Where do I begin / To tell the story / Of how great a love can be? For this is a story of a love. Of love between a man and a woman. Of a woman's love of her art.
We all know Olivia Dow of course. She is a household name. Ask anyone next to you this morning and you'll get the standard answer: Isn't she the lady of the Russian School of Ballet? And that's right of course. But what do we know of her as a woman who has contributed so much to Malta's ballet scene?
I meet her at her ballet studio in Naxxar, where her "girls" are busily plie-ing, pirouette-ing and pointe-ing for the upcoming annual show Rhythmic Earth celebrating the school's 15th anniversary. Despite her 60 years she still has that classic ballerina frame: tall, lean but muscular. She sort of glides about rather than walk - with a certain litheness and gracefulness of movement that betrays her long years of ballet training.
Dance has been her life. Her parents, based in Malaysia but fearful of the country's unrest, sent her to a ballet boarding school in the south of England at the age of five. It is what she had wanted to do since her grandmother had taken her to a ballet show in Edinburgh. Ms Dow points at one of the photos framing her cluttered wall. The photo, slightly faded, shows a stern woman in black. "I was lucky enough to have been coached by Madame Legat herself. She was one of the most celebrated ballerinas in Russia of her time," she says. She is the teacher who guided Ms Dow to the top of her profession: Tatiana Nicolaevna Legat, wife of Nicolai, balletmaster of the Russian Imperial Ballet, who originated the Legat method, based on the Russian teaching techniques and which now Ms Dow passes on to her students.
Who or what have you sacrificed for your art, I ask. There is no hesitation in her answer: "Nothing and nobody. I always did what I love and so I never felt I had to sacrifice anything. And I was lucky, the man I loved was in the business as well". And this, in a sentence summarises Olivia Dow.
She is a woman who has been dedicated and passionate about dance since her childhood, and the woman who has happily shared this dedication with the man she was in love with. In conversation she mentions John, her late husband, often and although we do not talk about him, you can feel that their love is still very much in the air. Only twice throughout our otherwise cheerful interview do I get a glimpse of her heart. First, when I ask her what she considers to be the low point of her career and after a very long pause she says in a muted voice: "You can write when I lost my better half." And then again when I ask her what one song would feature on the soundtrack to her life and after some deliberation she opts for the jazzy Shadow of your Smile. At this, her wistful look speaks volumes.
His smiling photo is in the centre of the wall, his work framed in posters of all the productions they put up together for 13 years. Last year's annual show was a tribute to him. It's a kind of happy sadness if you know what I mean.
She then trails off: "You know ... the old adage, the show must go on?" and we move on to talk of different things.
The advice she would pass on to aspiring dancers is to embrace life: "If you love your art, you will love life. How you act in ballet is how you will act in real life." She goes on to explain how over the years she has perfected her assessment of character. "You can tell someone's character straight away in a ballet class. Because of course ballet doesn't form your character. It is already there - even in kids as young as three. My job is to help them mould their dance according to their spirit. I love watching my students unawares sometimes - it's incredible what kids will do when you're not watching - and that's when you really learn their true potential. Ballet can help with the discipline and love for learning."
Ms Dow says that kids are nowadays more confident and that's an advantage for ballet, but over the years it's becoming increasingly difficult to get kids with potential to commit themselves more to their art. "When I see a child with potential I encourage them to come five times a week. Mind you, I just charge for two lessons, but I'd want them to come over more often to encourage them and to give them a chance to develop their potential. But I'm finding that it's becoming more and more difficult to get them to come over frequently." She thinks it's coming from the parents, who want a sort of guarantee in return for investing their child's time. A guarantee of stardom. "But of course I cannot guarantee that." It is unfortunate she says that in Malta due to size proximity, parents get to meet all the time and that's how they become competitive "because they talk to each other and start comparing".
Ms Dow thinks Malta's dance scene compares well with the rest of Europe. "Actually comparing schools like with like, I think our productions exceed the ones put up in the UK - I know because I follow my nieces' progress over there." What is similar is the taboo on boy ballet dancers and most schools all over Europe lack the male contribution. "I don't charge boys. I don't know anyone who does in fact. Even in the UK. The thing is boys might come with their sister till they're five or six. And then they go to school and everybody will be telling them [she puts on a tough voice] 'boys do football not ballet' and there's no way they'll come to the studio again."
