Donna Delseni
Frankfurt, Germany – my first job! So many new things to absorb, the language, the people, the country, it was all so exciting and a little scary. But my teacher said, “you will go from plie here to plie there – nothing to worry about”. So I land in Frankfurt and there is no one to meet me…luckily a fellow passenger was kind enough to accompany me to the center of the city and check me into the Frankfurter Hof (the most expensive hotel in Frankfurt!) I got in touch with Alfonso the next day and he got me into a more modest hotel with another new American dancer who would become my room mate. Five of us moved into the same complex and we dubbed ourselves “the American Colony”. It was me, Michelle Farr, Ronald Darden, Robbie Woods, and Sean Lavery. We shared lots of great moments in our careers and had lots of fun living abroad over the next seasons.
The Frankfurter Ballet was housed in the Stadtische Buhnen (State Theater) with all the performance art forms. Actors, dancers, musicians, opera singers, costumers, set designers and shoemakers, mingled as we went about our days. There were 3 theaters: The Opera Stage, Schauspielhaus, and the Kammerspiele. The main theater had the largest revolving stage in the world. We performed on all three stages. We had one studio, a large room with a wooden floor. Our daily schedule was 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. for class and rehearsal, a break, and then more rehearsals from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. It took a little getting used to but the break in the middle of the day is standard in Germany. Rudi Franz was our accompanist for class and some rehearsals, a great musician with a warm heart and a smile for everyone. The first day we started learning Balanchine’s Four Temperaments, I was one of the “battement girls” in Melancholic. I didn’t want that day to end, youth and energy! Kent Stowall was our ballet master and his wife, Francia Russell (both former NYCB dancers) set 4T’s and Serenade on us. I loved dancing the Balanchine ballets – it felt like home.
We also learned Alfonso’s Ragtime which was our first performance in the main square on a raised stage, during a festival of some kind and we had a blast. Willie Burman danced the lead and looked quite dashing as always. We ladies had rose colored leotards with a bit of rhinestone decoration, black tights & pointe shoes, a black velvet choker and a feather in our hair….the audience loved it.
Everything in that first couple of weeks seemed almost magical. Sitting on the edge of the stage listening to the orchestra rehearse Serenade in preparation for our opening, meeting the theater crew and other artists that worked in the same building, even eating bratwurst in the Kantina with our essen markers (meal tickets). Life was so full and rich and new and here I was, great new friends, dancing my heart out and living my life in Germany. Pure happiness!
