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Jan 26, 2021
Gregory Batardon, Courtesy Prix de Lausanne
The 2021 Prix de Lausanne Prepares for a Year Like No Other
In an ordinary year, early February marks an exciting time in the ballet world: the return of the prestigious Prix de Lausanne competition. But this is no ordinary year, so this is no ordinary Prix. Due to the pandemic, the 2021 edition will run from January 31 to February 7, completely via video.
<p>Rather than travel to Switzerland to perform in person, the 78 carefully selected<a href="https://www.prixdelausanne.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Selected-candidates-list_PDL2021_4.pdf" target="_blank"> candidates</a> (including 11 Americans), who hail from 20 countries, will submit prerecorded videos of classical and contemporary variations and classwork in hopes of winning scholarships or apprentice contracts to top-tier international academies and companies. Their work will be viewed by a panel of nine ballet luminaries, chaired by Basel Ballet director and head choreographer Richard Wherlock.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUzNTQzNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTc5NjQ4MH0.4jjeb9nIVIdcINWLBsvMjHZCsAf0kuKtJrrezidr0HE/img.jpg?width=980" id="96881" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6ef822e9c2e648778402643acd9963e3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="A female Asian ballet student in a black leotard and white tutu practices her port de bras in front of a mirror backstage." data-width="2500" data-height="1667" />
A competitor from the 2020 Prix de Lausanne practices backstage.
Gregory Batardon, Courtesy Prix de Lausanne
<p>The jury members, who will meet in a hotel ballroom in Lausanne while maintaining social distancing, will watch the performances via video and judge them live. Sticking to the normal Prix de Lausanne schedule, they'll narrow the group down to 20 finalists by the end of the week, and view their variations anew during the finals on February 6. Fans around the world can follow the competition all week through a livestream on Prix de Lausanne's website and on Arte Concert.</p><p>"We've been changing our plan since last April," says Prix de Lausanne artistic and executive director Kathryn Bradney. "We were hoping that the situation would get better and candidates could come to Lausanne, but of course that isn't the case." Bradney's team has been working to make sure that this newly fashioned version of the Prix runs as smoothly as possible, since the ultimate goal is to match young talent with partner schools and companies. "We're doing a huge effort to put our partners in contact with the dancers," says Bradney, who worked to develop a private networking app aimed to facilitate connections. "This way the dancers won't miss out on the year, and can get a possible offer starting August or September of 2021."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUzNTQxNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTA5NDcxNX0.pZLbSA-5TPpdW04aWOkj59uL0EzOKC5OBYSBZZ18Y18/img.jpg?width=980" id="dff8e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a9649df1f12b965de7f7ac5aef469eef" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Kathryn Bradney, a middle-aged white woman with brown, bobbed hair and wearing a black velvet top, offers a small smile to the camera while touching the brown velvet scarf draped around her shoulders." data-width="1181" data-height="1229" />
Prix de Lausanne artistic and executive director Kathryn Bradney
Anne-Laure Lechat and Amélie Blanc, Courtesy Prix de Lausanne
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<p>To help place the candidates on equal footing despite the huge variety of circumstances they're currently living and training under, the Prix de Lausanne supplied them each with funds to rent space and film their variations. And in lieu of the full week of on-site classes and coaching the jury usually has access to, the dancers will submit just 10 minutes of classwork. "It's five minutes of barre and five minutes of center," says Bradney. "But they'll use their teachers' exercises, so they're actually comfortable with what they're doing. It shows them at their best." And since December, competitors have also had access to prerecorded Zoom master classes and contemporary coaching sessions, designed to expose them to different teachers and approaches.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUzNTQ4MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTMzMjUyNH0.C5tasXe9WVwOFNMoECygYjIqf3uN2syKRYnGXvz4S6Y/img.jpg?width=980" id="4cbdf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ca12b6a0f4ad19bb00a66348d105cb97" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="In front of a blue backdrop on a brightly lit stage, a large group of teenage male and female dancers in various costumes stand casually facing an unknown speaker and clap their hands with excitement." data-width="2500" data-height="1667" />
Finalists from the 2020 Prix de Lausanne
Rodrigo Buas, Courtesy Prix de Lausanne
<p>Despite all of the changes, the Prix de Lausanne is thriving. This year marks the inaugural Young Creation Award, a choreographic competition open to dancemakers ages 14 to 20. The two winners, chosen from a pool of five preselected finalists, will choreograph solos for the repertoire of contemporary variations available to Prix competitors in 2022. And this year, the Prix de Lausanne saw the highest number of applicants in its 49-year history: 399 dancers from 43 countries. "The level is really high," says Bradney. "I can see the dancers' determination despite the lockdowns. Dancers want to dance anyways, and they've been working from home and keeping in shape. It's been really inspiring."</p><p><em>Watch the Prix de Lausanne live from January 31 to February 6 at </em><a href="https://www.prixdelausanne.org/" target="_blank"><em>prixdelausanne.org</em></a><em> and on </em><a href="https://www.arte.tv/en/arte-concert/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Arte Concert</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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Jan 27, 2021
Photo by Ximena Brunette
Inside Washington Ballet Artist Ashley Murphy-Wilson's Dance Bag
Ashley Murphy-Wilson, an artist at The Washington Ballet, is all about making things personal. Well, personalized, that is. "My best purchase ever was a label maker," she says. "Everything I own is labeled. My phone charger is labeled. My roller is labeled. Everyone knows: If I leave something in the studio, I'm coming back for it—because my name is on it."
