Master Class with Wendy Whelan

UPDATE: Erin Fogarty has sent me a couple of pictures she took of Wendy teaching.

Monday October 25, 2010 – Sometimes I cannot believe my own good fortune. This evening I sat in a studio at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center watching the ballerina who has been driving me mad for the past few years with her matchless and unique interpretations of Balanchine, Robbins and Wheeldon – Wendy Whelan – giving a Master Class. If you had told me five years ago that I’d be doing this sort of thing I would have just laughed out loud.

Wendy arrived – her forest-green leotard was so pretty – and the roomful of dancers came to order. There were four boys and approximately 16 girls in the class who seemed to be at various levels of accomplishment, including some professional dancers.

I promised myself that I would watch the students rather than watching Wendy but this very soon proved to be impossible: when Wendy Whelan is in motion, you are simply drawn to her. It was great fun to observe people outside the studio looking in thru the windows to watch Ms. Whelan teaching.

Wendy’s barre was quite interesting although I am not sure she was getting the music she wanted for each exercise. But she wisely didn’t waste time worrying about that; she simply adapted the steps to the rhythm being offered. Her descriptions of the flow of energy thru the body and of certain small details of technique to give a polished look helped me to understand what makes her such an intriguing dancer.

The class went by so quickly and all of a sudden the dancers were in the center where Avi Scher and Mary Sell danced with the full-out breadth of style to Wendy’s beautiful combinations. Another girl who made a big impression was Amy Gilson; she stood out for the poise and clarity with which she danced.

I felt that Wendy would like to have gone on for another half-hour or so and I’m sure the dancers would have loved it but the time had flashed by and the pianist slipped away. MMAC is such a cool place – you always feel the energy of all the dance that is going on there whenever you visit; Erin Fogarty’s doing a great job…and she took Wendy’s barre.