Galina Panova, Teaching in NYC for the First Time Ever!

Sondra Forsyth | Jul 23, 2009 | 0

Galina Panova

If you'll be in NYC between now and August 1st, don't miss the chance to take class at Steps with the legendary yet very much alive Galina Panova.  She was a Gold Medal winner at Varna in 1968 but she first caught the world's attention at the age of 25 in March of 1972.  That's when she steadfastly refused to accept the promise of a promotion by the Kirov Ballet if she would only divorce her "refusenik" husband, the superstar male dancer Valery Panov. In that Cold War era, the couple had been denied a visa to Israel because Valery, 11 years Galina's senior, is Jewish.  What followed was a drama to rival any work of fiction that included their dismissal from the ballet company in 1973, a form of house arrest that kept them from dancing for two years, their eventual emigration in 1975, a dazzling international career, the birth of a son, and a divorce that inspired Panov to choreograph a poignant ballet called "Adios" for his Panov Ballet Theatre in Israel where he continues to teach and direct at the age of 71.

As for Galina, she has been teaching since 1987.  In 2003 she landed the position of Associate Professor in the School of Theatre and Dance at East Carolina University in Greenville.  And no wonder!  Her credits include virtually all of the classical canon's ballerina roles as well as a 1982 to 1984 run on Broadway playing the leading lady in "On Your Toes" with choreography by George Balanchine.  Even so, teaching is an art in itself.  Back in 1975 when the Panovs made their American debut at Philadelphia's Spectrum Arena after their forced hiatus in the Soviet Union, Joan Downs wrote in the February 17th issue of Time Magazine: "The big question was: Can the Panovs still dance well? The answer was a resounding yes."

I took Galina's class this week at Steps and the big question for me, to paraphrase Joan Downs, was: Can Panova teach well? The answer was . . .  

Find out after the jump!

As for Galina, she has been teaching since 1987.  In 2003 she landed the position of Associate Professor in the School of Theatre and Dance at East Carolina University in Greenville.  And no wonder!  Her credits include virtually all of the classical canon's ballerina roles as well as a 1982 to 1984 run on Broadway playing the leading lady in "On Your Toes" with choreography by George Balanchine.  Even so, teaching is an art in itself.  Back in 1975 when the Panovs made their American debut at Philadelphia's Spectrum Arena after their forced hiatus in the Soviet Union, Joan Downs wrote in the February 17th issue of Time Magazine: "The big question was: Can the Panovs still dance well? The answer was a resounding yes."

I took Galina's class this week at Steps and the big question for me, to paraphrase Joan Downs, was: Can Panova teach well? The answer was . . .  

. . . a resounding yes!  From the first moment that Galina Panova begins to set and demonstrate the barre exercises, she exudes that rare combination of abiding passion for her art, commitment to communicating what she knows, and the ability to show rather than simply tell.  The body that made her one of the chosen among the children auditioning for the Perm Academy in her native Russia so long ago has not betrayed her even now.  Panova uses her gifted physique with an eloquence born of superb training, years of experience, and her own innate intelligence.  She lets her legs unfold in high but not grotesque extensions rather flinging them meaninglessly skyward as too many loose-hipped dancers do these days.  Her arms seem to speak as they move. Her enviably arch-y feet, encased in soft and shankless pointe shoes, move with a fluidity that is sometimes fleeting and sometimes floating.  Most important, though, she corrects and she motivates and she builds the excitement until the final exercise in the center.  When that moment comes, she asks each and every student to perform a solo series of traveling turns and leaps across the floor.

"I want the them all to feel special and important," she confided to me after one class, her mobile face transformed by a winning smile.  "I want to see them one by one. They deserve that."

What's so interesting is that all of us - professionals and avocational dancers alike, some young and some older - stepped up fearlessly at her bidding to do our best.  None of us felt judged by anyone else.  Instead, we were cheering one another on.  The esprit de corps in the room was palpable.  We all left on a ballet high having been put through our paces by a talented and enthusiastic taskmistress capable of passing on in person the legacy of a time and place in dance history that is hers alone.  The buzz in the hall and the dressing room was unanimously positive.  As one dancer put it, "She's the real deal."

I want to add that Panova was blessed to have as her accompanist the incomparable Josu Gallestegui of Spain, a longtime favorite here in NYC who has been around too little of late.  I hope he'll become a regular now!  The same, needless to say, goes for Panova herself.

For more detailed information about Panova's life and career, check out these terrific articles from 2003, 2005, and 2006 that were posted on - where else! - DancerUniverse.com.

Galina Panova, An Extraordinary Ballerina by Elinor Rogosin  
Galina Panova, Passing on the Torch by Judith Lynne Hanna  
We Come to Class to Heal by Terry Sivashinsky  

See you in class!
Sondra

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