Ballet program continues at Jacobs

Six years ago, Michael Vernon brought his flair from London and New York to the ballet department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Following examples from various other music workshops in the summer, Vernon, professor of music (ballet) and chair of the ballet department, initiated and serves as director of a summer intensive program for intermediate and advanced ballet dancers and choreographers. The program is now in its third year.

The first 2012 session runs from June 3 to June 9 and the second from June 10 to June 16.

Although the daily schedule remains similar, the dancers may choose to participate in one of the two sessions, or both.

“It’s developed a great way for prospective students to come and experience the campus, my teaching and the facilities we have,” Vernon said. “Then they can decide if they’d like to audition and come here as a major in the department.”

He said summer contains a lighter atmosphere compared to during the academic year when educational pressures loom large.

“The summer program is really great because it’s small enough where we have control of it and we can have personal interactions with each dancer,” Vernon said. “It’s interesting. They come from all over the country, but by the end of the week they have homogenized into a team. This is partly because ballet does that, but it’s a great experience.”

In London, Vernon performed with the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera Ballet and the London Festival Ballet.

“I learned high standards of presentation and technique, musicality and that the arts should be part of the fabric of life and not separate from it,” he said.

Now he said he enjoys guiding people to where they would best fit into the professional world, including working with large or small companies and getting involved in classical or contemporary ballet.

“One of the big comments I have is how much the dancers appreciate the outside influences,” Vernon said.

This week’s guest instructors include Victoria Lyras, a former principal dancer with Vernon in New York, and IU alumna Jennifer Adam Bailey.

New York’s Heather Hawk will teach during next week’s session.

Vernon said the New York connections help the dancers build professional networks for when they leave IU.

“Everything to do with this department has to do with my connections in New York,” Vernon said. “It’s proven to be really useful.”

Dancing since she was three, Megan Noonan, 18, will begin majoring in ballet at IU in the fall of this year.

This is her first year participating in the summer workshop.

“I thought it would be a good introduction to the program and a way to get to know the teachers,” she said.

IU was an easy choice, she added, because of its prestige and proximity to her home in Carmel, Ind. The specifics of the program tend to be geared toward high school students, Vernon said, which make up most of the participants.

“They have something to look up to,” he said. “It teaches them how high the standard can be, even in Bloomington.”

Approaching her senior year of high school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Shelby Finnie, 17, plans to audition for the Jacobs School of Music when the time comes.

From Greensboro, N.C., Finnie also attended the workshop in 2011.

“Year to year, you develop different ways of looking at ballet,” she said. “The stronger you get, the more you get out of the classes.”

Although it is hard on her toes, Finnie said she has loved getting to know the repertoire and new choreography.

“I’m getting more familiar with my body and its limitations,” Finnie said. “Once you find that out about yourself you can take it to different levels and explore new things. Mr. Vernon is really good about introducing new ways of thinking about techniques.”

She said she appreciates the energy Guo Ping Wang, lecturer in music (ballet), exudes. Learning from Violette Verdy, distinguished professor of music (ballet), has been an honor, Finnie added.

“The program is excellent, and we’re finally getting it done thanks to Michael, who is a mover and fantastic programmer,” Verdy said. “To see the talent and know they’re going to do something good, it’s just wonderful.”

This is her first year instructing for the summer intensive program.

“It’s nice to do with Michael because he brings a constantly growing population and a quality program,” she said. “It’s terrific because I know with him we’re going to get serious, good stuff.”

Because she doesn’t have any children, Verdy said she likes to think of her students as her own.

“It’s absolutely fabulous the universities are giving us hospitality because they have the brains, we have the heart, and the complete person should have brains and heart,” Verdy said. “Our kids are receiving absolutely everything they need.”