Going toe to toe
Joyce Scherer
Given the opportunity, what questions would an aspiring ballet student
ask a well-known prima ballerina? “How many hours a day do you rehearse?”
“What is your favorite ballet?” “Have you met Mikhail Baryshnikov?”
But Newport Beach resident Christina Fulcher, 13, has a more pressing
query when she speaks with American Ballet Theater’s Ashley Tuttle.
“I want to know how she prepares her point shoes,” she said. “How does
she bend them and how long does she wear them before getting new ones?”
And Claire Munsell, 13, of Costa Mesa says she wants to know if Tuttle
has brothers or sisters who dance.
“I also want to ask if she ever went to college and what she wants to do
when she retires from dance,” Munsell said.
But 12-year-old Quenby Hersh just hopes she’s nice.
“We had Julie Kent before, and she was just like a nice person,” said the
Newport Beach resident. “That is how I would treat the younger dancers
who looked up to me. I would be nice and talk to them about their parts.”
The girls will have the chance to get their questions answered when the
Fountain Valley-based Festival Ballet Theater performs “Giselle,” which
stars Tuttle and fellow American Ballet Theater dancer Gennadi Saveliev.
The two-act production is slated Saturday and Sunday at OCC’s Robert B.
Moore Theatre.
Festival Ballet Theater, founded by former Cairo Ballet Opera ballerina
Salwa Rizkalla in 1988, was formed to allow talented young Orange County
dancers an opportunity to perfect their art and perform such classics as
“Sleeping Beauty,” “Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake.”
“Even though we have a small company, we are known to some of the
principal dancers,” said the Egyptian-born Rizkalla. “And when I contact
them, they are wonderful to dance with us. It is important for the kids
see how seriously they take their job. It inspires them to see how
principal dancers are hard workers and also very humble.”
Tuttle, who joined the New York-based American Ballet Theater in 1987 as
a 16-year-old, was promoted to soloist in 1992 and principal dancer in
1997. Born and raised in South Carolina, she started dancing at age 6.
“I never sat down and made a conscious decision to become a dancer,”
Tuttle recalled. “I didn’t decide not go to my prom or high school
football games; I just wanted to dance, and that is what I did.”
And just like the young aspiring dancers, Tuttle is looking forward to
their talks.
“It is so nice to be around the kids,” she said. “The really young ones
usually ask me if my point shoes hurt, mainly because they’ve never had
them on. The older ones are sometimes shy and don’t always ask me
anything, but then I am a little shy, too.”
However, Tuttle would be glad to pass on to Fulcher her point shoe
techniques, which can include banging them with a hammer or hitting them
on cement, cutting the tip off with a razor blade so they are not so
slippery and scraping the bottom of the shoes. They are usually ready to
wear in about 20 minutes, and it takes a few rehearsals to mold them for
a good fit. And yes, she goes through a lot of point shoes a year.
Tuttle said she has thought about what she will do when she retires but
has not made any decisions.
“I really like real estate,” she said. “But it’s funny because growing
up, I always thought I would work with handicapped children. And, I do
like teaching ballet, especially to the young girls who are very sweet.
We are so focused as professionals to being perfect while young children
are so free to move naively.”
And just like the younger dancers, who are in awe of her dancing, Tuttle
says there were several people who influenced her career.
“I was most inspired by my parents and my dance teacher in South
Carolina, Ann Brodie. She danced in New York before there were big
companies. She was a wonderful teacher who taught me to love ballet,” she
said. “That is reason I know smaller towns have an impact, too. In fact,
most of our company is from small towns, like my best friend, who is from
Iowa.”
Tuttle, who practices about six to seven hours each day, said she likes
to impart to aspiring dancers that it takes much more than talent to
become a professional.
“Dancers must have a lot of determination and be constantly disciplined,”
she said. “It is one thing to get in the door, but then you have to push
harder each day both mentally and physically.”
WHAT: Festival Ballet Theater’s “Giselle,” starring American Ballet
Theater’s Ashley Tuttle
WHERE: OCC’s Robert B. Moore Theatre, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.
WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday
HOW MUCH: Advance tickets $17 for adults, $14 for seniors and children.
PHONE: (888) 622-5356 or (714) 432-5880
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