Arizona Ballet Theatre

Here's a "Young Miss Cecily" story. It's a brief story about Miss Cecily's Boston Ballet Nutcracker first starring role, and her Royal Danish Ballet audition. Plus, it's illustrated with a real 1964 Boston Ballet Nutcracker Photo

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"A Young Miss Cecily" Story

I am going to mention a young dancer I have rarely spoken about before - Elizabeth Bamford. Aka "Lizzie" Bamford. Lizzie had beautiful, long, shiny hair below her waist. As my bio states, my professional career began with a major part in the First Act of the Developing Boston Ballet Nutcracker. The year, circa 1965. At the first rehearsal, Miss Williams unceremoniously announced the casting by taking various attendees by the shoulders, then moving each to the desired spot. She called Lizzie and Me over, finally, and said, and I paraphrase. "Lizzie, you are this year's Clara. Ceci, you are Fritz."

Always nervous inside anytime I was around Miss Williams, this time I was totally all over the emotional charts...

On the one hand, I had a lead part. Yea me!!!!

On the other, I was cast as a boy, common practice in the early days of the Company. I was simultaneously ecstatic and devastated. Yes, I could be counted on for performing responsibilities; on the other - evil hand - Miss Williams thought I was homely, my biggest fear and obsession-in-life at that time when looks seemed to be everything that mattered. I was so young, so scared, so thrilled, so confused, and so churning inside with millions of thoughts flooding my mind and taking over my little girl body.

But that info is only a prelude to my story... At about the same time, the Royal Danish Ballet was coming to the Music Hall on tour to Boston. They needed two young dancers for their performances and had asked Virginia to bring the two she wanted to recommend. Probably because we were cast as Clara and Fritz, Miss Williams chose Lizzie and Me. I was beyond excited. Here's my big break. Go Cecily Go. I was pumped inside. She likes me! Believe me, she had a Wealth of Talent to choose from, and I was super-charged with excitement and ecstatic anticipation, that I had been selected.

Miss Williams personally brought us to the audition, and lead us deep into the bowels of that dusty, Old Boston Theatre, at that time known as The Music Hall. It's now called the Wang Center. The Royal Danish Ballet Company's Ballet Mistress (for some crazy reason I think it was Anne Wooliams, but that may very well be inaccurate), was putting us through our paces, in this nasty little room, which wasn't even meant for dance - it had concrete floors, a couple of chairs, and no barres at all. We were improvising by slightly (desperately, get real!) clinging to the molding which ran around the walls of the room at about the right height for a ballet barre.

Somehow, a jagged piece of old mirror - about 18 by 12 inches, but with a broken corner at the top - which had been carelessly propped on this dusty wood border, was disturbed and started to crash to the floor.

Instinctively (and stupidly), I reached out to grab it... to prevent it from shattering all over the floor. I reacted quickly. And everyone else was reacting, also, in their own ways.

I caught the mirror, but in the process, the jagged edge, slashed my left palm rather deeply, but very concisely, less than a half inch from end to end, with a little connecting piece of skin through the middle. Sorry to be so graphic. As an adult I realize and even then I knew, it was NOT a major wound, just an unfortunate event which completely distracted everyone present from the task at hand. My chance to dance with the Royal Danish! "Let's focus people" was running through my aggressive little tween age mind. "We were there to audition; now we had to supply some first aid to a terrified me (moi!) who was trying to be tough AND STILL. I wanted that part!" I really didn't care about the wound, but everyone was making such a big fuss. I like attention as much as anyone, BUT I wanted that part Whatever It Was!!!!!!

Miss Williams was given a little first aid kit. She was dressing my wound and also trying to soothe me. I had barely said a word to anyone. Inside I was annoyed that I was in pain and very upset that my opportunity for Guest Stardom with the Royal Danish Ballet was evaporating into thin air (Heh..I was a kid, I didn't really understand anything that was going on - I didn't know about supernumiaries aka "Supers" - that they are not much more than window dressing not that there's is anything wrong with that! (Also, please forgive my spelling.) This was a weird and unique experience, unlike any other I had had before.

So, here's the punch line. Finally. Miss Williams (E. Virginia), while dabbing my wound with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol or some other such painful antiseptic, took a look down at my ballet feet. I was standing EN POINTE in a perfect releve first, not a word coming out of my very tight lips. Turned out! The whole nine yards! excellent!

"Ceci, it's all right. You don't have to be on pointe now. It's OK. Come down."

