41 replies to this topic

[dancekitty]

I came across this video of her in a private ballet class at the age of 10.  she was AMAZING!  does anyone have any ideas as to why she stopped dancing after Monte Carlo / Vienna and has done only figure skating ever since?
here's the video that so impressed me-->  Vera Nemtchinova & Katherine Healy Aurora Variation 1979

[Mme. Hermine]

you'd have to ask her i suppose. she's married and teaching and sometimes appears in ice shows. at any rate, she was always a skater, so it's not so strange, really.

[dancesmith]

You might check out the information in her entry on wikipedia.  If it's anywhere near accurate, it sounds like she was much more dancer than skater, and is still involved in teaching advanced ballet.

[dirac]

Healy’s name comes up on a regular basis, so if you do a search I think several discussions should pop up.  Her skating never advanced very far – she turned pro around age nine as I recall.  

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does anyone have any ideas as to why she stopped dancing after Monte Carlo / Vienna and has done only figure skating ever since?

I saw an interview she gave to ABC Sports when she returned to skating just after marrying the skating coach Peter Burrows and she talked about how awful and soul killing the ballet world was. Sounded quite bitter.

[antonella]

dancekitty, on May 29 2008, 08:19 PM, said:

I came across this video of her in a private ballet class at the age of 10.  she was AMAZING!  does anyone have any ideas as to why she stopped dancing after Monte Carlo / Vienna and has done only figure skating ever since?
here's the video that so impressed me-->  Vera Nemtchinova & Katherine Healy Aurora Variation 1979

I came across a video of her too and I was really impressed. Have a look on Youtube: Irish Springtime - Baby Katherine Healy Ballet. I know that at one time she injured herself.

[Alexandra]

She was an extraordinary child. To have three "godfathers" like Balanchine, Nureyev and John Curry looking after her augured a brilliant future. She made at least one movie (with Mary Tyler More, in which she danced.)  She was in NYCB's Nutcracker. But there was prep school and university and skating and ballet, and that's a lot even for a very gifted young person.

[dirac]

I used to think there must have been deep pockets in the family for the parents to be able to cough up for all that.

[carbro]

When a child, even a very young child, is as abundantly gifted as Katherine, there is usually some kind of financial aid available.  Did the Healys take any?  I don't know.  

Resources beyond the financial are also taxed.  As a child and teen, Katherine's mom was never far away.  Clearly her life's purpose was ensuring the realization of her daughter's many talents.  Nurturing a gift so devotedly takes more than just money.  Someone once approached my stepmother about one of her children, noting likely "Olympic potential," and a four-times a week hour commute each way to lessons.  Her reply, "What about my other kids?"  I don't know that the Healys could have given Katherine all that they did had there been another child or two in the house.

[Mme. Hermine]

i remember katherine's dad being a lawyer but i don't know anything else about that.

[JMcN]

When I had been watching ballet for about a year, Katherine Healy (with Trinidad Sevillano too) joined London Festival Ballet as a principal dancer at the age of 16.  I think she and Trinidad were touted as the modern age's equivalent of the "baby ballerinas".  She was with the company for two or three years and I always enjoyed her performances.  She seemed far more mature than her years.

[Dale]

Another feather in her cap: Ashton chose her as first cast when his Romeo and Juliet was revived. It's interesting. One could look at her career and think: so much talent unrealized. But then when you really look at her career, you think "Wow, how many dancers get to work with Balanchine, Ashton, skate professionally, do a film with Mary Tyler Moore (and do it well enough to get nominated for a Golden Globe), graduate from Princeton...etc... Not a bad life!

[dirac]

Golden Globes aren’t that big a deal, and the movie was a turkey.  Still, it was a feature film.

[Helene]

Dale, on Jun 10 2008, 08:14 AM, said:

Another feather in her cap: Ashton chose her as first cast when his Romeo and Juliet was revived. It's interesting. One could look at her career and think: so much talent unrealized. But then when you really look at her career, you think "Wow, how many dancers get to work with Balanchine, Ashton, skate professionally, do a film with Mary Tyler Moore (and do it well enough to get nominated for a Golden Globe), graduate from Princeton...etc... Not a bad life!

Not to mention skate competitively and professionally, compete well at Jackson, and return to competitive professional skating after a dance career.  Her performance in a bad film was quite accomplished.

I think the basis for thinking of talent not realized may be that she didn't dance for what most would consider a major company.  Many of us on this site know how much talent there is outside major companies.

[bingham]

My wife and i saw her debut in Coppelia( with Patrick Armand) for the ENB(or LFB) at the Colisseum. She was marvelous and was well received by the audience. I don't remember the year. I was hoping that she would eventually dance with one of the US companies.

[dirac]

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Not to mention skate competitively and professionally, compete well at Jackson, and return to competitive professional skating after a dance career.

Her skating wasn’t wildly impressive, but then it could hardly be so considering she turned pro so early.  I remember seeing her in some of those pro competitions on television and she wasn’t in the same league with the other skaters. I’m sure her dancing was much better.