STUDIO TALK NOT PILLOW TALK

Thinking back I don’t remember ever hearing Elena in the studio be sarcastic or mocking to a dancer in the old Russian manner. But she also never told dancers how beautiful they were. She would after a performance sometimes use superlatives. But the studio was for work and for improvement. She’d say “Not bad,” or “Better,” or “Good.” None of that coaching-by-compliment that today produces gargantuan egos, gargantuan complacency, and gargantuan unfulfilled artistic potential. It’s the dancers’  lovers or the critics who should be telling them how beautiful they are–not their coaches.