JoAnne Tucker shares her experiences in dance from directly a modern dance company to leading movement activities for women in prison and domestic violence survivors.
Wishing all of Mostly Dance readers who celebrate Thanksgiving a very meaningful day. I am particularly grateful for the amazing time Murray and I have had in the ten years we have lived in Santa Fe. We are now in the midst of organizing to move to lower elevation and no snow! Once settled, I look forward to resuming weekly writing of this blog. For now, it will be fairly irregular… maybe once every two weeks, or even just once a month.
We have so enjoyed our time here, particularly exploring all the unique places in this “Land of Enchantment.” This past weekend we visited one of our very favorite places, Bosque del Apache. The sand hill cranes and snow geese were in full residency and what amazing “ballets” they presented. I loved watching how the cranes land at sunset and here are two pictures I took this Sunday with my IPhone. One is of the number of people with their various photography equipment lined up, mostly in silence, all enjoying the spectacle together.
In an earlier blog I wrote about an intensive discussion I had at about the age of 8 with Regina, a very good friend who lived down the street from me, about who was the better ballerina, Moira Shearer or Margot Fonteyn. In this blog I want to share the great fun I had dancing in Regina’s very large living room.
I am not sure where Regina got the half parachute that we played with, but what a joy it was to wave it, dance under it and use our imagination to turn it into whatever we wanted.
We lived on the same street about a half a block from each other. Regina is only about two months older than I am, but because her birthday is at the end of November and mine isn’t until January and the cut off date for kindergarten was December 31, we weren’t in the same grade. She was a half year ahead, having started kindergarten in September while I began in February. (The Pittsburgh School district had admissions to start in both September and February, and one could even graduate in February from High School. I doubt this still exists.)
Anyway, back to the living room. It was very large, reminding me of the living room in my grandmother’s house that I use to dance in as a toddler. There was lots of open space for us to move in. I remember in one part of this magical space, close to where you entered, was a record player along with lots of musical theatre records. During our grade school years and into the beginning of middle school I remember spending so many afternoons listening to musicals of that period such as The King and I, Oklahoma, and Kiss Me Kate. Regina had a lovely singing voice and she would sing along. I did not, so I was strictly about dancing. We talked about a favorite actress, Gertrude Lawrence, who was the original Anna in The King and I and was on the recording we regularly listened to. Her biography, Gertrude Lawrence as Mrs. A, became a favorite of mine. I saved that book for many years, occasionally returning to re-read it. That book and Agnes de Mille’s Dance to the Piper were major sources of inspiration during my pre-teen and early teen years.
Another favorite actress that I remember liking during this time was Celeste Holm, who was the original Ado Annie in Oklahoma. With my awful, out of tune voice, I sometimes tried to sing I’m Just a Girl Who Can’t Say No. Alas… even this kind of song did not work for me. It was a good thing I liked to dance, ‘cause a triple threat (singer, dancer, actress) I would never be.
l. to r. JoAnne, JoAnne’s sister Peggy, Regina at Peggy’s birthday party. The only photo I could find of us at the age when we were having fun in Regina’s living room.
Those early after-school/weekend times influenced me in several specific ways.
Many years later, when I built the Creative Dance Center in Tallahassee, Florida (See https://mostlydance.com/2018/11/09/feminism-meets-the-bank-building-a-dance-studio/) one of the first things that I made sure to have was a parachute as a prop to use both with children and adults. This time it was a full parachute that I was able to purchase from an Army Surplus Store. It was an all-time favorite of all ages. Sometimes we just made a large circle and watched the wonderful waves it made. Other times we lifted it as high as we could, making the shape it would be in when it floated down from the sky and then brought it back to the ground. Sometimes I would invite a child to be in charge of how she wanted the rest of the class to hold the parachute so she could dance under or around or what she was imagining it to be, such as a roaring ocean waves.
When I do a search for creative movement with a parachute, the results are usually focused on pre-schoolers or young school-age children, and there are lots of fun ways the parachute has been used. However, nothing comes up for use with adults, and I found that use equally satisfying. Leading adult workshops, particularly in Tallahassee when I was doing “permission” workshops as part of Transactional Analysis Training (that’s another later blog), I used it with great success especially with encouraging adults to find or rediscover their inner child.
Clearly those afternoons fostered and reinforced my love for musical theatre, which led not only to attending theater but also choreographing and directing some musical theater.
