"H-O-L-D"
I was only a child in high school when I was introduced and allowed to take ballet classes with Marta Zorina. I don't think she taught children. I remember her as being a rather intense teacher clearly devoted to what she was teaching. What I remember most though is practicing developpe where once our legs were extended she would spell the word "hold" with a pause between each letter. Some days the letters seemed to take a long time. One day she added the word "more". No matter how low your leg got you would not dare let your foot touch the ground. I remember on one occasion she left the room completely after the letter "L". We were left there long enough to start looking at each other and wondering what was going on, but not one of us would dare to let that leg get so low it would be a tendu. Eventually, she came back, apologizing for how long it took to get her tea and followed that with a resounding "D". I think she apologized...maybe not. Rest in peace.
Posted by Emily Finer
Sunday October 4, 2020 at 5:25 pm