Ballet students were on their toes as the Fergus-Elora Academy of Dance hosted a dance workshop with renowned ballet dancers Frank Augustyn and Carolyn Zettel- Augustyn at the Elora Centre for the Arts on Jan. 3.
Students from the academy were joined by ballet students from other area schools for the one-day workshop.
It’s the fifth year the couple has hosted a workshop, said academy owner and artistic director Erica Finlayson.
“It’s certainly a wonderful thing having them here,” Finlayson said of dancers whose careers she has followed over the years. “It’s just amazing. This is the epitome of a dream come true.”
Augustyn is a recipient of Canada’s highest honour, Officer Order of Canada. He has been decorated with three honorary doctorates and has toured the world representing Canadian ballet at venues around the world. In 1973 he and his dance partner Karen Kain were awarded first place in Moscow at Russia’s International Ballet Competition. He is chair of the Adelphi University Dance Department Garden City, New York.
Zettel-Augustyn began her ballet studies at the age of 10 and attended the Washington School of Ballet, Washington D.C. on a scholarship at age 15. She is an affiliate teacher with ABT National Training Curriculum Primary Level 7 and Partnering and is a life-time certified teacher of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association. She is director of the Childrens School of Ballet in New York and directed the Academy of Dance in Waterloo from 1982 to 2006.
Augustyn said the couple enjoys their visits to Elora and workshops with aspiring ballet dancers.
“We enjoy coming to Elora,” he said “It is artistically driven.”
What he looks for in the student dancers is an understanding, individually, of movement and an ability to adjust to criticism from instructors in what can be described as almost-military drills.
“What happens in a ballet is structure and discipline,” he said. “It’s like the military, it’s right or wrong.”
Central to perfecting steps is a students enjoyment of the dance. Zettel-Augustyn in her afternoon workshop told students to always smile while they are performing.
“You look for if they have a sense of joy when they dance,” she said. “If that comes out that says a lot.”
The couple said ballet has become more “athletic” as dance moves evolve over the generations. Augustyn recalled when he began dancing the rule was to improve on steps used by his predecessors.
“The people who came before me were pushing the edge, then I pushed the edge,” he said. “It’s exciting to see it growing.”
“Ballet is the basis of every dance,” Zettel-Augustyn said.
The Elora Academy has about 110 students learning in a variety of disciplines, including ballet, jazz, tap and ballroom dancing.
