June 18, 2002 Jackson MI

Almost every morning during the Jackson Competition, The Media Center arranges a briefing for the press at ten, using Jackson’s Clarion Ledger meeting rooms for the purpose. Getting there involves a three-block walk from the Edison Walthall Hotel.

© Richard Finkelstein

June 17 the speaker was Adrienne Canterna, the junior gold medallist from the 1998 Competition. She proved to be a fund of information about herself, the initial ten minutes of which I missed in a session lasting over an hour. If Richard Finkelstein’s photo is up, you will see that she is lithe and quite blonde. (Lithe for sure and I think there is blond in there! Ed)

I arrived when she was talking about her response to the September 11 tragedy, close to home to her native Maryland. Apparently she organized a benefit concert with dance friends and donated the proceeds to the American Red Cross. My entrance was timed to her sense of frustration at not being able to donate blood because “I had my navel pierced six months before” and, apparently, such donations are verboten for three years. I felt it quite the interesting entrance statement.

Canterna was mid-way to 16 at the time she won and it was only following her win at Jackson that she entered the Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C., where she obviously honed her performing skills. I asked whether she had the opportunity to study dance history while there and she replied, “I had a full scholarship, but I didn’t take the academic side. I’m home schooled.” She also commented that during her study at the Kirov she was guesting a lot, but they did have character dancing and court dancing.

The impetus to enter the Jackson Competition came from the taping of Jose Manuel Carreno and Ana Lobe From the 1990 Competition. Competing, however, was less a shock to her, since prior competitions “had given me a lot of stage time.” She and Rasta Thomas had met when they were 9 and 10 respectively and competed together and won a “Show Stopper” competition.

Following her graduation she signed a contract with Washington Ballet, appearing with them from January to May, 2001. “I had never danced in a group,” wanted to have the experience, enjoyed the experience and the relative lack of pressure. “You just go in and put on your makeup, dance and go home.” She didn’t renew her contract because such a commitment would interfere with guesting opportunities.

I further asked about her choice of costume, because she had mentioned in passing during a break in one of the early sessions that her costume was borrowed from the Kirov Academy. The costume was from a Le Corsaire production, and the Esmeralda costume was not lent her because it was too old and too big.

Someone asked her about dancing with on short notice at the Les Etoiles Gala in Montreal last year, a participation she will repeat this year with Rasta Thomas. As she reiterated in various times during the interview, she was a little aghast at the short-notice challenge (one day of rehearsal), but probably felt that longer rehearsal might have made her more nervous. “I was on the plane the next day to appear with the Universal Ballet in Seoul, Korea, so it was all a blur.”

Richard Phelp, the editor-at-large for Dance Magazine, asked her if she was interested in dancing different styles, such as Graham. Canterna wants to do more Balanchine, and has learned the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, but apparently has not appeared in it. She stated she has “no burning desire to be in a different company,” and feels audiences would prefer seeing “an amazing contemporary piece than Swan Lake.” Phelp remarked that box office receipts would contradict this view.

Several minutes were expended on Canterna’s description of a private audition for Cirque de Soleil, the Montreal-based company which has a show touring, another troupe in Las Vegas and yet another on Broadway. The audition comprised a ballet class, a run through of Canterna’s gymnastic abilities, her range of other dance styles and then her singing ability. Apparently there is interest in building a future production around Canterna’s multiple abilities in a year or two.

For her sake, one hopes that such opportunities bring her closer to her desire to direct a company. But, on reflection, when one thinks of the apprenticeship of Dame Ninette with her own comparatively short exposure to the Diaghilev company, the Canterna ensemble is unlikely to be classical in either focus or emphasis.