March 14, 2003

Ballerina Carolyn Martin Santonicola coaches the Loyola Ballet for Les Sylphides

by Karen Beck

"Exquisite." That's the word guest teacher/coach and former balle- rina Carolyn Martin Santonicola used to describe Les Sylphides and that's the mood she encouraged Loyola Ballet dancers to feel when they perform the classical ballet May 2 and 3 at 8 p.m. in Roussel Hall.

A native of New Orleans, Santonicola began her dance training at the age of seven and a half with Gayle Parmelee, coordinator of Loyola's Preparatory Ballet Program. At the time, Parmelee was teaching at the New Orleans Recreation Department. In no time, young Carolyn knew she had to dance.

She received a scholarship and began studying privately for the next two years with Parmelee, who recognized her talent and arranged for her young student to go to New York to study at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo School for two summers.

After completing high school, Santonicola moved to New York. At the age of 17, she was accepted into the Ballet Russe Company where for the next two years she performed their repertoire including Les Sylphides, a ballet choreographed by Michel Fokine to music by Frederic Chopin. Les Sylphides, the first plotless ballet of the 20^th century, epitomized the essence of ballet: purity of line, expressiveness and soft, flowing movements executed by clusters of women wearing long, white skirts, or romantic tutus.

"Fokine was onto something magical," Santonicola said. "I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Les Sylphides has remained my favorite ballet."

When the company closed two years later, Santonicola joined the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. After dancing two seasons, she was selected to perform the "Waltz" variation in Les Sylphides and had the opportunity to be coached by Ballerina Assoluta Dame Alicia Markova, one of the greatest ballerinas of all time. It was through this experience that she learned the original mood and feeling of the ballet.

After Santonicola retired from the Metropolitan Opera Ballet to raise her children, she began teaching and was coaxed into returning to the stage to perform the lead role in Les Sylphides. She has since staged the ballet for several groups and companies, and is currently coaching dancers with the Loyola Ballet.

Santonicola said there is much more than technique to this particular ballet, and that she hopes to pass onfrom one generation to another ­ something that has almost been lost.

"I want to show the dancers the difference between raw technique and the artistic quality of the movement," she said. "I want to share the sense of historical importance of this ballet."

Santonicola said Chopin's music changed the approach to classical ballet, evoking a unique mood and style.

"Les Sylphides is not performed to impress the audience ­ the experience is an expression of your soul," she said. "I want to encourage them to express themselves through the vehicle of the choreography."

Santonicola said if there was one piece of advice she could pass on to the dancers it would be this, "Don't treat dancing Les Sylphides as just another performance.

"I would like the girls to have a sense of the important gift they have been given, to be part of a performance of this ballet in the style that's very traditional," she said, meaning "exquisite."