Interviews - Inside Ballet Technique

October 26, 2016February 13, 2017

Interview with Dance Coach Joey Dippel

Tom Morin, Co-Founder of Polish Your Passion an online-based training company from New York City that trains actors, singers, and dancers via Skype and FaceTime, sat down with Head Dance Coach, Joey Dippel, in NYC to discuss online training and college auditions for aspiring musical theatre performers.

Tom Morin/Polish Your Passion: Hi Joey! Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Joey Dippel: I’m originally from San Jose, California and I got my B.F.A. in Musical Theatre at CCM. I’ve performed regionally as a professional musical theatre performer and dancer at the Bucks County Playhouse, Weston Playhouse, Pioneer Theatre Company, and the John W. Engeman Theater. I’ve choreographed for the Broadway Dreams Foundation, CCM, the Musical Theatre Factory in New York City, and I’ve been teaching musical theatre, tap, ballet, and jazz for about 11 years now

Tom Morin: What do you love about teaching?

Joey Dippel: I think the relationship between a student and a mentor is important. It’s unique. It’s personal. I still call upon my mentors that have guided me through my way, still to this day. I have students that I’ve known since they were six years old who come back when they are ready for their college preparation. I think it’s all about passing it on and it becomes a really inspiring bond.

Tom Morin: What do you like about online training for dance?

Joey Dippel: I love the accessibility that online training creates. No matter where I am or working across the country professionally, no matter where my students are, we have an online platform to connect and reach our goals. I love that it’s a safe space where I can work one-on-one with my students and really isolate what they want and need to work on, much more specifically than sometimes I can do when teaching a whole class.

Tom Morin: We’re gearing up for college audition season with our college preparatory program. It’s always an exciting and stressful time for our students. Can you tell us a little bit about what your college audition process was like?

Joey Dippel: I applied for mostly B.F.A. in Musical Theatre programs and conservatories, so my senior year consisted of a lot of traveling. I’m from the Bay Area, so I knocked out half of them at Unifieds in Los Angeles. The rest I had to travel to each campus because this was in a time before pre-screen auditions. I had a chart to keep me organized, so I could remember each college audition requirement. At the end of the day, I had three monologues and four songs ready to go at any time. Each dance audition was very different. I remember Elon and University of Michigan treated it more like a class, while CCM and Boston Conservatory gave it more of an audition atmosphere. The levels also varied, some were more focused on technique and some were more about performance. All I could really do was have fun, be prepared, and trust that I had been training hard.

Tom Morin: What do you think is harder/more stressful – auditioning for Broadway or the college audition process?

Joey Dippel: The absolute hardest thing about auditioning is remembering that you are enough. In New York, you could be the best dancer in the room, but not the right height, age, vocal type, ethnicity, look, etc. Nothing to do with talent or your skillset. With college auditions, each college prioritizes different things. Some programs are willing to work with beginning dancers, while other programs prefer more experience. Some colleges want “actors first,” while others may look at all three disciplines. None of these factors determines that one person isn’t good enough or not talented. It’s about timing. There are things out of your control and it’s not your job to dwell on them. It’s your job to be prepared for when that opportunity comes knocking at your door

Tom Morin: What’s one piece of advice that you would tell any young dancer who is about to go through the college audition process?

Joey Dippel: Never forget why you’re doing this. Something about performing and dancing satisfies you. When I walk into the room, I do this trick where I tell myself that for the next thirty minutes, hour, however long the dance call is, I am in the show (or for college auditions, I go to this school). If you believe it, they’ll believe it, and you’ll have so much more fun. You have enough stress being a senior in high school, take some of it off your back and be in the moment.

Tom Morin is a NYC-based acting coach, Co-Founder of Polish Your Passion, and a professional actor/singer. He holds a B.A. in Theatre & Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross and a M.F.A. in Acting from Ohio University. He has been teaching for the past 9 years, advising and coaching students through the college audition process and beyond. He has appeared Off Broadway at the Pearl Theatre Company and New York Classical Theatre and regionally at Walnut Street Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Centenary Stage Company, Monomoy Theatre, and Great River Shakespeare Festival.

Joey Dippel is a NYC-based dance teacher and choreographer, Dance Coach at Polish Your Passion, and a professional performer. He holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where he received the Lehman Engel Award for Achievement in Musical Theatre Dance. He has performed regionally with the Bucks Country Playhouse, the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport, Pioneer Theatre Company, Weston Playhouse, the Lincoln Theater in Napa Valley, and Marquee San Jose. He has assisted and danced for Otis Salid, Patti Wilcox, Lorin Latarro, Jeffry Denman, and Jacob Brent. As an independent choreographer, he has worked for the Broadway Dreams Foundation, CCM, the Musical Theatre Factory, the Kurt Weill Foundation, and Penguin Rep. He teaches and choreographs for the Children’s Musical Theatre of San Jose, Staten Island Academy, and his own donation-based dance class series called “Combo & a Cocktail.”

September 28, 2014February 13, 2017

A conversation with Ken Ludden Artistic Director of the Margot Fonteyn Academy of Ballet

Can you imagine what it would be like to be the only person given permission by the Dame herself to use the name Margot Fonteyn on a ballet school? Ken Ludden knows: he is the Artistic Director of the Margot Fonteyn Academy of Ballet.