The TWB dancer adds a personal touch to almost everything in her dance bag, be it with her label maker, her "signature" leopard print legwarmers or her bedazzled (yes, we said bedazzled) booties. It's the mark of an experienced dancer; Murphy-Wilson, now in her sixth season at TWB after 13 years with Dance Theatre of Harlem, knows better than to let her belongings get lost to the dance studio "black hole" effect.
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0MTg0MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MDUzOTc3OX0.1zLahHlvJ6v3VNY-Ph1-xKJS_SO6qtsJcpUz_rpsVz4/img.jpg?width=980" id="55cbf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a856c4a240498147b7ff86b050ea3f41" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="The contents of Ashley Murphy-Wilson's dance bag are laid out on a white floor. A few items are draped on a wooden stool." data-width="2651" data-height="2651" />
Xinema Brunette
The Goods
<p>"<strong>TheraBands </strong>are essential for warming up my feet and ankles," says Murphy. "When I'm on the go, I'll typically keep one or two—one lighter and one heavier weight—in my bag. But at home, I have literally all of them." <br></p><p><strong>Bloch booties:</strong> "I have two or three pairs on rotation right now: pink, purple and hot pink. I also like to bedazzle my booties, because a lot of people have the same ones. I always add a little personal flair, by sewing on rhinestones or some colorful patches."</p><p>"It's hard to get through rehearsal if I eat a big meal, so I'm basically snacking throughout the day. I really like <strong>Nature's Bakery</strong><strong> fig bars</strong>—our physical therapist got me hooked on them."</p><p>"I always bring a <strong>phone charger</strong>, but not for me. I bring it for everyone else, because someone's always looking for a phone charger. But I put my name on it, so I can make sure they always return it," says Murphy-Wilson.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0MTk4MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMjM2ODUyNn0.D6oAcM4NjwiJ0BBgG6BIcAS4ft0kVtm3ok0cWP9z1T8/img.jpg?width=980" id="76ceb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f6a2ccd58be2f607761810b389303acf" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Ashley Murphy-Wilson sits amongst the contents of her dance bag. She sits with her legs pulled up in front of her, one arm on her legs and one underneath her chin. She wears a white-and-blue cap-sleeved leotard, a white ballet skirt, black-and-white leopard print legwarmers, and bright pink warm-up booties, bedazzled with rhinestones." data-width="3807" data-height="3816" />
Xinema Brunette
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<p><strong></strong><strong>RubiaWear legwarmers:</strong> "I love that brand—it was created by Boston Ballet principal Ashley Ellis. I have these legwarmers in pink and white stripes, blue, green, yellow and, of course, my signature leopard print. I love my leopard print ones."</p><p>"Right now, I'm trying out some new <strong>Bloch pointe shoes</strong>. I've been working with Bloch on some new pointe shoes that come in colors that work for darker skin, so I'm really excited about that."</p><p><strong>Textbooks:</strong> "I'm on the LEAP program through Saint Mary's College of California, which has helped me earn my bachelor's degree. I hope to go into physical therapy!"</p><p>"I have to have my <strong>AirPods</strong>, because I cannot warm up without music. I like all kinds of music, but I love to warm up to throwback hip-hop music: Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z," she says.</p>
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Jan 26, 2021
Charlene Gehm MacDougal as Lead Nursemaid in Petrushka. Photo by Herbert Migdoll
In Memoriam: Joffrey Dancer Charlene Gehm MacDougal, 69
Former lead dancer with The Joffrey Ballet, Charlene Gehm MacDougal died of ovarian cancer on January 10 at her home in New York City, age 69.
