Ballet Theatre Midwest
The old Carnegie library on Eastern Avenue no longer houses books, but it is still a hub of community learning and culture. It’s the home of Ballet Theatre Midwest, a dance academy in the best of the European ballet traditions.
The academy was founded in 2004 by Nancy Fountain, the school’s director, and Daniel Simmons, the artistic director. They had worked together at the Cincinnati Ballet and discovered they had a common vision for opening a dance school. Simmons explained how they ended up in the Columbia Tusculum Historic District. ”We knew the lady who had a little ballet school here. She was interested in selling and we decided this is where we’re going to build our academy.” The building is ideal for their purposes. Sunlight from the tall arched windows fills the two large dance studios and the historic presence of the building adds to the traditional feel of the academy.
Simmons came to Cincinnati to start the Cincinnati Ballet’s school. He had a long career, dancing with ballet companies in San Francisco, Montreal, the Berlin Opera Ballet in Germany, and the Ballet Del Nuevo Mundo-Caracas in Venezuela. “It was a fabulous company; we toured all over the world.” But his interest in teaching dance grew, so Simmons applied for the Profes-sional Dancers Teachers’ Course at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. “They condense a four year university course into a 10 month program, learning the method of teaching dance. It was wonderful, but very difficult.” From there, he went to Russia to study the Vaganova training method. “The Russians have really honed down the method. They’ve passed it down for 120 years, what works and doesn’t work.” Fountain had also studied the Vaganova method. Her ca-reer included dancing with the Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Milwaukee Ballet, Philadelphia Opera Ballet and teaching at several dance academies. They have combined the British and Russian teaching traditions at Ballet Theatre Midwest.
Their curriculum includes students of all ages, from the “baby” classes (ages 3-4) all the way to professionals. Simmons feels their method develops more than just how to dance. “At the beginning, they just learn basic skills like working together, paying attention, lining up, counting. At the same time we’re instilling a sense of discipline, and it’s wonderful to watch the kids de-velop. I know that they use these skills, like concentration, to help in their school work.”
At the other end, Fountain teaches an adult class that everyone from parents who just want to share the experience with their kids, to professionals who have been injured and are working their way back into dance. Ballet Theatre Midwest also has a professional ensemble, with membership by audition. “It’s wonderful for the younger ones because it gives them some-thing to aspire to.”
The students come to dance for many reasons. Carly Cohen of Hyde Park credits her aunt. “She was a dancer and has four boys but always wanted a little dancer, so she started me in a dance camp here. I fell in love with it and wanted to take more classes.” She has been in several recent productions, including “The Nutcracker”, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, and last year’s dance interpretation of the Verdi “Requiem”.
Rebecka Gibbon from Norwood has the part of Clara in the upcoming “Nutcracker”. “Clara is the little girl who gets the nutcracker at her party.” Last year, she was Alex in “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”. “That was really fun because it’s the main kid’s part.” Gibbon has been dancing at Ballet Theater Midwest for four years and takes classes six days a week. “I really like that everyone here is friends and that teachers give you individual attention, so if you’re confused on a set, they’ll give you help with that.”
Laine Kolesar from Mt. Lookout was a fifth grader when she started in the jazz class. “I was more into musical theatre, but after two years of that I really wanted to start ballet.” She will be in the party scenes in the upcoming “Nutcracker” as well as an angel in the snow scene. “I like Mr. Simmons because he has a teaching style where he takes on one person each class and he works on them specifically. But he also works on everyone else, and the next class he’ll see how much you picked up. It really helps to see how much you can improve yourself from week to week.”
Kolesar pointed out that performance rehearsals are separate from the daily classes. While she and other students focus on this year’s “Nutcracker”, Simmons is already planning next spring’s production. In addition, the academy does several outreach performances each year at local schools.
The students all project a strong sense of dedication to their art, which is one of Sim-mons’ goals. “Just like coaches want their kids committed to soccer, we need our kids committed to the art of dance. We sort of battle for them. Sports and dance don’t mix in terms of what it does to their bodies. The parents are seeing how strong dance makes their kids, how poised they are, boys or girls. There’s a lot that comes with dance, not just brute force.”
The students find dance spilling over into their whole lives. Cohen said she doesn’t really walk around the house. “My family makes fun of me because I kind of dance from place to place. I have a room in the basement where I dance all the time when I come home from school.” Her dream is to dance in the New York City Ballet or the American Ballet Theatre. ”I would love to dance professionally, and even if I end up doing something else, I’ll stay in ballet because that’s my passion and I don’t want to give it up.”