Regina and I continue our friendship and creative journey to today. Over the years we have led workshops together, and sometimes as we are dancing around a room with 20 or so participants, we pass each other and smile remembering those times so many years ago when we were doing something similar in her living room.
Regina and JoAnne attending a film festival, September 2014. JoAnne and Regina are Board Members and filmmakers with Healing Voices – Personal Stories. The organization was honored that its film “Jessica’s Story” was selected for the Festival and won best LGBT film in the Festival. Photography by Murray Tucker.
In the last blog, I wrote about the first Broadway show I saw. In this blog I share the first ballet I saw, and it was one of the best. I am not sure what my exact age was but I hunch I was about seven. Doing a little research on the Internet I found out that the Sadler’s Wells Ballet made its first tour to the United States in 1949. The tour was highly successful and yearly tours continued in the early 50’s. Since the ballerina I saw was Moira Shearer in Swan Lake and she retired in 1953, it was somewhere during these four years.
A little history about the Sadler’s Wells Ballet. During its first tour the company traveled with 75 people and 7,000 items of scenery and costumes for 12 ballets. Both Moira Shearer and Margot Fonteyn were ballerinas with the company at that time. My mom decided to take me to see a matinee of Swan Lake when Moira Shearer was dancing the lead role of Odette/Odile. I don’t remember much about the experience but I do remember that my good childhood friend Regina also went to see the production of Swan Lake but in the evening and the ballerina she saw was Margot Fonteyn. The result was a lively discussion of which ballerina was better.
Reviews praise both of them highly and of course we know that Margot Fonteyn went on to a very long career as a ballerina while Moira Shearer’s fame was mainly for her role as Victoria Page in The Red Shoes. The Red Shoes premiered in 1948 and is still one of the classic dance films. While I don’t think I saw it until my teens, it is a film that I love to return to every now and then and I do marvel at the beauty, grace and passion of Moira Shearer’s dancing.
Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes
How wonderful to have been exposed to such an outstanding first ballet, with a recognized ballerina by a first-rate company. I did get to see Fonteyn dance while I was a student at Juilliard when she had just begun a partnership with Rudolf Nureyev. Alas the ballet I saw them do was Marguerite and Armand choreographed by Frederick Ashton based on a book by Alexandre Dumas called La Dame Aux Camalias. I would have preferred to see another ballet with less pantomine. We were encouraged to attend by one of our ballet teachers at Juilliard and we were given free standing-room tickets to the old Met on 39thstreet. I found this review of the ballet which pretty much says it all.
The finished ballet capitalized on Fonteyn’s natural talents as an actress, and its depth lay less in the choreography than in the performances, the character and electric connection of the two lovers, played by the volatile 24-year-old in Nureyev, whose raw charisma unleashed a new wave of passion and freedom in the poised, 43-year-old English ballerina.
On opening night, the ballet was greeted with a rapturous response and 21 curtain calls, and it went on to become a signature piece for the couple and was performed around the world. (Royal Opera House website https://www.roh.org.uk/news/how-fonteyn-and-nureyevs-electric-ballet-partnership-made-marguerite-and-armand-into-an-icon)
Fonteyn and Nureyev in Marguerite and Armand
Fast forward to many years later when our daughters were around seven and nine and we visited New York City. I took them to see Alicia Alonso at the Met (by then at Lincoln Center), dancing Giselle. I remember their surprise when the very large chandeliers of the Met automatically lifted up right before the ballet began. Of course Alicia Alonso was quite wonderful even though she was well into her fifties and this was her last tour to the United States. Many Cubans were in the audience and the curtain calls at the end were a show unto themselves with so many bows and flowers being thrown onto the stage.
Alonso receiving flowers after a performance in her last NY tour, 1976. (She recently passed away at age 98.)
I stand in awe of these three outstanding ballerinas and am very honored that I got to see each of them in person. Do you have a favorite ballerina and/or a performance you particularly remember?
I am a regular listener to Sirius, Channel 72, playing Broadway music, and while I have never recorded and sent in an answer to this question that they regularly ask, I often smile when I think of my first experience. I was about five years old and my grandmother took me to see Peter Pan with Veronica Lake. When I recently mentioned that to Murray, he joyfully shared that was also the first Broadway show he saw. We both remember sitting in very good seats at the Old Nixon Theater in Pittsburgh when the production toured back in the late 40’s. It was a glorious experience for me and started my love of live theater. Of course, it was not the musical we are all familiar with but rather the original drama of 1904, written by J.M. Barrie.
