oldtimer

Haydée Gutierrez is greatly missed by many in Oregon. My daughter was very young when Haydee left, she only trained with her for a short time. I will tell you that I hear often how much she wished she had been trained by Haydee. Since Haydee has left OBT the school is not nearly as clean as they used to be. My daughter misses her combinations that she did with only the arms. Her difficult combinations in reverse. OBT has not only lost Haydee but so many great teachers from the school since all of the changes. Elena Carter of course, who passed recently. She was Haydee's right hand lady. Also Fred Locke and Kim Smiley. Excellent teachers. The only one left from that staff is Elise Legire who did not teach all that much. Why OBT has not hired good teachers to replace all that they have lost is very frustrating for the students that were used to such great teachers. So often I hear from my daughter, I wonder where I would be today if I had been trained by Haydee. So sad that a school that was so strong has lost so much.

My input as to why the children are a bit sloppy. When James was the Director of OBT he usually had two castings with only one or two different children in the second casting. Most of the children were his strongest dancers, those that Haydee and James felt had talent. He would work in the younger one's by letting them perform in the afternoon and mid-week performances, but he always put them along with the A cast. The kids that were in the nutcracker performed a lot, and usually had a lot of roles. James also expected perfection from the kids, a lot of tears during those years. Christopher run's it a lot different. He has three casting for all roles, and lets all of the kids dance a equal amount of time. Not always the strongest and certainly not all of the talent. But, I think this sell's a lot of tickets. Also, the kids enjoy Christopher much more then James. He seem's to enjoy all of the kids and respects them. Not nearly as many tears. But, I must say, I wonder why OBT does not let the talented students dance more often. I know of a few very strong dancers who are leaving the school this year. One more thing, Haydee was an EXCEPTIONAL school director. She was so picky about all of the little things, I think it showed on stage. Damara is good, but not exceptional. Some of the older students miss Haydee and her little tiny correctionos that seemed to make a huge difference. The rolling of the feet, pointing your toes. Also, all of her perfection in the arm's and the head. I think OBT lost a lot when Haydee left the school. Our kids miss her.

How are these three dancers doing in NY. I have not seen any articles in the Oregonian about them in a long, long time. I would love information. Also, has Haydee trained anymore NY scholarship students in Florida? The Oregonian never has articles about OBT school of dance like they used to when Haydee was the director of the school. Is this because the school has no talent, or are they lacking good training?

Have we seen a string of pearls yet? We are waiting.