Remounting Concerto Barocco: Joysanne Sidimus shares her passion

By Elaine Gaertner

HERE’S WHERE THE STORY COULD START - ESTABLISHING THE THEME OF THE PIECE -
JUST FILL OUT AS NECESSARY, I’VE DONE A HASTY CUT AND PASTE, SO YOU’LL NEED
TO DEVELOP A LITTLE WHERE NECESSARY. THE BIOGRAPHY CAN COME LATER, AS
CONTEXT: IT'S NOT THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF THE STORY, IT’S BACKGROUND
MATERIAL
The path to becoming a repetiteur for the Balanchine repertoire began as far back as 1969 while
Sidimus was still dancing, when she staged Serenade for Pennsylvania Ballet. “Muscle memory is very
reliable and served me well at the time,” she explained. She was principal with the newly formed
Pennsylvania Ballet, a company with a gruelling touring schedule, which prompted her to “long for a
respite.” In 1970, she asked “Mr. B” if she could stage his ballets. He agreed, with the caveat that she
would watch every company class, rehearsal, and performance. This turned into nine continuous
months of “watching the greatest genius in ballet teach, rehearse and create.”,

Since Balanchine’s death in 1983 and the establishment of the Balanchine Trust, Sidimus has been
entrusted with staging 16 different ballets for companies and schools. ADD BRIEF CONTEXT FOR
WHO THE B. TRUST IS

in addition to muscle memory, copious notes of every step of the choreography, written beside each
count of the music are an important tool in the staging. She also makes notations in the musical score, a
tribute to its close relationship to the choreography and to her own musical erudition. Archival videos
are merely “helpful” reminders, studied prior to starting the staging of a ballet but never used in the
studio. She immerses herself in these personal resources months in advance of any engagement.

A first-generation American born in New York City, Joysanne Sidimus (pronounced Si-DEE-muss) has
a long history in dance OR SOME SUCH LINK TO THE BIOGRAPHY. attended the School of
American Ballet from the age of eight until becoming a member of the corps de ballet of the New York
City Ballet at 18. Remarkably, she has preserved notebooks with the exercises of the founder of the
school. Mr. Balanchine, scribbled in her childlike handwriting,

After graduating from SAB, Sidimus danced with the NYC Ballet, was a soloist with London’s Festival
Ballet and a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada. Her next engagement as principal
with the newly formed Pennsylvania Ballet, a company with a gruelling touring schedule, prompted her
to “long for a respite.” In 1970, she asked “Mr. B” if she could stage his ballets. He agreed, with the
caveat that she would watch every company class, rehearsal, and performance. This turned into nine
continuous months of “watching the greatest genius in ballet teach, rehearse and create.” What
followed was a stint as ballet mistress in Geneva, summers teaching in Saratoga, New York, a position
as ballet mistress for the Ballet Repertory Company (now ABT ll), guest teaching and staging for the
Dance Theatre of Harlem, teaching and staging as a faculty member of the North Carolina School of
the Arts and York University, guest teaching and staging for the National Ballet School of Canada as
well as other schools and companies.

She has been a part of the artistic staff of the National Ballet of Canada for the past 38 years,
responsible for staging the Balanchine repertoire, INCLUDING CONCERTO BAROCCO, ONE OF
HER FAVOURITE BALLETS — OR SOME OTHER SUCH LINK TO THE DISCUSSION OF
BAROCCO. MAYBE THIS IS WHERE YOU COULD INTRODUCE A BRIEF MENTION OF
SYMPHONY IN C, IF IT’S FOR THE NBOC… AND THEN LEAD INTO YOUR MAIN TOPIC,
WHICH IS CONCERTO B.

Conceived originally for the students of SAB, George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco was premiered
by the American Ballet Caravan (a touring incarnation of ABT) in 1941 to music by Johann Sebastian
Bach, the Double Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043. The soloists were Marie-Jeanne (Pelus),
Marie Jane Shea, and William Henry Dollar. “The musical score and the dancers themselves are the
two greatest sources of inspiration in all of Balanchine’s choreographies,” noted Sidimus.

“Balanchine was attracted to the mathematical precision and purely emotional, unfeigned straining for
G-d in the music,” said where? When? illustrious violinist Nathan Milstein who brought the
composition to the choreographer. Although thoroughly in awe of Bach’s brilliance, it was the height
of the jazz age in New York. Balanchine clearly showed his affinity for this form of music throughout
the 1st movement of Concerto Barocco, using “off” beats and intermittently employing a jazzy gestural
language. (Not officially acknowledged by any source, an existing 1937 jazz rendition of the Double
Violin Concerto for Two Violins in D minor featuring Eddie South, Stéphane Grappelli and Django
Reinhardt may well have inspired the choreography.)

Schools and smaller companies must meet stringent standards to be accorded permission to perform a
Balanchine ballet. “The technical level of the dancers dictates the Trust’s decision to allow the staging
of a ballet,” said Sidimus. “Being off balance, brilliant articulation of the feet, rapidity of movement,
and an educated musicality are not a given these days.” She coaches dancers from diverse backgrounds,
trained in many different methods. Staging a ballet for students sometimes requires the introduction of
technique that can be unfamiliar to them. “We start from a different point than with company dancers,”
she admitted. Her job as a repetiteur is to respect the dancers while protecting the authenticity and
legacy of the Balanchine repertoire. She added that these imperatives mean “remaining positive,
offering encouragement, but also being totally honest.”

What is common in all contexts is passing on the sophisticated concept that is key to performing
Concerto Barocco and all Balanchine ballets. “Music is not an accompaniment and you are not dancing
TO the music. You ARE the music,” Sidimus informed the dancers. This is one of the primordial
concepts she passes on, adding: “Don’t listen to the music [passively]. Count!” Another inner circle
confidence she shared was that Balanchine wanted dancers to hear what he heard. “Mr B WAS music.
He had it in his soul and he gave it to us,” she declared. Other points emphasized and re-emphasized
were the Balanchine approach to port de bras, the breadth and intention of all movements, and the
sustained level of energy required of the dancers.

Starting with her first steps at the School of American Ballet, Sidimus has devoted a lifetime to
studying and teaching the unique aesthetic, inextricable link between music and choreography, the all-
consuming passion and work ethic of George Balanchine. “His genius was so profound on many
levels,” Sidimus observed with great humility. To this day, she strives to humbly, relentlessly, to pass
on his genius.