Finis Jhung Workshops

Finis: Yes, before your time, Tory Dobrin, your Artistic Director, studied with me and he was very discreet about being the only male in class on pointe. He wore black socks over his pointe shoes and I don't think many students noticed. Or would have cared, if they did. So what did you dance when you first got in with the Trocks?

Robert: The way things go with us, when a new dancer comes in, generally the rule of thumb is that he goes into the corps of Swan Lake. When I joined, Tory had hired a lot of people, so I kind of stood in the background and learned Swan but didn't dance it. My first ballet was Go for Barocco. Within my first year, I was learning lead roles, because I could do a lot of the harder stuff, like Pacquita, Stars, and Swan Lake. However, I still know and can do corps spots. But generally, I do principal roles.

Finis: Is their ranking in the company?

Robert: No. There is, but there isn't. Because we're so small, we need everybody all the time. So, everybody at one moment or another gets his chance to shine. We shift around, which makes it a lot easier on us, especially with the strenuous parts.

Finis: Ah yes, the Trocks are also famous for your names. I was wondering how you got them.

Robert: Tory has a list a mile long of names he's been dreaming up, and he names us.

Finis: Does everyone play a male and female role?

Robert: Yes, we all have male and female characters. It is required that everyone dance on pointe. We all have to do both male and female roles. But, of course, no one joins this company to be a boy! However, each dancer gets his moment in the spotlight, on pointe.

Finis: I think that's what struck me most of all when I saw your performance recently; you all seem to bring out the essence of each role much more than female dancers I've seen. It's as though the females take their femaleness for granted, and do the steps by the book, and you guys really have to work to bring it out, and that honest and sincere effort becomes something so pure. After I saw you all do Sylphides, I told Tory it was the first time I had ever enjoyed that ballet. You made the choreography live. I was truly moved. How do you feel about switching from male roles to female?

Robert: I personally like it, because I have fun and it's a real kick in the pants for me to do the female stuff. One of the things I never get tired of hearing, from certain respected ballerinas, is that they admire my technique. However I'm always working on both kinds of roles.

Finis: Well, in most companies, the males don't dance on pointe, and the females certainly never do the virtuoso male solos. You guys have to do both. And some of you are relatively late starters in ballet, not to mention then learning to work on pointe. You all are a special breed.

Robert: I think that is part of the magic of the company. We all love dance so much. Some people look down on us, saying that what we do is sacrilege to the great ballets. But we aspire to the highest standards. The amount of work and dedication we put into can be much more than what others do.

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