I met Ken through my LinkedIn group Teachers of Classical Ballet where I first learned about his new book My Margot. Prior to our phone conversation last weekend, I read his book and found it fascinating. (If you’re interested, you can read my review of My Margot.) Ken was one of Fonteyn’s closest friends, yet their relationship had to be guarded during her lifetime to keep the press at bay. In his book, Ken tells us the story of that friendship, beginning at 15, when he first met one of the world’s most beloved ballerinas. Now, on to the interview!

How and why did you go about writing this book?

I originally started writing it for my children so it could get passed down in the family. I began by writing down phrases to help jog my memory and kept adding to the list as I remembered things for the next several years. By the time I had around 175 phrases it was 2003, and for health reasons began to feel pressure to start the book. Along with my own diaries and letters I’d received from Margot and BQ (her mother), I pulled together friends and had them read one of my 175 phrases aloud while I proceeded to relate the story that went with it. These sessions were recorded.

Ken Ludden with "The Wind's Bride" — Ken Ludden with “The Wind’s Bride” at Bassler Kuntsmuseum, Switzerland 2007

Continue reading “A conversation with Ken Ludden Artistic Director of the Margot Fonteyn Academy of Ballet“

March 1, 2014February 13, 2017

Super Stars Interview Helping Kids with Special Needs

Today we share an interview with Colby Nielson, a dance teacher in Palmer, Alaska. His family has started a wonderful project using dance as a means to touch the hearts of people with special needs.

Q. How did the Super Stars Begin?

A. The Super Stars came from an idea when my mom, Michelle Deemer, and my sister, Shanelle Gangstad, went down to speak at a national special needs convention. While there they saw a singing group that was made up of people with special needs. They liked the idea so much that when they returned home they wanted to start a dance team with special needs, dance being big in our background. They rented a small 12×12 space and Shanelle began teaching a few of her friends from the special needs program at the high school, which she was heavily involved in. From those original 5 we have grown to 25.

Q. Other than building and space limitations, what are some other
challenges you have faced?

A. Some other challenges include not being able to increase price above $5
a class due to low budgets of our students, not being able to change the
time/day of the class due to our special needs students being very
strict on their schedules and not doing well with change. We have to
deal with providers being the ones who take them to class so getting to
talk to their gardians or parents is almost always through third party.
Trying to schedule performances is tough because they often have special
olympics activities on the weekends and again with the having to stick
to a same schedule all the time.

Continue reading “Super Stars Interview Helping Kids with Special Needs“

June 27, 2013February 13, 2017

An Interview with Pianist Massimiliano Greco

Many dancers don’t realize how fortunate they are to have live piano music during their ballet classes. Now that I’m writing about dance, I’ve decided to search around the world for some of these pianists who make their living playing for ballet.

I was astounded when I first heard Massimiliano’s music for ballet class. His music is not only played with the technical expertise of a concert pianist, it is soulful, unique, soaring. And now I have the great honor of introducing my readers to Massimiliano Greco, composer and pianist. He works for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo and is currently the Main Pianist and Music Director for the Académie de Danse Princesse Grace. Here is some of his music for adagio at the barre.

“What most impressed me, and I have to say, even surprised about Massimiliano Greco is his total adjustement, because of being an exquisite pianist and musician, not only to the demands of the dance, of which he is humble and devoted accompanist, but the sensible and intelligent introspection in the ballet world. He follows, underscores the rhythms, the cadences and the fascination of dance, so with him, masterfully, you can listen to dance and see the music.” –Alberto Testa, Dance Journalist, writer of dance books

Inside Ballet: At what age did you begin your piano training?

Massimiliano Greco: I started to study piano at seven years old and it was very casual. I remember I was with my parents at a friend’s house and there was a piano. My mother asked me to try to play it. It took not so much time to understand how it worked and I began to improvise with one finger. Since then I can say that I have always played piano.

Inside Ballet: How did you come to begin accompanying ballet classes?

Massimiliano Greco: When I was younger, I never thought of playing for the ballet. I was trained to become a concert pianist. In fact, towards 1992 I had already done a lot of concerts.

Then unfortunately I had a car accident that stopped me for one month. In that period of sadness I tried other jobs as a pianist. There was a small dance school near my home and someone told me that I could play the piano for ballet classes. I asked the school and they let me try it. And even if I was a little “shocked” from the different working situation, it went really well!

Inside Ballet: What is it that you enjoy most about playing for ballet; what is it that makes you want to continue doing it?

Massimiliano Greco: At the beginning I was interested as a composer. I liked the possibilities of creating a communication between the phrases that drew the dancers in with their arms and legs and phrases of musical melodies. Still now, each time I find dancers capable of connecting their movements with the phrasing of my music something special happens in the air…that’s Art! In that moment I think miracles are possible. In my life I’ve met many passionate dancers and I’m sure I’ll meet many others with whom I’ll create an artistic atmosphere, an artistic communication. Music and dance together can change the world and make it better.