The best thing would be to encourage them to take up gymnastic or other dance-related sports which appeal to boys, like breakdance, and then maybe after their teens they'll decide for themselves to take up ballet. It's how her male star pupil was lured to her studio, give or take a ballerina girlfriend. In fact up to a couple of years ago Ms Dow always used to have to get boys for the shows from Russia. "In Russia of course it's a different story. It's an honour for a male to be in a ballet. But I guess over there it's also a guarantee of a job for life."
She claims you cannot push someone to be a dancer. "I mean technically, yes you can and they can be perfect but their heart won't be in it and they won't enjoy dance and that will show. You have to want to do it." On the other hand, she is adamant that you don't have to look good in a leotard to be able to dance. "If you want to dance for the Royal National Ballet, yes of course you have to be skinny, but there are so many companies now, and all with different requirements, it's not the size which determines whether you are a good dancer."
She gets all worked up when I ask her what's the biggest myth about ballet. "You know, ballet is very graceful and floaty and all that, but it's very, very strenuous. A lot of people think that ballet is just floating around they do not realise the hard work involved." The frustration is that sometimes even doctors don't have a clue of all the footwork involved and girls with injuries get her notes from them okaying ballet practice when in reality it would be harmful to let them carry on. Still, she believes that most definitely ballet is worth the pain.
But, I ask her, what about the bleeding toes? Does it really happen? Is it true? "Yes. But it's their fault, if they apply surgical spirit regularly, their skin would be hard and they wouldn't have any problems," she says matter-of-factly. The best she says is for kids to start at a really young age, because it's easier on the body. "Ideally when they're three. The body is then supple and has the natural ability to be flexible - although you have to be careful as at that age they are like sponges and copy every slight mannerism," she chuckles.
Dance is a life-long learning experience she says and in true-to-word wisdom claims that she is still waiting for the high point of her career: "What's important she says is that whatever you do in life you have to love it and enjoy doing it - that's how you'll be good at it".
• Rhythmic Earth - a spectacular concert in two parts, will be held on Sunday at Sir Temi Zammit Hall at the University of Malta at 7.30 p.m. Tickets may be obtained by phone on 2158 3368 or 9947 4127. More information may be obtained online: http://www.oliviadow.com.
We all know Olivia Dow of course. She is a household name. Ask anyone next to you this morning and you'll get the standard answer: Isn't she the lady of the Russian School of Ballet? And that's right of course. But what do we know of her as a woman who has contributed so much to Malta's ballet scene?
I meet her at her ballet studio in Naxxar, where her "girls" are busily plie-ing, pirouette-ing and pointe-ing for the upcoming annual show Rhythmic Earth celebrating the school's 15th anniversary. Despite her 60 years she still has that classic ballerina frame: tall, lean but muscular. She sort of glides about rather than walk - with a certain litheness and gracefulness of movement that betrays her long years of ballet training.
Dance has been her life. Her parents, based in Malaysia but fearful of the country's unrest, sent her to a ballet boarding school in the south of England at the age of five. It is what she had wanted to do since her grandmother had taken her to a ballet show in Edinburgh. Ms Dow points at one of the photos framing her cluttered wall. The photo, slightly faded, shows a stern woman in black. "I was lucky enough to have been coached by Madame Legat herself. She was one of the most celebrated ballerinas in Russia of her time," she says. She is the teacher who guided Ms Dow to the top of her profession: Tatiana Nicolaevna Legat, wife of Nicolai, balletmaster of the Russian Imperial Ballet, who originated the Legat method, based on the Russian teaching techniques and which now Ms Dow passes on to her students.
Who or what have you sacrificed for your art, I ask. There is no hesitation in her answer: "Nothing and nobody. I always did what I love and so I never felt I had to sacrifice anything. And I was lucky, the man I loved was in the business as well". And this, in a sentence summarises Olivia Dow.
She is a woman who has been dedicated and passionate about dance since her childhood, and the woman who has happily shared this dedication with the man she was in love with. In conversation she mentions John, her late husband, often and although we do not talk about him, you can feel that their love is still very much in the air. Only twice throughout our otherwise cheerful interview do I get a glimpse of her heart. First, when I ask her what she considers to be the low point of her career and after a very long pause she says in a muted voice: "You can write when I lost my better half." And then again when I ask her what one song would feature on the soundtrack to her life and after some deliberation she opts for the jazzy Shadow of your Smile. At this, her wistful look speaks volumes.
