spring 2004

Enter David Hallberg
A premier talent has entered onto the world
stage

David Hallberg, recently promoted to soloist with American Ballet Theatre, is unique not only in talent but in training and in his sense of himself as a dancer. At just 21, he seems simultaneously to be racing toward stardom and leisurely savouring every dance experience as part of his growth as an artist.

Story by: Nadine Lavi

On a vast and empty stage, a blonde figure, tall and sculpted, dances with a purity of line and an empyreal grace. The other dancers, a backdrop for his singular elegance and meticulous precision, seem less startling, less fascinating. His airy lightness, seamless movements and fluid energy converge with the music and the audience's hopes. This moment, so fleeting it seems imagined, brands its rush of emotion onto the soul. After the performance, the memory of a kind of seldom-seen perfection lingers. Like the ballet itself, Clear, by Stanton Welch, it is plain: a premier talent has entered onto the world stage. David Hallberg, recently promoted to soloist with American Ballet Theatre, is unique not only in talent but in training and in his sense of himself as a dancer. At just 21, he seems simultaneously to be racing toward stardom and leisurely savouring every dance experience as part of his growth as an artist.

Born in Rapid City, South Dakota, Hallberg started ballet lessons at 13, after a Fred Astaire film first led him to try tap and jazz. Four years of intense Vaganova-based training "with some Balanchine," with his teacher, Kee Juan Han, at the Arizona Ballet School followed, leading to American Ballet Theatre's summer intensive programme and an offer to join its studio company the following year. Feeling his training needed another dimension, Hallberg spent a year at the Paris Opéra Ballet School. Joining American Ballet Theatre II in 2000, he then joined American Ballet Theatre's corps in 2001.

David received the Princess Grace Fellowship and the Chris Hellman Dance Award in 2002. He won the Erik Bruhn prize with American Ballet Theatre soloist Michele Wiles last year. Now he seems on the verge of reaching even greater heights. His teacher, Han, a former soloist with the Boston Ballet, provided the cornerstone for Hallberg's stellar work ethic. Han's no-nonsense, hands-on approach, an intense daily training schedule and Hallberg's drive have made him the dancer he is today. Hallberg's dancing is universal in its appeal. "His landings are very silent - Russian - his speed is very French," says Han.

A big fish in a small pond in Arizona, Hallberg found the year in Paris daunting. "My main teacher was Jacques Namont. But the teacher that ifluenced me the most was Gilbert Mayer. He told me to 'dance like a man,' because I was a very skinny boy, hunched over, with problems with upper body strength. He would do the barre in the

centre, which called for a lot of control and placement. He gave me a sense of opening up your chest and dancing strong, and it was a little bit contradictory, because they move so fast and they're so light," Hallberg says. "Every day I would dread the petit allegro because it was almost impossible, and the kids there just pulled it off and it was amazing to watch. They have a great sense of relaxing their body and moving very, very small; the faster it gets, the smaller they dance. They don't look tense when they're doing it, because they've done it since they were in school, so it's in their body to move like that. Their upper body is so calm, but their legs are moving like lightning."

At American Ballet Theatre, Hallberg found that "being a professional is a different kind of work. You really have to take what you've learned in your schooling and apply it to what you're given." Dancing in the corps was "a very relaxing experience. You feel you're with your friends, like 'we're all together in this.'" One of his first roles was in Symphony in C first movement) partnering Irina Dvorovenko, Gillian Murphy and Paloma Herrera, which he calls a "humbling experience, because you really have to respect the principal." It was also a moment of realization. "Symphony in C was kind of the point where I was like, this is fun, I really enjoy this. Balanchine's so musical and so organic, and it's such a joy to just go out and dance it." Of another favourite role, in Grand Pas Classique, he says "it's hard, but when you're done, when you've done an okay job, it's rewarding."