I hadn't even realized I WAS on Pointe.

Hilarious.

"Once a dancer, always I dancer," I like to say. Or, another thought, " Always Think about The Feet." Pointe them, even when in pain. Especially when in pain! Foot Obsession. Hurrah.

I hope you have enjoyed my little ballet tale.

Needless to say, the Royal Danish carried on without us (me - pout pout pout pout pout.)

An opportunity to perform vanished, but a memory was formed. I still have a very distinctive scar on my left palm which was lovingly bandaged a long long time ago by my all-important dance teacher, the late, great E. Virginia Williams. Trust me, I didn't appreciate or understand her at all when I studied with her; now, I think about her every day without fail. How she shaped me. Molded me. Paid attention to me. I had no idea (then) the gifts she was giving to me and to all my beloved dance peers during that wonderful, magical time.

Here are some excerpts from Wikipedia about Supers

"Supernumerary actors are usually amateur character actors in opera and ballet performances who train under professional direction to create a believable scene.

The term's original use, from the Latin supernumerarius, meant someone paid to appear on stage in crowd scenes or in the case of opera as non-singing small parts. The word can still be found used for such in theatre and opera. It is the equivalent of "extra" in the motion picture industry. Any established opera company will have a supernumerary core of artists to enhance the opera experience. The Metropolitan Opera (Met) in New York and the Washington National Opera(WNO) are known for the high profile and seasoned supernumeraries. The WNO saw its supernumerary golden age under the direction of English actress Jennifer Crier Johnston who was supernumerary director for eight years (1998-2006). Ms. Johnston belonged to the select movie extras that appeared in classic Hollywood movies such as My Fair Lady, The Unsinkable Mollie Brown and The Sound of Music. The Washington Times [1] ran an exhaustive article on supernumeraries in November 2002 in which Ms. Johnston describes in detail the fine craft of a supernumerary in the opera."

A lovely moment happened in our lobby, recently, which I want to share with you. It was a very busy moment in the Lobby with many parents and dancers present. Two of my "tweenagers" swept through the door, talking and moving, and when they saw me coming from the opposite direction, posed the following question. "Miss Cecily, did you ever dance with Maria Tallchief?"

Amazingly, I was able to say, "yes!" My first appearance as a child with the now professional ballet company, The Boston Ballet, was as Fritz - yes, the naughty boy in the First Act Nutcracker party, Clara's (underappreciated, in my opinion) brother - while the dazzling Sugar Plum Fairy was none other than the great American ballerina, Maria Tallchief. Her cavalier was Conrad Ludlow, also guest starring from the New York City Ballet, where both were principal dancers.

Then the girls asked me, "Did you ever dance with Margot Fonteyn?" Again, I was able to reply, "Yes. She came to Guest Star with us at the Boston Ballet, and I have her actual autograph on a poster over here" which I then showed the girls. The girls were just so delighted as they had been reading about both these dancers for school which, in turn, delights me.

Although I didn't realize the gravitas at the time, of course, since I was a child and was living in the moment - my experience in dance occurred during a magical time - the 1960s, when the whole world seemed to be caught up in the excitement of ballet; the 1961 surprise defection of Rudolf Nureyev from the former Soviet Union in an airport in Paris generated a world wide wave of dance energy - a Ballet boom that energized all of dance and intersected with other pop cultural explosions in the music and art.

Somehow, that astonishing force of nature, E. Virginia Williams of Massachusetts, was so connected to what was happening that she brought in all the top stars to Guest Star with her blossoming ballet company. I honestly don't know how she did it. Remember, this was before cell phones, before email, before the Internet - before video!

Boston Ballet had received support from the Ford Foundation, which strengthened Miss Williams connection to NYCB Ballet and to Mister B, George Balanchine, from whom she already was receiving support and guidance. She always knew what was happening in Europe. (Perhaps Mr. B alerted her?) She managed to bring in a roster of Guest Stars that is truly dazzling: Therefore, my peers and I were exposed steadily to a most sensational array of star power which ran the spectrum from Margot Fonteyn, the recognized Prima Ballerina of the Century, to Louis Falco, for example, a cutting edge New York choreographer and dancer who moved unlike anyone I had ever seen before. She brought someone who is now more close to home for us here at ABT, the great modern dance performer and iconic choreographer, Tucson's illustrious retiree, Norman Walker. I first saw Norman when I was a fifteen year old kid, and believe me, not only was I impressed, I didn't dare say two words to him! He was the Guest Artist, and I, the eager young dancer ready to absorb everything about dance I could.

