Back to Tour de Force Tour de Force April 23, 2010 Michael Crabb When National Ballet School alumni look back on their student days, what they remember most are the special friendships and how privileged they were to attend the Toronto school. “I was so happy to be in that school, in that environment, among peers I could actually relate to,” remembers class of ’88 graduate Jason Beechey, now head of a leading dance academy in Germany. The special sense of kinship among NBS alumni comes from having shared their formative years in a necessarily hot-house environment where striving for seemingly unattainable goals is a daily routine. “Everyone wanted to do well and, of course, it was competitive, but we were happy for each others’ successes,” says choreographer Sabrina Matthews, NBS 1987-95. “We were all pursuing a single passion” says class of ’75 alumna Su Keen. “We grew up quickly.” Denise Mitsche and Jill Johnson performing "Serenade" in 1987. NBS offers children with a passion for dance the chance to pursue their ANDREW OXENHAM PHOTO dream all the way to the top. The standards are unforgiving and the regime tough – classes six days a week for almost 11 months a year – but NBS students typically can’t get enough of it and NBS staff is renowned for its dedicated, caring support. “Even the academic teaching staff were incredibly nurturing,” says 24-year-old National Ballet soloist Robert Stephen – who also recalls being made to clean all the cafeteria chairs after a boisterous pillow fight in Grade 7. More than 400 NBS alumni from across North America and overseas are rekindling old friendships and sharing special memories in Toronto this weekend to celebrate their alma mater’s 50th anniversary. Since Friday they’ve been attending classes, watching historic NBS-related films and touring the architecturally stunning new Jarvis St. campus and magnificently renovated Maitland St. residence complex – a far cry from the rabbit warren of studios, classrooms and “rez” many alumnae remember from decades past. NBS alumni fall naturally into two groups: those who trained under “Miss O” – founding principal, the late Betty Oliphant – and the remainder who date from the 20-year regime of her successor, Mavis Staines. London-born Oliphant ran a private school on Toronto’s Sherbourne St. when National Ballet of Canada founding artistic director Celia Franca invited her to become principal of the school she was planning. Oliphant was initially hesitant but, once she accepted, devoted herself tirelessly to making NBS a pedagogical world leader. From the perspective of many of her students, however, “Miss O” was definitely from the “stern love” old school. “For me she was figure of terror,” recalls 1963 graduate Veronica Tennant, one of Canada’s most admired ballerinas and now an Emmy-winning filmmaker. “It was not easy,” says Tennant, “but she trained me beautifully.” “You were either in her good books or you were not,” corroborates Keen. “You knew your life at the school was made or broken by Miss O.” Norma Sue Fisher-Stitt, whose book, The Ballet Class: A History of Canada’s National Ballet School, 1959-2009, was launched on Saturday, agrees. “Betty wanted to run people’s lives,” says the class of ’70 graduate, today an associate vice president at York University. The biggest fear among students, she explains, was the threat of not being invited back for another year. “It just hung over you.” Adds veteran faculty member Deborah Bowes: “It was her way or the highway.” Fisher-Stitt also recalls Oliphant’s tendency to pick favourites and go easy on the boys yet emphasizes the deep compassion that underlay the no-nonsense exterior. Conscious of the psychological pressures involved in such a competitive environment, Oliphant made sure students had access to outside support as needed. And for female students, as Fisher-Stitt points out, Oliphant was an important role model. “We never had the feeling we couldn’t achieve things.” Oliphant wanted NBS graduates to be prepared for whatever career they might ultimately choose. That meant maintaining high academic grades. “After I stopped dancing I had an incredibly successful business career,” says Keen. “The school shaped who I am. It taught me the intangible skills – discipline, dedication and loyalty – so I’ve always landed on my feet with toes pointing in the right direction.” Staines introduced a gentler approach without for a moment relinquishing her predecessor’s insistence on the highest standards. “I was in the first NBS class Mavis taught,” says National Ballet soloist Stephanie Hutchison. “Betty had been pretty hard on me. I was not one of her favourites. I was a late bloomer and Mavis could see that.” Staines, NBS class of ’73, was forced by injury to give up a distinguished dancing career in 1981. She was only two years into a teaching career at NBS when Oliphant