Gehm illuminated the inner life of each of the varied characters in her extensive repertoire. Whether she was the gracious hostess in George Balanchine's Cotillon, the riveting Lady Capulet in John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet, or in the tumult of William Forsythe's Love Songs, she drew the viewer's eye and heart to the essence of the role.
As Forsythe puts it: "Charlene was certainly one of the most elegant dancers I have had the privilege to work with. Her striking countenance flowed into her work and, joined with her wicked sense of humor and intelligence, created thoughtful, mesmerizing and memorable art."
<p>"Char," as friends called her, had grace and dignity. Her refined, translucent beauty and long limbs led to modeling for Sergio Valente jeans, and in print advertisements for Capezio. She put her physical attributes to the service of her dance artistry in harmony with a remarkable quality of both vulnerability and resilience, always alive to the character she portrayed and to the dance itself.</p><p>"We will always see Char in <em>Le </em><em>Sacre</em><em> du Printemps</em>, treading on 3/4 pointe, as if she were whispering in each tiny step a vision of pagan Russia she'd seen in a trance," recalls Millicent Hodson. When Hodson and her husband, Kenneth Archer, were casting their re-creation of Nijinsky's revolutionary 1913 work for the Joffrey Ballet in 1987, they described to Robert Joffrey "the three tall women in mauve (a sign of refinement in that archaic world of the Slavs)," Hodson says. His immediate response was: "You'll want Charlene for that."</p>
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Le Sacre du Printemps, with Charlene Gehm MacDuogal on the left
Herbert Migdoll
<p>Joffrey was quite ill when<em> Sacre</em> was being rehearsed for the fall season in New York City (he died in 1988), yet he went to a final run-through at New York City Center. "When he saw the entrance of Char with the other Mauves, he stood up and shouted 'The storks!,'" says Hodson. "That's what Marie Rambert had told Robert when he was a young choreographer with her company in London. That's how she said Diaghilev's dancers had nicknamed the Mauves' entrance. He had forgotten it until that moment. Char's reaction was unforgettable: She'd just witnessed Joffrey recalling Rambert recalling <em>Sacre</em> as it was first created. She did not smile. She truly glowed."</p>
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<p>Denise Charlene Gehm was born in Miami, Florida, in 1951 and lived in a "very tiny house," as she described it in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/well/family/Mothers-Day-lessons.html" target="_blank"><em>The New York Times</em></a>. Her mother was a caterer, her father, a teacher who created a mini dance studio in the carport for her to practice ballet, tap, jazz and acrobatics. She loved the discipline instilled by her parents—homework first, then dance practice, then play. This schedule became essential from the age of 10, when her 18-year-old sister died in a car accident. The burden of familial success seemed to fall entirely on her shoulders, and it was decided that dance held her future.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUzNzQwOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MjY3NjkxMH0.lgLEbyOV5drYqiBwSpTAD09-lizKLjDsfLA7qoJwZGw/img.jpg?width=980" id="305e0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f801f07d74eb1526387372e9bffcdb9d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="427" data-height="640" />
In The Nutcracker with Daniel Baudendistel
Herbert Migdoll
<p>"It was like, 'Whew, this thing better work because they don't have my sister any more.' It wasn't some tragic play where it never happened," she told Debra Weiner in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/well/family/Mothers-Day-lessons.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a <em>New York Times</em> interview</a> last year, "I danced on stages in great opera houses around the world. It was big. It was wonderful."</p><p>On a scouting visit to Miami, master teacher <a href="https://www.dancemagazine.com/david_howard_1937ae2013-2306919270.html" target="_self">David Howard</a> selected 17-year-old Charlene for a scholarship to the Harkness Ballet School in New York City. She danced with the Harkness Youth Dancers from 1970 to 1971; as a soloist with National Ballet of Washington from 1971 to 1973; a principal with the Chicago Ballet in 1974; and principal with Ballet de Caracas of Venezuela in 1975.</p><p>Then, in 1976, she joined the Joffrey Ballet and found her creative home, remaining there until 1991. Early in her career with the company, Robert Joffrey is quoted as saying "people want to know who that girl is!" Selected in 1979 by Rudolf Nureyev to dance in Nijinsky's <em>L'Après-Midi d'un Faune,</em> she toured extensively with him, also dancing in the televised version of the ballet for <em>Dance in America</em> on PBS.</p>