Dance, specifically ballet, is handed down from generation to generation, from teacher to pupil, a method which passes on every teacher's unique ballet pedigree. I feel so lucky to have been a ballet dancer during a very special decade in the long history of ballet and to have been associated with the late great E.Virginia Williams, founder of The Boston Ballet which owes everything to her. Literally.

What fun it is to remember. It's still so alive!!!

Miss Cecily Enjoying Teaching Ballet

Mary Sue Brandwein recently inquired on facebook if anyone remembered the Boston Ballet's old Washington Street Studio. That's where I spent so much of my time as a young dance student and a performer with the Boston Ballet Company. I have been thinking a lot about those rigorous and demanding days that were also so exciting and wonderful. That Studio was the focal point of my life.

When I start thinking, I start writing, and I started formulating my answer. I used those rough notes to dictate a draft to Chic. It's like a stream of consciousness. Here is what I have so far. It is unedited, and needs lots of work to make it read well and say what I feel. The emotions are very very powerful.

A blog is a log on the web of what I am thinking and doing about ballet. So it's OK to share hastily written stuff. So, here we go with my thoughts, really out loud.

Yes, Mary Sue, I do remember the Washington Street Studio, and I have several pictures of me as a young dancer taken in that very studio in the 1968 - 1969 time frame. I have posted it as a slideshow on the Boston Ballet Alumni Network website. I am also putting it here, for my students and our friends, near my blog on Arizona Ballet Theatre's website. - See below.

The studio had wood floors, no poles, and lots of windows. It had a small seating area for the Parents. Mr Hobbes piano was on that side of the room. E. Virginia Williams, also known by her initials EVW, sat on the other side of the room next to the windows, and next to the stereo. I stood at the front spot by the mirror closest to the front window and to Virginia. That was my spot and everybody knew it. Even when I was late after my long commute from Beverly, I went into that spot.

Mary Sue, it is wonderful to me that you are actually asking about who remembers that studio!! It was such an important place to me. I remember it vividly. I remember who stood where in the room, the kind of combinations we did. I remember the seating area for the parents was at the other end of the studio, near the air shaft. Relatives and friends were welcome to sit and observe.

Some of the other dancers who danced at that studio with me were, Jerrolyn Dana, Edie Toth, George Vargas, Alphy Poullin, Stefanie Marini, June Perry, Veronica Fell, Ellen O'Reilly, Evie O'Reilly, Jeanne Churchill, Bonnie Wyckoff, Tony Williams, Sandy Kronsberg Jennings, Elise Ingles, Leslie Woodies, Stephanie Moy, and Terri Gordon. We had wonderful classes and wonderful rehearsals. So much was accomplished ballet-wise in that studio... Here is a photo of some of us in the studio. You can see that we are exhausted, leaning on the barre as we watched an alternating group.

©Arizona Ballet Theatre 2007-2008|All Rights Reserved

©Cecily Travsky Winslow Bressel|All Rights Reserved

It shows foreground to background, Cecily and Jerilyn Dana During Class ~1968 to 1969 at the Boston Ballet Studios on Washington Street near the Commons. I was 16 or 17 years old. Jerilyn was a Principal, so she lead off in Center work. You will see that in later photos in this series.

It is very exciting to see these photos at a reasonable size. I have had these contact sheets for years with the teeny little 35 millimeter film contact prints. Now we can blow them up with our own equipment.

Virginia always sat. When Sydney Leonard taught point, I stood at the far wall. Sydney didn't sit, and she moved around a lot.

I could recreate it in a dozen movies. There was always so much going on. It was very different from the Studio on Boylston Street near the Back Bay Theatre. They have torn down the Back Bay Theatre, of course...

I remember being very nervous and alert in that seedy neighborhood. To the left, leaving the Washington Street building, were the department stores. To the right was the Pussycat Lounge. Dinty Moore's, a very famous Boston landmark restaurant, was right down the alley off Avery street, in the Avery Hotel. I ate there a lot with "Mummy," as i called my Mom.

Washington Street was the busiest spot in Boston at afternoon rush hour. The streets were all one way. it was a much more more difficult location than Boylston Street. Depending on traffic, My Mother had to drop me off and go to park the car. I would be nervous about the area, and then about getting to the studio quickly.

The elevator was quicker if you didn't get stuck. I desperately wanted to get into the Studio before I would get a dirty look from Virginia. She didn't like it when I arrived late. She could say "you're too late." But she never once told me I couldn't take class. She did say it to some other late arrivals on occasion, so I was always frightened that she would...

