Artist Spotlight
 | | | Soloist Elizabeth Miner |
1/1/2004
Promoted to soloist following the 2004 Repertory Season, Liz Miner danced in the corps de ballet for seven years. Recently, she took time out of her busy rehearsal schedule to reflect on her years in the corps, her dreams for dancing bigger roles, and how she spent her summer break.
When did you begin ballet? What or who kept you dancing?
I started when I was three years old because I didn't want to go to pre-school, but my mom still wanted me to do something social. At first it was no big deal, and I was probably 13 before I really started to like it. Then I met a teacher, Barbara Remington, and she really got me interested in dance. I only studied with her for a year before I went to School of American Ballet, but my time with her was very intensive. We worked for three hours at a time, three or four times a week, which is a lot for one year, but I needed it. She had danced with the Royal Ballet, so her style was very classical and she gave me a good base before I went away to study. She had such a love of ballet and she told me stories about her experiences in the company, which made me want the same experiences.
What individuals or experiences propelled you toward a professional career in dance?
Well, Barbara Remington for one. Also, watching great dancers perform. Growing up in a small town we didn't have access to a lot of live ballet performances, so I watched videotapes of performances by Gelsey Kirkland, Margot Fonteyn, and Baryshnikov. Once I was in New York, I saw New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre perform and that was very inspiring.
You danced in the corps de ballet for several years before being promoted to soloist. How did you and your dancing change over those years?
At first I was focused mostly on technique — that was most important to me. Over the years, as I matured emotionally and learned to open myself up to people, my dancing also matured and gained an openness and emotion. The repertory over the past couple seasons gave me a chance to open up, so I don't know if it's just a combination of things — timing and such — or if it just happened that way.
How did you feel when Helgi told you that you were being promoted to Soloist?
I was in shock! We were at Hayes Street Grill and I was hanging out with friends. We sat down and he brought Rachel [Viselli] over to our table and told us both at the same time. I couldn't really hear what he was saying, so I thought maybe he was telling us what a great show we had performed that night. Then everyone started clapping and I was like, "Wait! What just happened?" It took a while for it to sink in. You know, I was hoping and it was kind of in the back of my mind, but I wasn't expecting it at that moment.
Were you surprised or is this something you thought would happen this year?
You're always kind of hoping it will happen. I felt like I had done a lot of dancing this past season, but I'd actually done a lot of dancing for the past few years, so I never really knew. Maybe it was going to happen, maybe it wasn't. It was great when it happened though, especially after seven years. It's this feeling of "Wow! I finally did it!"
Mark Morris chose you to dance title role in Sylvia . What was that experience like?
It was probably the biggest opportunity I've ever had, and it was a huge learning experience for me. I had never worked with him before, so I didn't really know what to expect. I think it was the best thing in the world for me because he's completely honest. He really sees people strengths, but he also sees — more in terms of personality than dancing — where you might feel insecure. That was really good for me, because it pushed me to be less inhibited about my dancing.
The actual performance was the easy part — I have a much harder time in rehearsals because I'm so hard on myself. I spent so much time working on it, not knowing if it would be any good, and wondering how it would turn out. When I finally got to the stage, after so much work, I realized I just had to enjoy it and do the best that I could.
It is very different being onstage for so long, dancing for three acts, and holding the ballet together. It was just a matter of feeling comfortable on stage — I was able to be daring, to try things, and I think it worked. I totally enjoyed all of the performances!
Does anything seem different to you as you begin rehearsals as a soloist?
Well, we've really just started, so it's hard to say. I spent so much time with my friends [in the corps de ballet] that it seems strange to not be rehearsing with them as much. It is exciting to me, though, because now I can really concentrate on the roles that I'm doing. When you're in the corps you may get a soloist role in something, but you still have to worry about all of your corps work. I think it will be great just to concentrate more on those soloist roles. It's exciting, but I'm not quite sure how it will look just yet.
What role do you dream of dancing someday?
For a classical ballet, I have to say Romeo & Juliet . There are also so many great ballets in the Balanchine repertory — I'd love to dance the lead couple in Serenade. I enjoyed just dancing in the corps for Serenade, so the lead would be even better.
What did you do over during your time off this summer? In May, I went to New York to watch [boyfriend and current SF Ballet Principal Dancer] Gonzalo Garcia guest with New York City Ballet in Balanchine's Ballo della Regina . I was so nervous, but he performed so well! I was very proud of him. Then it was home for two weeks to Oregon to see my mom and teach advanced students at the local ballet school. We live on the coast so I also spent a lot of time at the beach and went fishing with my uncle. I then traveled to Zaragoza, Spain for four weeks to visit Gonzalo. Even though I've met many of his friends and family, I'm always amazed at how welcoming and warm everyone is in Spain. They all gave me little welcome gifts, and we celebrated his grandmother's 84th birthday with a huge party. We also went to Mallorca where we toured their famous caves — full of stalactites and stalagmites — by rowboat and heard a classical music concert.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I want to take Spanish classes, because when I was in Spain this summer I realized that I really don't know how to speak the language. I really need to do that! When I have free time, I'm usually so exhausted from dancing that I like to just relax, go see movies, and cook. I love to cook and I'm trying to cook more Spanish food now. Gonzalo's mother taught me some recipes, so I'm working on that, but it's very intimidating because I know it can't be as good as hers. (laughs)