Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 83

Gii PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE SUNDAY, MAY 11, 1997 I A s4 Laura Desiree, left, and Steven Annegarn Iti step 0 0 with Cover Story (back to camera) in one of the rehearsal rooms FT iimiin "ii iflfaH Visitors to Patricia Wilde's home are greeted wants to be loved. Monte Carlo), husband George Bardyguine (former lighting designer and PBT production manager, who died in 1994) and children. They cover the living room like a warm blanket. There is a photo of the 70-something Nevelska, teaching a class at her studio in Carnegie Hall. "She was murdered, you know," reveals Wilde.

"A student heard her moaning and discovered her. It was was able to be with her before she died." It was the catalyst for Wilde to move her family out of New York City, upstate to Tap-pan. "I had to watch my children all the time in New York, even if they only had to go upstairs to play with friends. In Tappan Patricia Wilde's feet are in the "fifth position" -how most ballet movements begin and end. Patricia Wilde's influence goes far beyond the walls of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

Comments from her colleagues and friends in our community reveal an artist who has touched people with more than her art. Carol Brown, president, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust: "Patricia has brought a wealth of experience to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Her enthusiasm and love of Pittsburgh have enabled the organization to grow and attract new audiences. I also want to recognize her commitment to introducing children and young adults to ballet." Teresa Heinz: "Patricia Wilde is distin- guished for her artistry, her grace and her commitment to excellence. Her reputation as one of America's great dancers alone brought credibility and stature to Pittsburgh's cultural community, nationally and internationally." i 4 I 4' i j-'f i 4- of t-i) tF.i M'ii i 1 S'fc into her sweats "in two seconds flat," pri-" marily to spend time reading quietly with Caesar at her side.

She also finds time to savor her tos, not only the photographs, but an eclectic group of treasures from her travels around the world (primarily with Balanchine and the New York City Ballet). "Companies today don't tour like they used to," she offers. "Why, in 1952 we did a five-month tour to Paris, Switzerland, Italy and back to Paris. In 1953T we did all of Italy. In Milan we really got to-' know the city and the people." There's a fish dish from Naples, a tabled from India and several wooden horses from Sweden.

Her most prized possession is painting by Paul Cadmus, designer of many ballets during the '40s. They symbolize hef international career: Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (1945-49), Ballet Roland Petit! (1949) Ballet Metropolitan of England (1950) and New York City Ballet (1950-65). If Wilde's first love was dance, the sec-te ond was teaching. For the next 17 I she developed dancers at Harkness Ballef Grand Theater of Geneva (Switzerland) and American Ballet Theatre before comK ing to Pittsburgh. "I was used to visiting and living in dif-'-J ferent places," says Wilde.

"So I appreciat-' ed the change to Pittsburgh." PBT's artistic director honestly feels partial to the city. Her daughter, Anya, is a United Airlines' -flight attendant and horse trainer in Bel-gium. "But I wish she'd get home to pick up her mail," Wilde notes. Son Youri, who lives nearby, is a diver for a local company, mostly searching the surrounding rivers. With a little prodding, she begins to re call the early beginnings of her illustrious' career, starting as a baby ballerina withu Ballet Russe.

She ventures a conservative' comparison with today's dancers. "They can't have too much too soon," she says.9 "It's no good." But Wilde was merely a teen-ager herself when she first did the lead in "Concerto Barocco." "Well, I still did the most minor character in 'Beau Danube' and lot of corps dancing." Then she finally coris cedes, "I guess the fact that I did 'Baroceo put everybody's noses out of joint." Her dancing career reached a high point at NYCB, where she created principal roles in 5 notable Balanchine works. But it wasn't all tiptoeing among rose petals." "There were seasons when I didn't have5 1 much to do," Wilde admits. One time she did a Latin American pas de deux with Bruhn "dressed up like Carmen Miranda with a bare midriff and fruit on my Balanchine even tested her mettle wheft he had her rehearse the day of her marriage1 to Bardyguine, holding up the reception" until the bride was finished. Maybe dancers at PBT have more tech nique now, but they had true grit in Wilde-'s day.