I could set a movie, a dozen movies, in the Washington Street Studio. Man, do I remember! We learned Giselle in that very BB Studio. The second act we learned form Dimitri Romanof... He was exactly how you would imagine a Russian emigré would be. He was perfectly cast. I think he came from Ballet Theatre in New York. ... He certainly knew everybody in New York. Virginia used to bring very exalted people up to Boston to teach us these ballets. We learned marvelous ballets. Sara Leland was a Principal at NYCB. Virginia had trained Sara Leland, who was Mrs Ruth Harrington's daughter. Mrs. H was the administrator of the BB, she was the equivalent of Mrs. D'Addario at the Joffrey in New York City... She was there for decades. Sally Harrington was her daughter, but Sally's professional name was Sara Leland. Her Father was Leland Harrington. He was a hockey player on the Boston Bruins and a big hero in Boston. Sally Harrington would teach us when she was in Boston. Sally set a lot of the latest Balanchine ballets on us and taught us. She was a Soloist and was promoted to Principal. Sara Leland was 18 or 20 when I arrived and she soon went off to NYCB.

Virginia would shout out corrections to others. She had a strong voice. But to me she barely moved her lips with her flood of almost whispered commands! Now I look back, I was working my butt off in my hot spot that I chose myself. I was in a constant state of agitation and worry. But I wouldn't ever change my location. Now that I have been a teacher for quite a while, I see that EV wanted me near her so she could give me all those extra corrections. It was really a plus, that other dancers envied. At the time it seemed overwhelming and discouraging. But, I was tough I guess, or just stubborn. I would cry going home in the car, but I came back the next day, and every day.

it was fantastic, looking back, what we did in there. We established the heart and soul of the company. The artistic accomplishments in that room were incredible. Virginia was at her peak. She was bringing in a flood of people from all over the world. Virginia had made her mark as a choreographer. She had won a few choreography contests, I think, and she took notes when she was able to observe Mr. Balanchine in action. Now she was switching from being the main choreographer of her budding Company to bringing these other choreographers from all over. That was in addition to our resident choreographer Sam Kurkjian. This was the main formative period that made the Boston Ballet the artistic powerhouse it was. We really accomplished a lot at that time.

Joycie Cuoco was still in and out occasionally. She did a lot of television guest appearances on shows like, Ed Sullivan, Danny Kaye, and also Radio City Music Hall engagements. Many of the dancers who Virginia trained are or were in very important positions in the world of ballet. Some have retired but most are still active. Virginia had an exciting concept. BB was more well rounded in terms of repertoire than Balanchine's company. We had tons of new Balanchine Ballets, two or three a year. But we also did the classics with great people. Virginia hired Makarova, before anyone else in the States, right after she defected. She did the second act of Swan Lake with us. I remember watching her rehearse. It must have been 2nd act.

In addition to Virginia having had Makarova first, before others got her, she also had Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun, Margot Fonteyn danced with us when we were still performing at the Back Bay Theatre which was just about a block from Symphony Hall. I remember how nice she was. Miss Fonteyn left her dressing room door open so we could go in and ask her questions. Virginia brought in a steady stream of ballet greats. Peter Martins and Susan Farrell danced a pas de deux from Diamonds in Balanchine's Jewels. They didn't dance with us; they were a Special Event which filled in the Program and filled the Theatre. Chellie Zide came back to Boston after being Ballet Mistress with the Joffrey and was our Ballet Mistress for one fabulous year only.

That's todays excerpt... Now, here's the slideshow I promised I would copy into this blog.

Slideshow of Cecily Travsky Winslow Bressel As A Young Dancer With The Early Boston Ballet Company

Most of the photos are of Cecily Travesky (as Virginia renamed me) and other students, in Classes at The Boston Ballet Studios on Washington Street, circa 1968-9, probably in the summer. One photo includes Mr. Hobbs, Miss William’s husband, at the piano! Sydney Leonard was the teacher in both classes. The photographer, Molly, liked to take photos of my dancing. That surprised me greatly at the time. All I have left are some very poorly treated contact sheets from 35 millimeter film negative strips. They have not been cared for properly, and it shows. I hope to learn enough Photoshop to clean them up. However, I thought you would like to see what we have scanned so far. It's been very exciting for us to blow these up and display them.