Veronica Lake in Peter Pan. Found on the Internet. Photographer unknown.
In 1954 the
musical version of Peter Pan premiered
on Broadway with Mary Martin and Cyril Richards, featuring the wonderful music of
Mark Charlap with some additional music by Jules Styne. Lyrics were by Carolyn Leigh with additional
lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
And of course there was the wonderful direction and choreography of
Jerome Robbins. The television audience
was first introduced to Mary Martin and Cyril Richards recreating their roles
in 1955 on NBC and again in 1956, live in color. The 1955 TV program had the largest TV
audience ever, with 65 million viewers.
In 1960 they videotaped a slightly longer version in color and this was rebroadcast often, first by NBC and then by the Disney Channel. I saw the TV version many times and at some point, probably in the 80’s, we videotaped it. When our first grandchild, Jessica, was about 2 we introduced her to the taped version of Peter Pan and it was one of her favorites when she came to visit.
Mary Martin as Peter Pan. Photograph found on the Internet. Photographer unknown.
Then in 1999
when the production with Cathy Rigby was playing on Broadway, three generations
went together. Jessica, her Aunt Julie, and I (Grandma) were caught up in the
magic created on Broadway. Since Aunt
Julie (our daughter) is a casting director we had perfect seats and she had
arranged a backstage tour for us.
The Broadway
cast was used to children coming backstage and had designed a perfect way to
introduce the new theatergoers to the magic of Broadway. Jessica was given a small cup with fairy dust
in it and cautioned in its use. We then
met the actor who had played Captain Hook.
When Jessica took a step away from him, he reassured her that in real
life he was really a very nice person. I
am sure that I had as much fun as Jessica.
Many times since then Jessica has attended Broadway shows and the last show that we attended together, along with her Mom and Aunt Julie was Finding Neverland with Matthew Morrison. When I knew we would be in New York City at the same time, I asked what Broadway show Jessica wanted to see. With no hesitation she suggested Finding Neverland with Matthew Morrison, as she was a big fan of his from the television show Glee. I hadn’t even heard of the show, or of Morrison. We got tickets and I loved the show. Of course, Julie arranged for us to go backstage and meet Morrison. Here’s a fun picture of us all together with Morrison.
From l. to r, Rachel, me, Matthew Morrison, Jessica and Julie after seeing Finding Neverland in 2015.
I end by asking if you remember your first Broadway show or musical and whether it made you a fan of later Broadway productions?
For those of you who personally know me, you are aware that I usually seem happiest when busy. For years it was founding, choreographing and directing a dance company. More recently it has been creating art, selling art and learning how to make the art functional with the tiles and tea towels that we put our images on. And of course most recently it’s been directing and making films related to domestic violence. The months of August and September were particularly busy with our Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. When I arrived in Costa Rica a week ago I was pretty exhausted and found myself for the first two days just sitting on the patio of the beautiful home we have rented and mostly doing nothing, with my only interest being watching the birds.
Now it is a week later and I am no longer tired but guess what… I still find it refreshing and a joy to just watch the birds. Sometimes we are amused and have fun watching what we have learned is the Great Kiskadee flycatcher take a dip in the pool. A pair fly back and forth and just love to splash in the pool and then find a banana leaf to rest on before crossing back to the other side and repeating their cute little dive. I find myself just giggling as I watch.
Picture taken with my IPhone as I was writing this blog
This morning Murray got up just after sunrise and wandered outside to see six very colorful Toucans going back and forth between two very close trees. I got to see one at the far away tree a few mornings ago. I may have to get up at sunrise and check out what’s happening tomorrow or the next day. We are using The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide by Richard Garrigues and Robert Dean.
From page 193 of the Field Guide
Not so long ago a black vulture rested again on the leafless branches of a not so close, very tall tree. It seems to be a favorite resting place to look around before taking off again. This time the vulture facing toward me very slowly and elegantly spread his/her wings to their full extent, holding still like this for a good 30 seconds. What an incredible sight. Here’s a link to a photo of the wings of the black vulture. https://ebird.org/species/blkvul
And of course there is a regular chatter going on nearly all
the time.