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<p>My tenure as ballet mistress for the Joffrey Ballet overlapped with Charlene's dancing from 1989 to 1991, and I remember her generosity and integrity, how she listened to input while also trusting herself. Her dancing was both utterly human and inherently spiritual. Of her performance in Frederick Ashton's <em>Illuminations</em> in 1989, Donna Perlmutter <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-05-12-ca-3181-story.html?_amp=true" target="_blank">wrote in the <em>Los Angeles Times</em></a>: "Charlene Gehm (back with the company after an outing with <em>Phantom of the Opera</em>) personified Sacred Love as a glowing white emblem held on high."</p><p>On Broadway, Charlene performed not only in <em>Phantom of the Opera</em>, where the régisseur believed "her presence on our stage certainly lifted the beauty of the art," but also in <em>West Side Story</em>, where, as Clarice in the Jets, she worked with Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins. Her versatility in bringing a character to life through movement made her a natural for musical theater. Yet her talents were also evident in every ballet she danced. A succinct tribute to these gifts came from Tobi Tobias when she <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=9ugCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=Tobi+Tobias+charlene+gehm+lady+capulet&source=bl&ots=3tqWeOydPe&sig=ACfU3U227Jrise1yY4IHpuH3Z6OoyEzFeQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOqPWrrLfuAhU5GVkFHQaoCZAQ6AEwAXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=Tobi%20Tobias%20charlene%20gehm%20lady%20capulet&f=false" target="_blank">wrote in <em>New York Magazine</em></a>: "Charlene Gehm's Lady Capulet is a marvel of nuance, combining public hauteur, private tenderness, and unbridled grief."</p>
<p>Gehm's well-known sense of humor made her "one of the few dancers who can make you laugh," according to <em>New York Times</em> critic Jennifer Dunning. She did so with "subtlety, grace and a touch of the bittersweet," as the tipsy Josephine in Ashton's <em>A Wedding Bouquet</em>, with scenario by Gertrude Stein. In Agnes de Mille's <em>Rodeo</em>, "Charlene Gehm was typically witty in the role of the ranch owner's pretty daughter, who is out to snare the wrangler," <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/14/arts/dance-rodeo-by-joffrey.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">observed Dunning again</a>. "Rarely has a hand beckoned with such coy peremptoriness."</p><p>Similarly, Gehm delighted friends with her uncanny perception of the essence of someone, imitating them for full dramatic or comedic effect. Former fellow Joffrey Ballet members remember her with deep affection, often using the word "classy" to describe her. In Hodson and Archer's meticulous 1988 reconstruction of Balanchine's 1932 ballet <em>Cotillon, </em>Gehm brought the ballet to life as the ever-present, congenial hostess, with dancing described by colleague Carole Valleskey as "elegant, light, fast, able to handle technical challenges with ease. First and foremost, she danced. You weren't aware of the steps."</p>
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<p>Following her performing career, and after <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/21/style/weddings-charlene-gehm-and-gary-macdougal.html" target="_blank">marrying</a> business executive <a href="http://macdougal.com/" target="_blank">Gary MacDougal</a> in 1992, Charlene Gehm MacDougal still took daily ballet class with David Howard at Steps on Broadway. She had lived frugally as a dancer, saving her pennies for the college education she could now pursue Choosing the BA program in arts administration at New York University's Gallatin School for its rigorous focus on writing and reading "great books," she graduated with honors in 1994 and delivered the keynote address at the NYU Gallatin commencement.</p><p>Although she took a management internship as assistant to American Ballet Theatre's artistic director, Kevin McKenzie (a former Joffrey Ballet partner), she ultimately decided against a full-time job and pursued graduate studies. Her master's thesis in medieval studies from Columbia University, in 1998, was on the history of stained glass at Canterbury Cathedral, the center of the Anglican/Episcopal church where she had long been a member.</p><p>Gehm was a trustee of the Lincoln Center Institute, focused on taking art into the New York City schools. As president of the MacDougal Family Foundation, supporting arts organizations, she oversaw grants for economically disadvantaged students, offering college scholarships at UCLA and helping high school seniors in Chicago. She and her husband traveled extensively, combining biannual trips to Bulgaria, for the America for Bulgaria Foundation, with visits to countries including Tibet, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Laos, Indonesia, Armenia and Kosovo.</p>
<p>Gehm is survived by her husband, her two stepsons and their wives, as well as four granddaughters.</p><p>During her illness, her husband constantly at her side, friends marveled that even then, as fellow Joffrey dancer Kim Sagami put it: "She was so kind…so brave, stoic and still always caring for others." Gehm was a person of rare sensibility and courage, and her memory will be carried forward in the hearts of all who knew her. Announcing her passing to the Joffrey Ballet community, former Joffrey principal Denise Jackson Sutherland wrote:</p><p>"I will remember Char with her bright, beautiful smile, her quirky sense of humor, her infectious laugh, and her beautiful tresses of gorgeous blond hair. She will be missed." </p>
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