Finis Jhung Workshops

Finis: You're very lucky to have had such coaches. No one makes it alone. Every great star has always had a mentor or coach to see what you can't see for yourself.

Gillian: Definitely. In the end, it's up to me to make good use of this guidance.

Finis: What are you working on right now?

Gillian: I'm focused on changing my body placement so that my shoulders are a little more back and down, and also that I project from the area of my heart.

Finis: That's what I noticed yesterday. You seem to have gained in amplitude since I last saw you dance in the Fall.

Gillian: I'm also working on my fingers and focusing my eyes. It's all in the details. And most of all, at this stage in my career, the projection of my soul.

Finis: Do you take that from the music?

Gillian: It's inspired by the music and by my own development as a human being. I also use images that I might have in my mind before and during the performance. For instance, yesterday during Corsaire, I visualized being whimsical, romantic and free.

Finis: And that's exactly what you projected. You and your superb cohorts, one of which was David Hallberg, newly promoted ABT Principal, brought the house down. We couldn't have asked for a more glorious, perfect climax to a star-studded performance. Tell me more about working on a full length ballet.

Gillian: I think that character motivation is what is so fulfilling about the full length ballets. Once you let yourself go there, you get to experience the transformations that the character undergoes. And that's another reason why Swan Lake is one of my favorites, because in the same evening I can portray the dual aspects of the purity and innocence of Odette and the wicked seductiveness of Odile.

Finis: And how wonderful that you got to do the PBS televised version that will be preserved for all time on DVD. All great actors and musicians talk about the process -- they all say that what they do is about listening to the other person or musician.

Gillian: That's why who you are dancing with is so important. Each dancer brings different things out of you. I think that so much comes out in the moment. No matter how full out I do something in rehearsal, it's always quite difference in performance. The audience inspires me to share the moment with them. Ballet is a visual art form, and the dance has to be outwardly displayed, but most important is that nothing is done superficially, it must be genuine.

Finis: I agree. Dance from the heart.

Gillian: Another difference between performance and rehearsal is that no one is going to stop you, it's continuous. If you make a mistake, you keep going. There is a continuity that is really fulfilling. In rehearsal, there are people sitting right in front of you, and their job is to nit pick, so my main focus in the studio is the development of the character as well as the perfection of the technical execution. Whereas on stage, I feel it's really the time to let loose with your instincts and your deeply felt connection to the character.

 

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