Dancing a varied repertoire, Hallberg shows his range. In Grand Pas Classique, his sisson ouvert is a full split, airborne, lingering in space; with princely bearing, he takes command of the stage. In Romeo and Juliet, as Benvolio, he's in character, his beats are very clean, he makes you want to watch. As Death in Heaven, by Natalie Weir, he is less a sinister figure than a Christ-like saviour with a touch of James Dean; bare-chested and fluid in dark jeans, Hallberg makes anything, even less-than-brilliant choreography, look good. Part of becoming

a great male dancer is being a good partner. American Ballet Theatre Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie and Anthony Dowell worked with Hallberg and Michele Wiles on Grand Pas Classique and Manon for an hour each day for three months in preparation for the Erik Bruhn competition last year. "I felt very fortunate. Kevin really broke down both pas de deux, he taught me the tricks of the trade," Hallberg says. "It was not just, do the steps; it was, we're going to do an arabesque, and her weight needs to be there because dancing with the woman, it is not just keeping her on her leg. Michele is the person I've danced with the most, and it's a joy to dance with her."

Rehearsing Manon led to some unexpected moments. "Michelle and I had to do our first kiss for Manon; it was our first bedroom pas de deux, and we hadn't rehearsed the kiss. It was awkward and we hadn't broken the ice yet, so finally in one rehearsal Kevin said, 'Okay, Michelle and David come to the centre of the room.' Then he said, 'Now kiss her.' So I gave her a peck. And then he said, 'Now kiss her a little more like you're in love with her.' So I kissed her more like I was in love with her. And it was a very, very awkward moment. A stage kiss has to look good, you have to rehearse it. It took us a while - the kiss and the lifts took the most work." With Romeo, "I saw my name on the casting list, and you start to question yourself, 'Can I do this?'" Hallberg says. "It's great to watch the role first, instead of, here's Romeo, just dance it." He danced Romeo at a Works in Process performance at the Guggenheim last year, and hopes to dance it during American Ballet Theatre's MET Spring 2004 season.

Of his career so far, Hallberg says, "When I was young and in school I wanted to be a principal dancer, I wanted to be a star, but now that I'm in a company, I think it's important to just take it step by step, take every role as it comes, because otherwise you lose focus on what the dancing is about." He remains committed to improving as a dancer. "I think it's really important to work on what you're not good at." Being coached by renowned teacher Wilhelm Burmann pushes him beyond technique. "For Black Swan, it was about presenting yourself as a dancer, not six pirouettes finish double tour to the knee. It was like, 'This is for you,'

and making your line look like it's moving and flowing." "David is very talented. He is blessed," says Burmann, who teaches daily class at Steps on Broadway. "Now he must use what the Creator has given him. I try to push him. Once in class, I made him feel almost uncomfortable, through speed or just asking for more and more, and when his body got a little beyond what was normal for him, then he looked like a million dollars."

According to Hallberg, "When you're dancing, you're giving a gift to the audience. You're doing it for yourself, because you love it so much, but the audience is there to watch you, so when you go out there, you're doing it for them." He still works with Han whenever he can. They work on "a lot of solo work, and we'll spend a few months on each of Sleeping Beauty, Corsaire, Don Q, Paquita." One of Han's instructions was for Hallberg to formulate his own class to learn how to teach. "You become a better dancer when you become a teacher," Han says. "I feel very fortunate about what's happened so far," Hallberg says. "But there's always work to be done, and losing focus or wanting to be a great star can really derail you from the dancer that you can be. I almost prefer constructive feedback, which makes you strive for perfection. To be a great artist you almost have to not worry about technique so much, you have to let yourself go and be vulnerable to the role, so it's almost spontaneous." In the future, Hallberg says he would "love to dance all the classics, and then go more toward the contemporary side. I've never really enjoyed myself on stage so much as I have in Stanton Welch's Clear. I'd love to work with him in the future." He performs in galas with Angel Corella's Stars of American Ballet, and besides American Ballet Theatre, loves The Royal Ballet. "In an ideal world," he says, he would relish performing as a guest artist with them. "A couple of years ago I would have said I want everyone to know my name, or I want to be written in the history books of ballet, but now I think it's more about how you are fulfilled as a dancer or as an artist. And if you feel that you've had a fulfilling career, whether you've stayed in the corps de ballet or whether you've become a huge star like Nureyev or Baryshnikov, that's what counts."