Sometimes when I check Facebook each day, I scold myself for wasting time as I look at pictures, read posts and even post myself. Occasionally I discover something important, and that is what happened about 10 days before I was to leave for Paris on April 29. Ernesta Corvino posted that she and her sister were in Paris with the Pina Bausch Dance Company. Ernesta was there teaching company classes and warming the company up before performances. I was filled with wonderful Corvino memories and thought how special it would be to connect with Ernesta and Andra and maybe, just maybe they could help me get a ticket to see the Pina Bausch Company, as its online tickets were sold out.
I messengered and we agreed to be in touch once I was in Paris. Ernesta thought it might be possible to get me a ticket, and we could certainly meet up. Before I get to the specifics of our evening together, I want to share some history of my relationship with the Corvinos and some background about Alfredo Corvino, his daughters and Pina Bausch.
Alfredo Corvino (1916 – 2005) was my favorite ballet teacher at Juilliard. As a “modern dancer,” I found his classes challenging, and I always felt a wisdom from him as he taught us how to align our bodies. Elizabeth McPherson, a dancer who performed with both Ernesta’s company and mine, wrote a beautiful article that expressed Mr. Corvino’s important role and that of his daughters in training dancers. I quote from the article, which appeared in Attitude Magazine in Fall 2009:
He started class in the same way each day: “First position, finger tips to the shoulders.” We would stand feeling our centers, and the music would begin. . .
Hearing Mr. Corvino’s corrections and directions through the voices of his daughters, I began to understand even more clearly what Mr. Corvino was teaching. As I came to understand it, the Corvino approach was about simplicity, using gravity as a helper, finding the most economical ways muscularly to perform certain movements. It was also about building a body through the use of a system of exercises Mr. Corvino had developed. . . .
Mr. Corvino was a fundamental force in the global world of dance for more than sixty years. His tradition lives on through the grand legacy of his students.
Here’s a link to the article. On the same website page are several other excellent articles that explain Corvino’s approach to teaching.
In McPherson’s same article she summarizes the key events in Corvino’s life:
Alfredo Corvino was born in Montevideo, Uruguay on February 2, 1916. He studied ballet there, eventually joining the Uruguay National Ballet. He later danced with The Jooss Ballet, The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet of which he became ballet master. He taught at The Juilliard School for more than forty years and at The Metropolitan Opera Ballet School for almost twenty. Corvino also traveled the world teaching, in his later years as ballet master for Pina Bausch/Tanztheatre Wuppertal.
To learn more about Mr. Corvino’s life I strongly encourage you to go to a beautiful tribute that Ernesta put together for his induction into The National Museum of Dance Hall of Fame in 2018. I loved watching it, learning so many new things about a teacher that I so strongly respected. Here’s a link to watch the 53-minute film.
During the years 1976 – 2004 when I directed the Avodah Dance Ensemble in New York City, many of the company dancers were Juilliard graduates who had studied with either Alfredo (who taught at Juilliard until 1994) or his daughter Andra (who taught after he retired). Some also studied with him at The Dance Circle. The Dance Circle was known for providing excellent training in a kind, safe, sane environment.
In 1981 when Ernesta formed her own company, we shared some dancers. In the summer of 1976, I attended some classes at The Dance Circle and posted an audition notice for my company’s very first New York performance. One of the dancers responding to the notice was Lynn Elliot. Lynn joined the company and was an important part of the early history of the Avodah Dance Ensemble. When Ernesta formed her company, Lynn danced with her. Later, Elizabeth McPherson played an important role in both of our companies. Dina McDermott also performed with both of our companies, although not at the same time and only briefly for Ernesta’s company.
I have always had a deep respect for the Corvinos and was thrilled to be able to link up with Ernesta and Andra in Paris. Before describing our evening together I want to convey the history between the Corvinos and Pina Bausch. Alfredo first met Pina when he was teaching in Germany for Kurt Jooss in the late 1950’s. Pina had been dancing with Jooss since she was 14, and perhaps Corvino encouraged her to come to NYC.
In 1958 or 1959 Pina became a special student at Juilliard where she studied with Anthony Tudor, Alfredo Corvino, Jose Limon, and Martha Graham. During the next two years she worked with choreographers such as Paul Sanasardo and Paul Taylor. According to an article that Wendy Perron wrote, she feels that Pina’s time at Juilliard and in New York City from 1959 – 1961 “contributed more to her development than most Bausch scholars have acknowledged.” In particular, Perron points out that Pina was exposed to a ‘wide diversity of styles, ethnicities and music genres that populated New York at the time.” Here’s a link to Wendy Perron’s article to learn more about Pina’s time in New York. For Pina’s full biography visit her page on the company’s website.
When Mr. Corvino retired from Juilliard in 1994, Pina asked him to become the Ballet Master for her company, Tanztheater Wuppertal, and he continued in this role until he passed in August of 2005.
Ernesta took over his role in 2007 and now she was in Paris teaching morning classes for the company and leading the warmup before performances. Andra, Ernesta and I met for an early dinner so Ernesta would be free to teach the evening’s warmup. What a joy and delight it was for me to catch up with these two beautiful women. Ernie and I had last seen each other when she was teaching at Perry-Mansfield, maybe 13 or 14 years ago, and Andra and I had only met on occasion when I attended a Juilliard concert with my good friend Linda Kent, again well over 15 years ago. Nevertheless, our connection felt strong as we caught up on recent happenings in each other’s lives and commented on the current dance scene.
Our waiter kindly took our picture. From left: me, Ernesta and Andra.
In the next blog I will write about the outstanding performance of “Sweet Mambo.”
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