His smiling photo is in the centre of the wall, his work framed in posters of all the productions they put up together for 13 years. Last year's annual show was a tribute to him. It's a kind of happy sadness if you know what I mean.
She then trails off: "You know ... the old adage, the show must go on?" and we move on to talk of different things.
The advice she would pass on to aspiring dancers is to embrace life: "If you love your art, you will love life. How you act in ballet is how you will act in real life." She goes on to explain how over the years she has perfected her assessment of character. "You can tell someone's character straight away in a ballet class. Because of course ballet doesn't form your character. It is already there - even in kids as young as three. My job is to help them mould their dance according to their spirit. I love watching my students unawares sometimes - it's incredible what kids will do when you're not watching - and that's when you really learn their true potential. Ballet can help with the discipline and love for learning."
Ms Dow says that kids are nowadays more confident and that's an advantage for ballet, but over the years it's becoming increasingly difficult to get kids with potential to commit themselves more to their art. "When I see a child with potential I encourage them to come five times a week. Mind you, I just charge for two lessons, but I'd want them to come over more often to encourage them and to give them a chance to develop their potential. But I'm finding that it's becoming more and more difficult to get them to come over frequently." She thinks it's coming from the parents, who want a sort of guarantee in return for investing their child's time. A guarantee of stardom. "But of course I cannot guarantee that." It is unfortunate she says that in Malta due to size proximity, parents get to meet all the time and that's how they become competitive "because they talk to each other and start comparing".
Ms Dow thinks Malta's dance scene compares well with the rest of Europe. "Actually comparing schools like with like, I think our productions exceed the ones put up in the UK - I know because I follow my nieces' progress over there." What is similar is the taboo on boy ballet dancers and most schools all over Europe lack the male contribution. "I don't charge boys. I don't know anyone who does in fact. Even in the UK. The thing is boys might come with their sister till they're five or six. And then they go to school and everybody will be telling them [she puts on a tough voice] 'boys do football not ballet' and there's no way they'll come to the studio again."
The best thing would be to encourage them to take up gymnastic or other dance-related sports which appeal to boys, like breakdance, and then maybe after their teens they'll decide for themselves to take up ballet. It's how her male star pupil was lured to her studio, give or take a ballerina girlfriend. In fact up to a couple of years ago Ms Dow always used to have to get boys for the shows from Russia. "In Russia of course it's a different story. It's an honour for a male to be in a ballet. But I guess over there it's also a guarantee of a job for life."
She claims you cannot push someone to be a dancer. "I mean technically, yes you can and they can be perfect but their heart won't be in it and they won't enjoy dance and that will show. You have to want to do it." On the other hand, she is adamant that you don't have to look good in a leotard to be able to dance. "If you want to dance for the Royal National Ballet, yes of course you have to be skinny, but there are so many companies now, and all with different requirements, it's not the size which determines whether you are a good dancer."
She gets all worked up when I ask her what's the biggest myth about ballet. "You know, ballet is very graceful and floaty and all that, but it's very, very strenuous. A lot of people think that ballet is just floating around they do not realise the hard work involved." The frustration is that sometimes even doctors don't have a clue of all the footwork involved and girls with injuries get her notes from them okaying ballet practice when in reality it would be harmful to let them carry on. Still, she believes that most definitely ballet is worth the pain.
But, I ask her, what about the bleeding toes? Does it really happen? Is it true? "Yes. But it's their fault, if they apply surgical spirit regularly, their skin would be hard and they wouldn't have any problems," she says matter-of-factly. The best she says is for kids to start at a really young age, because it's easier on the body. "Ideally when they're three. The body is then supple and has the natural ability to be flexible - although you have to be careful as at that age they are like sponges and copy every slight mannerism," she chuckles.
Dance is a life-long learning experience she says and in true-to-word wisdom claims that she is still waiting for the high point of her career: "What's important she says is that whatever you do in life you have to love it and enjoy doing it - that's how you'll be good at it".
• Rhythmic Earth - a spectacular concert in two parts, will be held on Sunday at Sir Temi Zammit Hall at the University of Malta at 7.30 p.m. Tickets may be obtained by phone on 2158 3368 or 9947 4127. More information may be obtained online: http://www.oliviadow.com.