interview with liz hartwell
by asimplesound

Where you are from and how did you get here?
I was born in Los Angeles and moved to Flint, Michigan at age 5. In eighth grade, I lived in southern California and then moved again to Cincinnati. I attended a performing arts high school there. The principal, Bill Dickenson, and artistic director, Jack Louiso were completely committed to providing the best teachers and therefore, expectations were high. They ran a tight ship and I had an awesome experience there. I had a tough time deciding whether to pursue music (flute) or dance as a profession. My senior year, my parents moved to a small college town called Indiana, Pennsylvania. As a bargaining tool, to encourage me to move with them again, my parents said they would drive 90 minutes each way to Pittsburgh to take class with the newly formed Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. The director of the company invited me to take company class shortly after, and also to observe their daily rehearsals and to continue my advanced classes at night. What an experience that was for me. There were 55 people in the company at that time. Francesca Corkle, former Joffery principal, and so many other gifted principal dancers showed me what great classical ballet is all about. I lived in Pittsburgh, in a room at the Salvation Army until I graduated in 1980 from the School of the Performing Arts in Cincinnati. The next fall, I received a contract with the company. I danced there for three years after which a change of directorship led me to the Chicago Ballet for a Nutcracker production and the Cincinnati Ballet for a few months in the spring. The following year the Louisville Ballet hired me and I danced with this company for 19 years, retiring in 2003. Again, the director, Alun Jones, had a group of mature artists who had been in huge ballet companies around the world. We did many classics by the greatest choreographers. Alun and his wife, Helen Starr, a principal dancer with the company had both worked with the Royal Ballet and Festival Ballet. Their humor in the studio, coupled with an aesthetic sense of all aspects of the theater, design, music, choreography, made an irresistible environment for my husband and I to work in. The Louisville Ballet has had a new artistic director, Bruce Simpson since 2003. He is moving the company forward with cutting edge ballets and gorgeous dancers performing them. My partner and I also danced in many Operas with the Cincinnati Opera Ballet Company in the summer seasons. The singers and conductors were exquisite and there was always a mutual appreciation of dancers and singers. As this job ended, I found work teaching at the Kentucky Governors School for the Arts. Another fun and vibrant job filled with fantastic faculty and students. The focus was on showing students how closely interconnected different art forms are to each other. We all put in 18-hour days and the total immersion was life changing for all involved each year. Performances every day, twice, three times a day even. My childhood was the same way thanks to my passionate parents. They introduced me to all forms of artistic expression. I have been director of the Louisville Ballet School for two and a half years.
Describe your first experience of taking class with live music.
It may have been in a barn in Michigan. I was overwhelmed with the space, the dancers and likely it was the music that sent me whirling. Because I was also a musician, I was trained to hear overtones, rhythm, breath and the present moment. When I was in high school, I again had live music and I remember feeling the pores of my skin open while I took class.
What are some of the projects you are currently working on at the Louisville Ballet School?
We are a member of SERBA, Southeastern Regional Ballet Association, and we are preparing for an adjudication that will be held on February 9th. Ballets selected from the adjudication will be performed at an annual festival, each year hosted in a different city. This year all five regions in the US will come together for a national festival in Pittsburgh, PA. The Regional Dance Association, RDA, will run April 24-28, 2007. The days are full of master classes and there are performances of member companies each evening. Our School performing company, the Louisville Ballet Youth Ensemble will be performing this weekend with the Louisville Orchestra in a concert series called the Orkidstra. The Youth Ensemble will present nine ballets in a program in March and the end of year performance, for all levels of classes between beginning ballet and pre-professional, is in rehearsal stages at this time. I am also focusing on arranging a dance medicine seminar and brainstorming ways to improve attendance to the nutrition seminars we provide for our students. A question box will soon be placed in the lobby of the School! Each weekend in January, I have traveled to various cities to recruit students to the summer intensive program. We have added an evaluation process to our curriculum and this is an ongoing project.
Is there a piece of music that you have always wished someone would make a ballet to?
Rachmoninov's 2nd piano concerto.
What other forms of movement are you interested in?
I delve into flamenco dance, Cunningham technique, hip hop, tango, yoga, Qigong, Alexander technique, feldenchrist technique, bartinieff movement, hiking trails and anything energy related including those involving the healing arts.
How is performing with a live orchestra different than to recorded music?
It is always preferable to have live music when performing because of the added excitement. Imagine having the power of 70 musicians under your feet (and a conductor who is with you) - it’s electrifying! I have actually fallen out of a pose in B+, as the Firebird, from the explosion of the notes in Stravinsky's score. Sometimes you have to be careful not to be too swept away. It’s happened to me on more than one occasion. Oh, I love to indulge in the rhythms and harmonies. My favorite ballet could be Carmina Burana for we had an orchestra in the pit and a choir behind us, onstage. Every time I performed Carmina I had nonstop goose bumps.
What is your favorite thing about living in kentucky?
The people in Kentucky are friendly and kind and the audiences, for the many arts productions that occur in Louisville, including the ballet, have been quite appreciative as well. Louisville has both the benefits of being the biggest city in Kentucky and at the same time it is small enough to breathe in.

for more information please contact liz at ehartwell@louisvilleballet.org