Ashley Bouder in Roma

[drb]

Ashley Bouder danced three performances as Aurora in the Rome Opera Ballet's Sleeping Beauty, partnered by Jared Angle, with Carla Fracci as Carabosse. From reports in the Italian press, she had an astounding success.

La Repubblica:

"...you cannot take your eyes off [Ashley Bouder], the perfection, elegance of movement, and freshness... [she] dominates the stage with a magnetic presence and superlative grace.

...the new bright star of the international ballet firmament."

These performances, September 26, 29, and October 3 at the Rome Opera, had been a BT topic under NYCB last February.

The toast of Roma, it would seem, meriting a lengthy interview (and a fine nine photo slide show, including Aurora) on October 2:

http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/SoleOnLine4...amp;type=Libero

I know, it is in Italian. But the Google translator will do a pretty decent job (perhaps a bit better than Babelfish).

Some wonderful stuff in the interview. When told that her mother must be very proud of her, she replied in the affirmative, but no more proud than if she'd been a successful secretary in an office. Her parents never pushed her, except that she should do something that makes her happy. Quite nice things about Merrill Ashley, as well, and also Carla Fracci.

[bart]

Thanks, drb, for this news! It's wonderful for the somewhat marginal Rome Opera Ballet -- making important efforts to expand its quality and range under the directorship of Carla Fracci. And it's good for NYCB dancers who are sadly underexposed around the world, as well as for the international reputation of their company. More of this kind of cross-fertilization will be great for all concerned.

[Farrell Fan]

Grazie mille, dottore! Under the heading of quotable quotes, Ms. Bouder, asked whether she dances with her heart or her brain, responded that she dances with her brain in rehearsal and her heart in performance. Brava!

[ViolinConcerto]

Did you notice the many ways in which her last name was spelled in the picture captions!

[drb]

Based on some PMs, there may be some interest in the interview. Since it constitutes over half the article, I don't know if a complete translation of the Q & A's would be legal, so here is just a summary of portions that may interest her English speaking admirers (while a comparison with the original Italian will show that this is much shorter, if it needs to be shorter still, please advise me so and I will shorten it further):

When 5 yrs old, Ms. Bouder saw her mother study ballet and wanted to follow in her footsteps. Since early on, she wanted to study at SAB. It was a dream come true and she always worked very hard.

Without a doubt this is the profession she wants. She always worked hard at SAB since you need a sense of discipline to reach a certain level in ballet. The most important studies were probably Balanchine's ballets. So when she entered the company she was prepared and already knew the technique. This was important because she could now grow as an artist. The artists most significant to her include Merril Ashley, a master of technique and a person well loved. Ms. Bouder also admires Carla Fracci.

Ashley Bouder has a whole mix of ballerinas inside herself, not just one model. She is still searching for herself. She does not particularly prefer any single type of role (romantic, psychological, or dramatic)--she likes them all since they allow her to explore different aspects of character and technique. It is also very important to have a good rapport with a partner. All her partners have been great so far and she is able to find something new and diverse with each one. Each creates a different passion and a different encounter.

She likes both classical and modern ballet. She enjoys the modern collaboration with the choreographer. That is the main difference.

As Farrell Fan mentioned, rehearsals she dances with her brain but on stage she dances with her heart.

To the question "Do you know you have great talent?," she responded that she knows she has weak points that she must correct and she must improve to go forward. Sometimes when she tries a step with which she is not content she must exercise control to go outside herself, her technical limits and emotions, to find another level within herself.

She wants her audience to feel as if she is dancing only for them, and to rise above just technique to leave an impression of the joy of dance.

She makes sacrifices to be a ballerina but feels she has as normal a life as any girl her age. Her life is balanced between discipline, work, and normal everyday life. After a performance in the evening, she goes home because she is tired. But on the weekends or when she is free she goes shopping, to the movies, out with her friends.

She feels that Talent is a gift from God. The career is not.

Her parents are proud of her--whatever she does, even if she becomes a secretary in an office. She has always been free to choose and to decide her own career. Important advice from her mother was to be always happy whatever she was doing in life. For her it was always ballet.

Asked about competitive feelings of dancers in her company, she remarked that all have strenghths and weaknesses. When she sees something that she admires in another dancer, she tries to do it herself and learn from her. She thinks other dancers are like her and want to learn and are not really envious or jealous.

The ballets she would most like to do now are Balanchine's Theme and Variations and Square Dance. She would also like to do Giselle, Juliet and Romeo, and Manon.

This season she is very busy first with NY and then touring in Washington, London, Paris and Denmark.