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Finis: Your first taste of real life! It seems that's the way it is everywhere. Until you become a principal dancer and can demand rehearsal time and attention, you're probably not going to get much of it. It seems there's never enough time in the big companies for the little people, and you just have to work really hard to know your parts and make sure you do what is required. Whether or not anyone pats you on the back or encourages you. And, if you survive, you end up strong and independent. Let's go back to your beginnings. When did you start dancing? Why? With whom? Michele: I got into dancing because my Mom and my aunts danced. My Mom was a jazz dancer. She'd take me to class with her, and when I was able to walk, the teacher of my Mom's jazz class told her to enroll me, at age 2-1/2, in jazz class. My mom had dreams of me becoming a Rockette. Finis: Well, I guess you went way past that goal! Your Mom seems a pretty happy camper to me. Michele: I studied jazz and tap, and then when I was 7, I began taking ballet classes, to improve my jazz. When I was 10, I saw my first ballet performance at The Kennedy Center. It was Swan Lake performed by The Royal Ballet. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and from that day, I fell in love with ballet and had dreams of dancing the Swan Queen. That was my goal. Finis: You're getting closer and closer. It shouldn't be too long now. I know you also competed, because those were the times when you'd be in NYC and come to my class, right? What part do you think competing played in making you the dancer you are? Michele: It made me very comfortable on stage. It helped me with my stage presence, and it also challenged me technically. Finis: If nothing else, you learn to do fouetté turns! Piece of cake for you, these days. You won a lot of titles, I know, and it seems to me you are one of the few of many winners in competition history to go on to prominence in a major ballet company. You were a gold medallist at Varna, and winners there have gone on to ballet stardom, so there again you were on the right track. Tell us about Varna. You performed 6 classical variations and 2 modern solo's. How did you prepare for those performances? Michele: My coach was Vladimir Djoulhadze. He coached me for four hours every day for about four months. For the last month, we worked seven days a week. Finis: No wonder you danced so perfectly! I was especially impressed with your slow double fouetté turn into grand rond de jambe that you did entirely on pointe. WOW! I never saw anyone do that before. That, and your piqué arabesque balance in Pacquita. You displayed absolute balances that I'd never seen in 39 years of dance viewing. So, how did you feel dancing at Varna? Michele: Actually, I felt really relaxed because I was well rehearsed. Also, I had just done another competition in Nagoya, Japan. So I was mentally and physically prepared. I knew what to expect. Finis: So, everything went smoothly at Varna. Michele: Yes, except that I didn't find out when I would compete in the next round until something like 3 a.m. of the performing day. And I found I'd won the Gold at 4 a.m. and was so tired I just said "Oh, that's good" and went back to sleep. My Mom was so excited, and I just wanted to sleep.
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