In "Serenade, she remembers would begin my leap from the folds of a 'f dancer's skirt because the spacing was 'dangerously close. In some respects they're'- better, but we took a lot more risks." Just like she took a risk in coming td Pittsburgh. But whatever excitement she got in helping the dancers, building repet-3 toire or seeing a world premiere take its first breath, none could be regarded as her greatest achievement. "Survival is my strength," Wilde states That serves to bridge the gap between -Wilde's public and private lives, whetherlt helped her negotiate the technical turf of "Square Dance" or nurse her husband f-through a series of strokes. "In this day and age, not only do we really have to use our ingenuity, we also haVe to maintain our standards." That philosophy' keeps her erect and will move her gracefifl-ly into the next stage of her career.

Smiling. Jaiie Vranish is PG dance critic. a Martha Rial isaPG staff photographer. 4 4 Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. by Caesar, a 1 00-pound Rottweiler who just they could walk to school or the egg farm, simple pleasures that we often take for granted." So maybe the move to Pittsburgh and PBT in 1982 wasn't such a big step.

Wilde lives in a large stone house on a tree-lined street. "When I lived in New York, I had to get from here to there, rushing, rushing, rushing. Now when I go to visit, I just see all the things I want to see and leave." However, her house still retains the feel of a New York apartment comfy couches in the middle of the room with minimal window treatments. She uses it as a private and comfortable retreat from her career. After a long day, Wilde darts in the door and changes Tributes to Wilde Mayor Tom Murphy: "Patricia Wilde has made a signature contribution to the arts in Pittsburgh through her ongoing work with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and numerous outreach programs that brought ballet into Pittsburgh neighborhoods and schools." Lynn Swann, former Pittsburgh Steeler and sponsor of the Lynn Swann Scholarships at PBT: "Patricia Wilde gave the Pittsburgh Ballet the classics from a dancer's, teacher's and director's view.

However, she still nurtured new ballets and kept an eye.toward creativity." Carolelinda Dickey, executive director of the Pittsburgh Dance Council: "Patricia is a legendary dancer and carries in her soul the tradition of the neoclassical ballerina. It is that legend and that inspiration to younger dancers that will be most sorely missed." -V Patricia Wilde listens to dancers WILDE, FROM PAGE G-l er morning starts, as it always does, with the "public" Wilde, ensconced in a comfortably crowded office at 8:30. "The final week end," muses Wilde. "There'll never be another one like it." But Wilde doesn't have doesn't leave herself the time to think about what the future holds, as she prepares to close yet another chapter in her remarkable career. A look around her office reveals why.

Nearly 30 videotapes of prospective dancers are neatly stacked on one table. "That's the newest way to audition," she explains. "The dancer sends the tape, and if I not interested, saves the cost of air fare." To the end, she functions as director in the fullest sense of the word. She may see upwards of 120 dancers in person during the course of this year. In fact, two women were in Wilde's company class at 9:15 this morning.

She almost grumps, "I can't wait to get back in the just teach. As an artistic director, I really haven't been able to plan classes. I justdraw from the past." She finishes checking her telephone messages, then immediately consults the daily schedule to see if injuries or illness would change rehearsals. It's a difficult task in another way. Because of union rules, Wilde must post the schedule by noon two days in advance, sometimes without knowing what dancers will be involved, as in Pucci's new ballet.

So Pucci gets first pick of the company, while Wilde can only schedule coaching sessions with a few principal dancers in the other studio. (She gives the impression that this is one aspect of directing that she will not miss.) After the class, it's back to the telephone. Wilde wants to congratulate Jonas Kage, a recent appointee to the directorship of Nevada Dance Theatre (and former guest artist at PBT). Shortly after, she talks to San Francisco Ballet's Helgi Tomassen (and former guest choreographer at PBT) to discuss a dancer who recently auditioned for his company. Wilde admits her vast network of friends should serve her well when she resumes her teaching schedule.

"And I come cheap," she jokes. That appears to be her primary some "consulting with PBT), following a short vacation with her daughter in the south of France. Even now the 68-year-old Wilde teaches and coaches in a leotard and chiffon skirt. She remains dancer-thin (maybe because she never eats lunch, except for business). That served her well in a pair of videos for -the Balanchine Trust.

