Advanced University ballet students received a rare chance Thursday to spend two hours practicing with world-renowned dancer and master teacher Oleg Briansky.
Briansky, who began dancing as a 10-year-old in his native country of Belgium, made his first trip to Eugene to teach six master classes this weekend. He came to help new generations of ballet dancers learn the often under-taught techniques of classical ballet, he said.
Briansky began his professional ballet career in France at the Ballet de Paris Roland Petit and has since performed with ballet companies in Germany, England and the U.S.
He moved to the U.S. in 1963, founding a summer dance school in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., called the Briansky Saratoga Ballet Center. He has also directed principal dancers at the Boston Ballet, the New York City Ballet, the American Ballet Theater and the National Ballet of Canada.
After more than 40 years of teaching, Briansky said he still enjoys being able to help young dancers discover a love for ballet that he’s had since childhood.
“When I teach, I first try to convey the love of ballet,” Briansky said. “I also try to teach them discipline, which I think is extremely important.”
Briansky said young dancers should be able to enjoy ballet, but should not lose an appreciation for its history.
“I say to the kids, ‘You have to realize that ballet is serious,” he said. “It’s not just dancing and having fun. Yes, you’re having fun, but it’s serious – it’s an art form. It’s a scientifically developed art form that has been in existence for hundreds of years.”
Michele Major, the owner and director of Ballet North West Academy in Eugene, began her professional relationship with Briansky after sending him an audition tape of eight of her students. She invited him to be a guest teacher at the academy, and he accepted.
Major said she was delighted that Eugene ballet students would have the opportunity to learn from such an experienced teacher.
“He brings such beautiful classical style,” Major said. “He has really studied classical ballet. He really has that ingrained in him.”
Hannah Bontrager, a University senior who has been dancing for 16 years, said she was excited to be able to learn from a teacher of Briansky’s caliber.
“I thought it was absolutely fabulous,” Bontrager said. “It was an honor to have such a well-known and well-versed master teacher.”
To sign up for one of Briansky’s five remaining classes at the Ballet North West Academy, contact Michele Major at (541) 343-3914.
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