| USA Essay of Elisabeth Dam & Alexander Stæger |
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| To the Danish/American society: |
| In spring last year we received the news from our director Frank Andersen, that we were chosen for the Danish American society's D.A.N.C.E scholarship. It came as an unexpected but truly wonderful surprise. Both of us didn't really have plans for our summer so the fact that we suddenly had a trip to New York with all expenses paid was a fantastic news and a great honour. |
| We decided to go to New York in the end of June so we could get a little more than 4 weeks of training and return to Denmark in the end of July ready and inspired for the upcoming season. |
| We arrived in the big apple on June 29th and obviously felt a bit jetlagged. So we decided to check out the neighbourhood and then go to bed early. We stayed in an apartment on the upper west side, an apartment we've both been to before, so it was wonderful to be back in that area and recognize all the different places we'd been before. The apartment belonged to the Cunninghams a really nice couple who've always been so kind to us, and were to prove their generous nature once again this time, by renting us their entire apartment for the whole duration of our trip. |
| After we arrived and got rid of the worst jetlag we went to the School of American Ballet (SAB) to check in and were greeted with open arms by everybody. Unfortunately we came to late to take class so we decided to go to steps on Broadway. Steps is an old school where lots of people come to take dancing classes, both professional dancers but also non-professional. It's always fun to take classes on steps, the people taking class, the great teachers and the passionate feeling towards dance in all it's forms is a truly remarkable thing to experience. |
| We started on SAB's summer course the following Monday, and also benefited tremendously from the classes there, it is so rewarding to be trained by some of the best teachers in the world and in a technique that in many ways is so different from what we're used to. The fast movement of the legs, the whirling pirouettes and the general way of presenting yourself in the style of Balanchine is a great thing to master and if you can combine that with the techniques we brought with us from Denmark you are bound to improve your dancing. |
| The classes on SAB were amazing, the classes were challenging but everyday you would feel a slight improvement, and when you looked around at all the other students you could really see how they improved as well. Alexander was taught by Jock Soto, Andrej Kremarevskij and Elisabeth by Susan Pilarre and Kay Mazzo. We really have tremendous respect towards the teachers there, they're truly some of the best in the world. They have so much to offer both with their steps but also the corrections they give they really improve your way of analysing your body and technique thus improving your dancing. |
| On Steps we took traditional ballet classes with David Howard and Alexander Tressor among others and all of them taught wonderful classes. We've both had great experiences with David Howard in the past when he taught in Denmark and it was nice to see him and do his classes again. In addition to the traditional ballet classes we also got the chance to do some modern classes to prepare for the somewhat modern season we were facing in Denmark. It is always fun to try new forms of dancing and the modern classes were no exception. The way of moving and using your body is so different from what we're used to but it is a great way to explore the possibilities of the human body. |
| Not only did we get in good shape taking classes but we also used a lot of our free time walking Manhattan thin. There's so much to see, the many streets and avenues with museums, restaurants, tourists attractions, stores and malls etc. We visited the Lincoln Center, Times Square, SOHO, Little Italy, Empire State Building, Metropolitan Museum, MOMA, Museum of Natural History, Macy's, Little Italy Broadway and Fifth avenue Central Park, and the ZOO. We also went to the movies a lot, it's fun to get to see all the new movies ages before they come to Denmark. We were basically everywhere soaking in all the new impressions and experiences and enjoying every second of it. |
| We also got the chance to see some performances. One evening we went with the school to watch ABT do Swan Lake. It was really great to get the chance to see one of the world's best companies in action and Swan Lake is really a classic, so we really enjoyed that. |
| Further more we'd heard that the Bolshoi Ballet were in town, and the new director Alexei Ratmansky used to be in our company. So we contacted him and he gave us permission to watch the general rehearsal of 'Bright Stream' he also told us that we could take class with the company which was more than we could ever hope for. So here we were in NY being trained by people from two of the best parts of the ballet world. New York and Russia...Amazing. |
| Even though we almost spend a month in New York it really didn't feel that long. We can't believe it went so fast. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience, that we will always remember. We are now back at work in Denmark and we can really feel how much we've benefited from this whole experience both physically and mentally. It's been such a rewarding experience and we will always have our wonderful memories of our summer in New York City. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity, and for honouring us with your scholarship... We will never forget it. |
| Yours sincerely, |
| Elisabeth C. Dam & Alexander W Stæger |