The slideshow also includes one studio shot from an early Boston Ballet Company brochure, made for sale at performances. My husband is posting these quickly for you to share, and I haven't entered everyone's name. Don't hesitate to send me your info, since my memory is no longer "perfect."

Well, that was an exciting trip back in time.

I would really love to hear your memories.

It's really good to connect,

Entry from Thursday July 30, 2009

An important ballet event is happening in Boston next week - A High Tea in Honor of Miss Sydney Leonard - organized by a former Boston Ballet company dancer, Virginia Ruff. Although I cannot realistically be there, I will be there in spirit. Miss Leonard - who was called Sydney by everyone in my day - was an important faculty member of the BB for the entire history of the Company. Until quite recently, Sydney was responsible for setting the entire Children's Choreography for The Nutcracker Party Scene and maybe everything else for children, too, for that matter.

I wanted to share a some pentimenti from my ballet youth, for those who enjoy my anecdotes about that oh-so-perfect time in the evolution of American Ballet, in Boston specifically, when the Boston Ballet came into being. Sydney Leonard played a vital role from the very beginning days of the Boston Ballet, right along side E. Virginia Williams, Ruth Harrington and Herbert Hobbs.

I wrote the following;

Thank you from Tucson, Victoria. You are doing a great job honoring someone so important in the formative history of Boston Ballet. I will never forget Saturday pointe classes with Sydney circa 1966 when Boston School of Ballet was located on Massachusetts Avenue. We would have "Special Class" (by Invitation Only) with E. Virginia Williams first. Then a break. An hour I think. We all ran across the street to the pizza parlor for a slice and a soda - 25 cents - I kid you not. (Miss Williams usually ate food from Sharaff's.) I can never remember Sydney eating in front of us, though. Those were the days when Sydney still took Miss Williams' Five O'Clock classes during the week, and often lead from the corner! She did impressive chainee turns. Always wore a chiffon skirt. She was a very fine dancer, and a tough, yet fair teacher. She inspired a very New England work ethic, perfect for ballet, in everyone who took her many classes. After the break, we took Pointe Class with Miss Leonard for One Full Hour in the Small Studio, a square, small, dusty unembellished work room of blood, sweat, and tears, if ever there was one. The Toughest Pointe Class ever. It was not for the meek. We were strong as could be, and extremely competitive in a positive, rather friendly way since there was an element of sheer terror present in the room. After all, there is a special comraderie among those engaged in the elusive pursuit of fine, ballet technique. A scary challenge indeed. We tried everything and anything. Among the brave - Bonnie (Alexis) Wyckoff, Stephanie Marini, Sandra Feinberg, Ina Marie Brezinski, Edra Toth (sometimes), Joyce Cuoco although she usually just studied with Virginia, and me, Cecily Travsky (Bressel). Others, too. I don't mean to leave anyone out! Sometimes the Company members would try the class, but they usually bugged out. It was very, very hard. We were not allowed to take the pointe shoes off, period, and No Whining! Ever. Write me, anyone who was there, if you remember the Saturday Pointe Class fondly, as I do. I would love to hear your recollections.

Thank you, again from Tucson, Victoria. And, thank you, my teacher, Miss Sydney Leonard.

Members of the Boston Ballet Alumni Network - At the home of Cecily and Dr. Charles Bressel, in Lynn, Massachusetts.
©Arizona Ballet Theatre 2005|All Rights Reserved

Members of the Boston Ballet Alumni Network (BBAN) who attended the party at my home.
I am the redhead with the long hair, standing to the left (as we view it) of the lion on the bannister.
Sydney Leonard is seated in the front row.
Here are notes to identify everyone...

Top Row LtoR:
Jerilyn Doucette Dana, Warren Lynch, Bob Steele,

2nd Row LtoR:
Seated on step-Jeanne Churchill, Geraldine Gagnon, Stephanie Marini King, David Browne,

3rd Row LtoR:
Alphonse-Alphy-Poulin is behind Cecily, Elaine Bauer, Anthony Williams.

4th Row LtoR:
Right from Alphy is Linda DiBona, Leslie Woodies, Susan Magno, Above her is Clyde Nantais. To Susan M's right is Sue Ring.

5th Row LtoR:
Standing next to Clock is Sue Ring's Husband, then Cecily, The Lion, Virginia Zango, Carolyn LaFleur, James Reardon. Leaning over in front of Carolyn is Robin (Dolly) Adair,

Front row:
Sidney Leonard, Laura Young, Reva Willdorf.

What fun!