David Howard interview, June 18

Breakfast with David Howard, British-born master teacher, self-invited I might add, is one of the blessings of attending the Jackson Competition. He is remarkably available and the ambiance permits a range of discussion, which is quite in touch with the world. After the slurs in pronunciation of English, his enunciation of the language is an aural balm in Gilead.

Howard has given up his studio in New York City due to the rise in rentals. "It takes away from the focus of teaching and puts too much emphasis on raising funds for rent." He teaches at Steps on Broadway, guest teaches and is completing the final year of the BFA program with the Joffrey Ballet and New School University. In addition, he teaches at the Royal Ballet yearly, three weeks at a time, giving himself a week’s vacation while in England.

Asked about the reason for the closing down of the Joffrey affiliation with New School, Howard remarked,
"The program was quite successful, but there were space problems. Students pay $30,000 a year for the program and the Joffrey school facilities are small, the elevator frequently does not work, there is one entry to the school and no handicap access. Since these repairs were not remedied, the Board simply voted to stop the program."

The Joffrey School location in the Village elicited my comment on its proximity to the World Trade Center
Tragedy of September 11. "Edith D’Addario saw it. She had to spend the night there. Everything closed down, bus, trains, the airports. There was no way she could get home."

Howard was teaching class at Steps, which is situated on 74th Street. A radio was turned on. "One by one, the students left, crying. I remembered World War II and decided to carry on. I finished class with eight students, who later thanked me for providing some continuity.

"New Yorkers are remarkable. They carry on, but everyone now feels vulnerable, and everyone either had
friends or a friend who knew someone working in the Towers. I had a friend who worked for Morgan Stanley on the 74th floor in the second tower, which is where the second plane struck. He managed to run down 74 flights and had told me they had speculated what might happen if the building collapsed. He had said to me five weeks before that everyone working there felt vulnerable."

"I live on 79th and West End, so I had no difficulty in getting home. But it was eerie, the streets were absolutely deserted, save for a solitary pedestrian here and there."

I asked David Howard about his impressions of the Ross Stretton directorship. "You know," he said, looking at me level-eyed, "Anthony Dowell had been director there for sixteen years. When someone is in a position there that many years, there are bound to be changes. And some dancers weren’t working as hard as they could. Anthony was remarkably fair. He rotated dancers around, giving them different parts.

"The dancers affected, of course, were devastated, and one of them came to me and I told her about Monica Mason’s story. When she was actively dancing, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth McMillan and John Cranko were all choreographing. And in those days, you were either an Ashton dancer or a McMillan dancer, but
almost never both.

"When Fred took over from Ninette de Valois, Monica went to him and, after a series of exchanges about her competency, said, ‘I would like to try Swan Lake. I have seen it, studied it and think I understand it.’ Fred said, ‘I will give you one performance, but don’t ever ask me to attend your performance.’ So Monica
said to herself, ‘Well, you may not come to the first one, or the second or third one, but you will come eventually.’ And whenever a dancer complains to her, Monica, who is now associate artistic director, says she lacks sympathy with their plight and tells the story. So you can either be defeated or challenged. It’s the dancer’s choice. Monica is a very special person."

"When Ross came in, he took a look and promoted younger dancers. And he is far more visible, attending rehearsals, teaching classes, his door open to dancers.

"Ross is blamed for a number of things which are not his fault. The budget has been reduced for new ballet productions, even though the company is doing well. Opera House tours permit watching class, which is a private time for dancers, and it bothers them. There also are comments about class on the Web and this should be prohibited. These are all policies in place before Ross took over and have nothing to do with his direction.

"Ross brought in the Nureyev production of Don Quixote and this has been criticized. They like to see their own productions. But he also brought in Eugene Onegin and this has been a hit. Matts Ek’s Carmen, which is brilliant, has been criticized. Christopher Wheeldon’s new ballet has been praised, and he, of course, is English, and very talented.

"When I am there, I teach at the school, if needed, and also company class. There are three company class divisions: the men’s class; the corps de ballet and coryphees; and the soloists and principals. I teach all when I am there."

"Ross is doing a good job. He has the hurdles of being both Australian and American-formed in much of his career. When I come and bring in some students, ‘my fan club’ I call them, and ask permission of the dancers, Ross says, ‘I’m your number one fan.’