CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION

This summer, Chautauqua Dance and North Carolina Dance Theatre, returning for its ninth year in residency at Chautauqua, revere three distinguished women who have helped shape dance from both on and off the stage. Celebrations will highlight the achievements of legendary New York City Ballet ballerinas turned master teachers Patricia McBride and Violette Verdy, and internationally acclaimed costume designer A. Christina Giannini. In 2009, each of the women marks two decades of involvement at the Chautauqua Institution.

The Costumer on a Bicycle

A. Christina Giannini is known affectionately by those who work with her as simply “Stia.” Chautauqua Dance’s resident costume designer since 1989, Giannini is a familiar figure around the grounds, riding on her bicycle to and from the Dance costume workshop. Giannini has costumed ballets for companies around the globe, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Jose Limon Dance Company, Royal Danish Ballet and Ballet National de Caracas. Her work has twice earned her Venezuela’s equivalent to an Academy Award. Chautauqua audiences have beheld Giannini’s designs in performances such as Mark Diamond’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Donlin Foreman’s So I May Say, and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Cinderella.

Giannini first met Chautauqua Dance Artistic Director Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and wife Patricia McBride at Spoleto USA in South Carolina. McBride was performing Swan Lake, for which she needed an emergency tutu-adjustment. Stia stepped in to the rescue.

A chance meeting on an airplane some time later was when Bonnefoux asked Giannini to handle costuming for the ballet at Chautauqua. “Sure,” Stia agreed, and the rest is history. That first summer, the wardrobe department was housed in a boathouse. Giannini remembers shopping local flea markets for finds like muslin to create dresses for the dancers. The challenges were worth it, however, and 20 years later, Giannini can now enjoy fitting ballerinas and danseurs in the spaciousness of Dance’s new costume shop.

“JP has little patience for difficult people,” she said. “The ones who go to Chautauqua go to work hard. We do 12 shows in 6 weeks.” This amounts to 500 costumes per summer passing through Giannini’s wardrobe shop.

“Jean-Pierre will sometimes say after costumes for his ballet have been completed, ‘I want to put 6 more people in this ballet,’ and we work it out,” said Giannini. “That’s the way it should be—getting these kids on stage is important.”

Speaking on the work environment that the Chautauqua residency affords her, Giannini explained that she enjoys the continuity of being in the workshop all day for six weeks. “It helps concentration,” she said. “There is a creative focus you can’t get in other places.”

Giannini currently lives and designs in New York City. In Chautauqua, she can make use of her collapsible boat and two bicycles. She enjoys paddling on the lake early mornings and early evenings.

“It’s gorgeous down there,” she said.

The Ballerina in Red Shoes

2009 is a banner year for Violette Verdy, who will receive France’s highest distinction as Chevalier (Knight) of the National Order of the Legion of Honor this June. The honor is bestowed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and was originated by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Verdy’s notable career began before her days as a celebrated New York City Ballet principal dancer under the legendary George Balanchine. The French-born Verdy performed with Roland Petit’s Ballets de Paris, Ballet Rambert, London Festival Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. Balanchine created copious roles for her, among them Sonatine, which she danced with Bonnefoux. After her performance career, Verdy became the first female artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet, and led as co-director of Boston Ballet for four years. In 1983, Bonnefoux invited Verdy to join the faculty at Chautauqua Dance. She subsequently taught and choreographed for the program a total of 20 years.

Dance writer Nancy Upper and dance notable Kevin McKenzie said of Verdy as an instructor, “Her teaching is enriched by her thoughtful, philosophical nature and spiced with wit.” In a true reflection of her wit and charm, Verdy conducts classes outfitted in her signature ruby red ballet slippers. The cheerful shoes, along with her generous smile, greet every dancer taking her class at Chautauqua.

Verdy currently holds the title of Distinguished Professor at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Patricia McBride, previously an Indiana University Distinguished Professor herself, had thought Verdy perfect for a position and invited her to speak with the dean.

This summer, North Carolina Dance Theatre will present the film “Violette Verdy: The Artist Teacher” during its Pas de Deux program at the Amphitheater. The film is underwritten by Kay Logan through the Chautauqua Institution.

The All-American Star on the lake

Although many stars may be known for temperamental displays of drama, Patricia McBride’s stardom draws from her ebullience and light, effortless virtuosity. Even more, her bright and welcoming personality could transform into complex, even murderous, characters onstage. Dance critic Robert Gottlieb writes of McBride during her early days at New York City Ballet, “She was small, very pretty, energetic, and alluring, and as useful to [choreographer Jerome] Robbins as to Balanchine.”

Further, “her performances in Robbins’s Dances at a Gathering in 1969 and, especially, in Balanchine’s Who Cares? the following year firmly established McBride as a star,” according to Dance author Robert Tracy.

It is rare that any one ballerina was ever muse to two choreographic masters as she was. Over the course of her career, George Balanchine created more than 20 roles on her. Signature roles like hers in Jerome Robbins’s The Cage showcased McBride’s commanding dramatic presence.

In the Chautauqua studios, McBride brings students and professionals face-to-face with transformative moments that have shaped the course of dance. Every summer since 1989, McBride has conducted rehearsals for the resident Festival Ballet and for North Carolina Dance Theatre. She brings expertise and first-hand insights to the staging of Balanchine ballets, many of which have roles created on her. Among the ballets McBride has staged for performance at Chautauqua are Balanchine’s Serenade, Divertimento #15, The Four Temperaments and variations from Raymonda. This summer, she will stage Balanchine’s iconic Apollo.

On some rare and serendipitous occasions in ballet class, she treats her dancers to quick anecdotes from her performance career. On one day, it is the re-creation of an exercise that Balanchine, or “Mr. B.,” liked to give. On another, it is a story about the special no-slip, rubber-soled pointe shoes she wore to perform on set for The Ed Sullivan Show.

McBride cherishes the wealth of time with young dancers that Chautauqua provides. “Chautauqua is a nurturing place for students as well as professionals,” she said. Topping off McBride’s anticipation over this summer’s Chautauqua experience is a visit from Bonnefoux and her first grandchild, Isabeau.

“I can’t wait to introduce her!,” said McBride.

Written by by Ayisha McMillan