Many dancers and ballet masters asked me to record CDs for their classes, so I made a collection of 12 CDs for ballet classes and choreography. Now I can say that my music is known in many parts of the world.

Inside Ballet: How does someone learn to play for ballet classes? Are there piano books for ballet accompanists, or do you have to find music and put the musical selections together yourself?

Massimiliano Greco: When I started I didn’t know anything about playing for ballet…for me it was very far from my knowledge as a musician. My luck was in starting with RAD syllabus. They have fixed music scores and so I immediately started to understand what kind of music is good for pliés or for a frappe etc. In any case there’s not much, talking about books, about playing for ballet. And about the scores there’s more, but the pianist has to do personal research creating his own repertoire for the exercises in the class.

Usually pianists get their experience playing day by day but many of them give up because at the beginning the work can be very hard and difficult to understand from the normal training of a pianist.

That’s why I decided to teach other pianists to play for ballet. In my academy I’m responsible for a complete “Ballet Pianist Course” to train pianists for this job.

Inside Ballet: Do dance accompanists connect to discuss new ideas with each other (online or otherwise)?

Massimiliano Greco: At the moment there’s not a special connection between ballet pianists. Personally, I know some colleagues all around the world, but they’re casual contacts created from specific occasions. In fact, I want to create an official database of all the ballet pianists in the world—pianists who work in ballet companies, professional academies and freelance ballet pianists—a sort of official professional ballet pianists’ register. Then my idea is to organize an international meeting in which we can meet each other and we can play for classes with the support of ballet masters and dancers. I hope to start the organization of this project in the next season.

Musical Selections and Contact Information

To listen to more of Massimiliano Greco’s music for ballet class or for choreography check out his website Musicaedanze – Music for Ballet Class. He also has a blog at massimilianogreco.blogspot.it.

For more information on ballet class CDs, you may email him at [email protected].

Greco accomplished his musical studies and graduated with the highest marks at the Conservatory of Music “N.Piccinni” of Bari, studying with Maestro Hector Pell. He also studied musical composition with Maestro Ottavio De Lillo, in Bari, and won 1st prize in several piano competitions.

January 19, 2010February 13, 2017

Interview with Broadway Dancer Carolyn Ockert-Haythe

Carolyn was a fellow dance major with me at the University of Arizona many years ago! We were also roommates for a year. Now she is dancing on Broadway and was willing to share some advice and inside information for my readers. Thank you, Carolyn! And congratulations on a wonderful career on Broadway!

Inside Ballet: You are currently dancing on Broadway in Shrek. What was the audition process like?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: The audition process for Shrek was long. They needed people who were very diverse. I first went in and danced 3 combinations. About a week later I came back and danced those 3 plus another. Once I had passed all the dancing I had to sing for the Musical Director. I sang both pop rock and a high soprano. Once I passed him I then went in to read for the Director. We were given sides for a few of the fairy tale creatures. Once I passed him I had to come in one last time and dance, sing and act for the entire creative team and the producers. We started with about 180 women and at the last call there were 4 of us.

Inside Ballet: How often do you perform?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: I am what you call a swing/dance captain for the show. We do 8 performances a week with one day off in that week. I am usually on for at least half of those 8 shows.

Inside Ballet: Do you know several roles for Shrek and have to perform at the last minute?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: I cover 9 women and 9 men. I only go on for men in an emergency, but it does happen. However since I am a dance captain I know everyone on the stage, 23 people. I go on with a few hours notice or in the middle of the show with no notice at all, when an injury or illness happens.

Inside Ballet: What types of dance training do you think are most important to have under your belt going into a Broadway audition?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: I think the most important dance training going into a Broadway audition is a combination of Ballet and Jazz. If you are a really strong ballet dancer you will really do well. However, you need to be able to be funky as well. Now a days you also have to be able to sing and act. You don’t have to be amazing at all things but you do need to be able to do all things. A Jack of all trades.

Inside Ballet: What other shows have you been in?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: This is my 7th Broadway show. I have been very fortunate and also worked very hard. Some of the other shows that I have done are: CATS, Footloose, The Music Man, Annie Get Your Gun, Wonderful Town, Pajama Game and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

Inside Ballet: What advice would you give to someone who was hoping to move to NYC to dance for a living?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: Advice that I would give to someone who wants to come to NY and dance, don’t give up. It takes about 100 auditions to get one job. That number goes down the more you work. Always strive not necessarily to get the job but to get kept so you get your picture and resume on file with casting agents. If you get cut at an audition, and you will, don’t take it personally. It is never about your talent. Always come prepared to an audition. And last but not least be nice to everyone that you encounter. Treat everyone with respect. You never know when that person is going to be sitting behind the table choosing who to hire for a show.

Inside Ballet: Is there anything about dancing on Broadway that is different that you expected it to be?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: You know I never knew I wanted to dance on Broadway so I had no expectations as to what it would be. I wanted to be a ballerina but I just was never good enough. I kind of fell into this and knew this was where I was meant to be the first time I hit the stage. I always say it is like playtime for 2 1/2 hours every night. I love what I do and I believe we are all capable of doing it.