named Staines in 1984 as associate director and heir apparent. Oliphant always had keen instincts. In Staines she saw someone with the passion, intelligence and vision to carry her own pioneering work forward. Staines saw the change of leadership as an ideal opportunity to reassess NBS’s training methods to ensure they were attuned to changes in the dance world. She’s worked to broaden NBS’s horizons by forming co-operative partnerships with similar schools in Canada and abroad. She has also overseen a sea-change shift from what Staines calls a “fundamentalist” ethos – authoritarian and hierarchical – toward a more holistic, “student-centred” approach that has attracted international admiration. “The school has been incredibly blessed with the leadership it’s had,” says Fisher-Stitt. Yet, as an NBS student Staines admits she was just as mischievous as any of her peers. “I certainly got up to my share of pranks but my house-parent would always say, ‘I know you’re behind these pranks but somehow I’m never able to catch you’.” NBS aims to create an environment in which students, especially those in residence, can experience normal childhoods. Deborah Bowes, class of ’65, emphasizes how seriously she and her colleagues take their “duty of care,” while allowing room for students to enjoy being kids. “It was not like being in a monastery,” says Beechey. “You weren’t made to feel watched or guarded, but I always felt I was in a very secure environment.” But, of course, boys will be boys. Matthews remembers technologically-savvy male students figuring a way around a new electronic alarm system so they could sneak into the girl’s dorm for secret late-night parties. It didn’t take staff long to catch on. NBS prides itself on offering students healthy meals. “There were few dishes none of us could stomach,” concedes Stephen by way of an inverted compliment. But students would still head for the local corner store – sometimes with permission, other times slipping out undetected – to load up on junk. A week ago, class of ’93 graduate and now much-acclaimed 34-year-old choreographer Aszure Barton brought her New York-based company to perform at the Betty Oliphant Theatre. Reflecting on her years at NBS she aptly captured the mood of this 50th anniversary alumnae weekend. “I just feel incredibly grateful.” Famous alum not in ballet Former NBS students find themselves well equipped to pursue careers beyond dance. Here are a few examples: Wendy Reiser – medical doctor Neve Campbell – actor Emanuel Sandhu – Canadian champion figure skater Cecilia Ostman – New York City-based jewelry designer James Baidacoff – senior BMO executive Johan Persson – London-based theatrical photographer NBS MILESTONES Sept. 28, 1959: 27 girls in Ancient Irvine tartan pleated skirts and dark green blazers enter a former Quaker Meeting House at 111 Maitland St. in Toronto for first day of classes at the newly opened National Ballet School, a residential ballet and academic training institution for Grades 5-12. Although there are no boys in the full-time program, nine of the 202 students in NBS’s after-school “Ballet Division” program are. The school will eventually become as renowned for its male as for its female graduates. 1960s: NBS becomes an independently chartered organization in 1963, separate though closely associated with the National Ballet of Canada. NBS holds its first national audition tour in 1964. By the later 1960s, the earliest crops of NBS graduates are strengthening the ranks of the National Ballet – Veronica Tennant, Nadia Potts, Vanessa Harwood and in 1969 Karen Kain, now the company’s artistic director. 1970s: NBS consolidates its foothold on Maitland St., acquiring additional properties and late in the decade adding a purpose-built residence block. In 1970, Frank Augustyn graduates and joins the National Ballet. In 1973, he and Kain win laurels at a major competition, bringing international kudos to the school that trained them. Alumni from this decade include current NBS artistic director Mavis Staines and world-renowned choreographer James Kudelka. 1980s: NBS’s reputation increasingly attracts students from abroad. School graduates also look further afield, dancing with leading overseas companies. NBS marks its 25th anniversary with a high-profile gala at the then O’Keefe (now Sony) Centre. Oliphant’s push to build a stage training facility is finally achieved with the 1988 opening of the Betty Oliphant Theatre. Oliphant passes the reins to Staines the following year. Rex Harrington graduates in 1983 and begins a stellar career at the National Ballet. 1990s: Staines reintroduces modern dance instruction, appointing Canadian icon Peggy Baker as artist-in-residence. NBS’s “junior associates” program is augmented by popular after-school-hours classes for adults and the school’s retail outlet, The Shoe Room, opens.