There she effortless-. ly coached PBT dancers in excerpts from two of her signature Balanchine works, Variations" and "Square Dance," and provided invaluable insight into Balanchine's creative process. The Trust has already contacted her to film another segment for the series. Bob Vickrey, her assistant, stops in to say that a young male dancer is on the tele-. phone, asking if it's worth it to come in for an audition.

She looks over his resume and slowly says, "I don't think so." Rejecting people is the hardest part of the her job, "particularly when you have to fire someone. When it's time for a dancer to retire, that's murder, because it's somebody you've worked with for a long time and sometimes he or she can't accept it." But just as fading talent must be swept away, so must talent be served. Wilde always got great satisfaction out of telling someone they had a PBT contract or a new role or telling a choreographer that he had "the. opportunity to do a new work. Such is the case with Pucci, who has been working for two days.

But of course, the process of mounting the piece is never simple. "I had originally told him we only had a certain amount to budget," ys i Wilde. "I wanted a smallish ballet that we could use a lot. It turned out that he wanted music that would add nine horns to the orchestra." After Wilde rejected that, Pucci came up with a piece, by Phillip Glass. "We learned from the publisher that only the Kronos Quartet played it," Wilde recalls.

"It turned out that the cost was prohibitive. Besides, they couldn't come in on our dates." Finally Pucci came up with a string piece, Edvard Grieg's "Holberg Suite" and Wilde breathed a sigh of relief. "Not only do I have to balance the programs for the year, but each has to have its own balance musically and scenically. Since "Symphony in was the planned centerpiece, Wilde couldn't schedule something like Ohad Naharin's "Tabula Rasa" the same night. "It would be too hard for the dancers to come in to the pure upright classicism of 'Symphony' after dancing into the ground in Pucci's choice of music would provide the perfect compliment.

She also brought back Taylor-Corbett's "Ballad of You and Me," noting that the emotional impact of Pete Seeger's life would add contrast Yes, everything had to revolve around "Symphony in The piece has always been close to Wilde's heart she's performed 3 of the 4 movements herself and she has looked forward to the day her company would finally perform it. During a spare moment she dashes to the studio where Nanci Crowley is rehearsing the second movement "choreographed for a long-legged dancer. That's why I never got to do it." Wilde immediately goes on the alert, making suggestions to Crowley, while noting the progress of the other dancers. Later she recalls her days at New York City Ballet. "One night I would do one movement, the next night another.

There were only 40 to 45 in the company and often I was in three ballets every night. Sunday night we invariably did 'Symphony in One time Balanchine actually conducted her from the orchestra pit. "He always wanted to do it. But it was awful the tempos were so fast." Another time she was scheduled to perform it with the legendary Danish danseur, Erik Bruhn. "Mr.

B. wasn't really there for him, so I had to teach Erik the men's variation. Then, on the day of our stage rehearsal with Mr he changed a section and had me do double tour arabesque, double tour arabesque while Erik just stood there. Well, I wound up at the chiropractor and couldn't dance after the rehearsal. So that version was never done.

Thank goodness, because it wasn't very good." When she gets back to her office, it's easy to note several recent local awards, including the Arts Council of Washington County and Hard Hats for the Arts. There are a few reminders of days past: a poster from a 1955 NYCB tour to Italy, several ballet-inspired lithographs, pictures of her children, Anya and Youri, and an exuberant picture of Wilde dancing for Mr. B. A mysterious photo behind the desk turns out to be Anna Pavlova. Wilde explains that it came from her mother-in-law, Maria Nevelska, a soloist with the Bolshoi School in Nice.

And so her day goes, from one thing to the next to the next. But the story behind Pavlova doesn't come out until later, after she leaves the office, during a visit to her home in Mt. Lebanon. She has always been very private about her family life. For most of the outside world, the ballet is her life.

And in a concrete sense, it does provide a permanent link between her real and company families. Visitors to her home are greeted by Caesar, a 100-pound Rottweiler who just wants to be loved. "I call him Kitty Cat," says Wilde. It's also readily apparent that Wilde's first family resides here. There are numerous photos of her parents, sisters (Nora danced with the pallet Russe de -cv.