Rachel Berman, former dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, is coaching the entrants in the New York International Ballet Competition in the adagio from Taylor's AUREOLE. Above, in mirror image, Rachel working with Olga Malinovskaya of Russia and her partner Artjom Maksakov of Estonia.
Rachel Berman is originally from Honolulu, Hawaii where she began her dance
training. She later studied at the San Francisco Ballet School and on scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey and Paul Taylor
Schools. Rachel took her BFA degree in Dance from the State University
of New York at Purchase in 1985 and has performed with Ballet Hispanico,
May O’Donnell, Kevin Wynn, Dance Compass, Joyce Trisler Danscompany. She joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 1989 and danced with them for a decade. Since 1999, Rachel has been
teaching around the world and re-staging Taylor's works.
When she left Paul Taylor's Company in 1999, Dance Magazine wrote:
"Berman
first appeared with the Taylor Company in Melbourne in 1989, when she
was hired to replace an injured dancer. She was relentlessly typecast in
the peppy roles usually reserved for short, cute women; but when Taylor
pushed her, he discovered an almost unlimited range. Asked how many of
his creations of the past decade he has set on Berman, Taylor answered,
"All of them. She's just one of the easiest to work with. She
always understands what the dance is supposed to be about."
That understanding became clear as I watched her coaching the young dancers in preparation for the Competition. All classically trained, these dancers responded beautifully - and, I would say: movingly - to Rachel's ideas on how best to present a work that is rather outside their normal sphere. Her love of the piece and her kind spirit shone constantly during the sessions.
Above, the partnership of Olga Malinovskaya and Artjom Maksakov rehearsing AUREOLE for the Competition.
Rachel Berman may be seen in the film Paul Taylor: Dancemaker.
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