me?

Yeah … I’ve been thinking about this before the interview, like, “I can’t forget that one.”

Ok, then you have to give them to me in order by priority.

Priority?  I can’t do that.

…

I’m just gonna give them to you, ok?  Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels …

What number would that one be on your priority list?

They aren’t really priorities, I mean …

Ok, each role you say, let’s give a one to ten.  Ten being a role that you have to do before you retire, one being …

Well, I feel that way about all of these.  The bottom line is that …

They’re all ten’s?

I don’t know what that means.  I don’t feel like I have to do any of these roles to be honest, this is more sort of like hoop dreams.

…

I’m just gonna say them, ok?  Because your system is kind of stressing me out:  Red Angels;  Ummm, a Romeo of some capacity, preferably the Jean-Christophe Maillot version;  [Jiri] Kylian’s Sarabande; a lot of Balanchine stuff, like, Brahms Schoenberg Quartet, Diamonds, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, AGON, I’ve never done AGON;  Ummm, Duo Concertante; maybe Symphony in Three Movements.

Is that all?

Ummm, I’ve been in two Nicolo Fonte ballets, and I’ve really enjoyed those experiences, so I would like to do that more.  I like being a part of any new work.

Do you have a favorite Ballet West moment?

Probably when we went to Vegas, and we did Sinfonietta (Jiri Kylian).  I exited on the wrong side of the stage in the first movement of the ballet.  It’s not a very positive memory and I was pretty freaked out about it, but I kind of got that out of my system, so now I can just dance and not have to be like, “Oh, I’m gonna mess up now,” because I kind of did the general mess up already.  So, it’s like it’s out of the way.

So, that’s your favorite moment?

I mean, it’s memorable.  It’s not my favorite, like, “I really love this moment,” but it’s definitely quite memorable.  And then I have a compilation of strange moments.  In between mundane moments, like, waiting in the wings before going on [stage], or, waiting for my last entrance in Sinfonietta (Jiri Kylian) and seeing those five guys doing their choreography and counting the six sixes before Easton [Smith] and I enter.  I love that moment, the look that somebody will give me while we’re on stage.  Just really small things, like non-verbal things as artists and dancers that we get to share together.  Those are the moments that I really, really love.  That’s of course what I’ll miss the most when it’s all said and done.

What do you do when you’re not dancing?

I just started taking college classes, so I’m up at the U twice a week.  I love riding my bike.  I’m a big fan of commuting on my bike, and I’m just a happier person when I ride my bike.  I like to make food.  I like to rest.  I enjoy cross training by running, and lifting weights, and swimming, and more biking.  I went mountain biking a couple times this summer … enjoyed that.  I think all of my activities when I’m not dancing, when we’re working pretty heavily, are all about resting and enjoying.  Enjoyment is very important.

If a movie were to be made of your life, who would play you?

Me …

What if you were busy during the filming, dancing in Dubai?

Seriously?  Do I have to come up with a different answer?  Does it need to be somebody that looks like me or somebody that can dance?

It’s up to you.  You do the casting.

Well, I just gave you my answer.

No, you’re busy in Dubai, remember?

(laugh) There’s too many rules … Ummm, how bout that Billy Elliot guy?  He can kinda dance or something can’t he?  He’s Irish looking.  Jamie Bell?  Or if we’re playing the doppelgänger game then I guess Prince Harry … if he’s available.  Or Paul Bettany; I’ve been told I look like him.  I don’t know, ‘cause they all have accents, so I don’t know if they could perfect the pure midwest diction that I have.  I would like you to just say me.

If someone were to write a biography on your life, what would the title be?

(pause for about a minute) I really don’t know (another minute) I’m sorry I don’t have any creative juices left to create an answer right now.  Do you have any suggestions?

Let me think of one … “Gracefully Dipping into the Fry Sauce” … How’s that?

I mean, it’s kind of up for debate.

Well, you have the “graceful,” to represent your dancing.  You have the “dipping,” which represents going into the life of “the fry sauce,” Adrian Fry in Utah.  I thought it was pretty clever.

It could be a work in progress.  I mean, that could be the title of the book if you want, “Work In Progress.”

Yes …

Thank you for walking me through that.

(whispered) I just summoned your genius.

-Beau “Lipton”

It’s week one of new season rehearsals and Ballet West is fortunate to have the artistry of Li Anlin and Jodie Gates in our studios.

Li Anlin is teaching us Ben Stevenson’s DRACULA

 

Li Anlin

Mr. Anlin was born in Nanjing, China.  At the age of 13, he went to Beijing to study at Beijing Dance Academy where he first worked with Ben Stevenson.  Mr. Anlin graduated in 1979 to the Young Dancers Company.  In 1982, he joined Central Ballet of China (now the National Ballet of China) as a soloist and danced in China, Thailand and Hong Kong.  In 1985, he was invited by Ivan Nagy to join Ballet de Santiago as a soloist and was soon promoted to Principal Dancer.  In 1989, Mr. Stevenson invited Mr. Anlin to join Houston Ballet as a soloist.  During his twenty-one-year career as a dancer, Mr. Anlin was featured in many of Mr. Stevenson’s ballets including: The Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, Dracula, Three Preludes, Four Last Songs, L, Swan Lake, Peer Gynt, Cleopatra, and Don Quixote.  He also danced in ballets by Sir Kenneth MacMillan, George Balanchine, Ronald Hynd, John Cranko, Vicente Nebrada, André Prokovsky, Jiri Kylian, and Christopher Bruce.  In 2000, Mr. Anlin was named Ballet Master for Houston Ballet.  He assisted Mr. Stevenson in the creation of The Fountain of Tears in Beijing and now stages and rehearses Mr. Stevenson’s ballets on other ballet companies around the world.  In 2003, Mr. Stevenson invited Mr. Anlin to Texas Ballet Theater as Ballet Master. In 2005, Mr. Anlin was named Assistant to the Artistic Director.  This is his seventh season with the company.

 

Jodie Gates is creating a new work for Ballet West II

-Mark

 

 

Ballet West presented “Curtain Up” last week featuring the choreography of the company applicants for “Innovations” danced by Ballet West II and some ballets from the repertoire of Ballet West II.  Hosted by Ballet West’s Artistic Director Adam Sklute and Interim Director of Ballet West II Christopher Ruud, the performance was magic.

Below are photos from dress rehearsal by Beau Pearson.

-Mark