Dancing Emily Dickinson

By Kathleen Mellen
Staff Writer

Published on May 15, 2009

The inspiration for Amherst Ballet's new, original production, "Emily of Amherst," based on the life of poet Emily Dickinson, came from one of her poems.

It reads, in part:

I CANNOT dance upon my Toes -
No Man instructed me -
But oftentimes, among my mind,
A Glee possesseth me,

That had I Ballet knowledge -
Would put itself abroad
In Pirouette to blanch a Troupe -
Or lay a Prima, mad ...

It is just one of the 1,800 poems Dickinson wrote in her lifetime; fewer than a dozen of which were published before her death.

"It was the germ of an idea," said Jane Wald, who first presented the idea of creating the ballet to Catherine Fair, the executive director of Amherst Ballet. Wald is the executive director of the Emily Dickinson Museum, which operates under the auspices of Amherst College. The museum includes The Homestead, the house at 280 Main St. in Amherst where Dickinson was born in 1830, and spent much of her life, and The Evergreens, home of Dickinson's brother, Austin.

"Her poetry has been interpreted in ballet, choreography," said Wald, "but her life - not really."

The ballet's beginning

It was about four years ago that Wald first broached the idea of creating the ballet with Fair. Wald's daughter, Marianne Wald, now 17, is a student at Amherst Ballet. That conversation with Fair was the catalyst for the new production about the life and work of poet Emily Dickinson that will premiere at Amherst College May 15, on the 123rd anniversary of Dickinson's death in 1886 at the age of 55.

"It was an intriguing idea, and intriguing challenge," said Fair, who has created much of the choreography for the four-act ballet. "We are the first people we know of to create a biographical ballet depicting, in dance, the life of Emily Dickinson."

Part of Amherst's observance of its 250th anniversary, the production is meant to create new and renewed interest in Emily Dickinson's work by familiarizing audiences with her daily life in Amherst, as well as her impact on readers and writers throughout the world, according to Fair. Each scene begins with a reading from a letter, written by or about Dickinson, that provides a context for events depicted onstage.

As Fair points out, it is no small task to create a full-length ballet. In addition to creating much of the movement herself, she hired other choreographers to contribute to the work, as well as a composer (Ted Trobaugh), set and lighting designers (Barry Magnani and Gerald Stockman, respectively) and a costumer (Sueann Townsend). Fair and the Amherst Ballet faculty also double-cast most of the roles and held multiple rehearsals over many, many months to ready the work for Friday's opening.

But long before that, Fair and Wald worked together for years, researching Dickinson, her life in Amherst, her family and friends, and her copious writings. Wald, the historian, poured over Dickinson's letters and poems, passing many along to Fair to peruse. The production's director, Fair also created the libretto for the ballet.

"This has been an Emily education, a fascinating eye-opener," Fair said. "I've been like a child in a candy store; I wanted to include everything."

In the end, Fair says, she and Wald decided together on what would be portrayed in the ballet, including scenes of the former Amherst Academy, which Dickinson attended between the ages of 10 and 16, before entering Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now College) in South Hadley in 1847.

The ballet also took its lead from Dickinson's close observation of the natural world, her early social flair and her increasing reclusiveness, as well as the impact of her observations as a child and young woman of burials in West Cemetery on Triangle Street. All were depicted in her poems and letters and have been woven into the ballet, as have references to Poetry in Motion - a secret society of young women to which Dickinson belonged, who got together from time to time for impromptu dancing - something that was generally frowned upon. The group sometimes met in Dickinson's home when her parents were away, rolling up the rug and dancing in the parlor.

The ballet is populated with people who figured in Dickinson's life: Emily's mother, Emily Norcross Dickinson, and father, Edward Dickinson; her younger sister, Lavinia, and older brother, Austin; her Amherst Academy headmaster, Leonard Humphrey; and her good friend Susan Gilbert, who later became her sister-in-law when she married Austin.

"It's been fabulously exciting to take Emily Dickinson's life and tie it all together in a way that's riveting," Fair said.

Dressed to dance

Since its founding in 1971 by Therese Donohue, the directors of Amherst Ballet have gone to great lengths to create intricate and stunning costumes for all their performances. Dressing the dancers in "Emily of Amherst" fell largely to Amherst Ballet faculty member Townsend, an accomplished costume designer, and a cadre of parent volunteers.

The challenge with "Emily of Amherst," Fair says, was to create costuming that was consistent with the period's somewhat-restrictive clothing style, while ensuring that the dancers had full range of movement for the dance.

Townsend figured out ways to add extra material to the skirts to accommodate high leg extensions while maintaining an authentic look. Also, using a costumer's trick, she sewed dress sleeves to stretchy T-shirts that are worn under dress bodices so dancers can move their arms freely.

Although she is not a costume historian, Wald says, she assisted Townsend and her volunteer collaborators, Heidi Stemple, Karen Schwartz and Linda Ho, in researching appropriate period styles.

To get ready for the opening, Townsend and her crew of volunteers have held several open sewing workshops at the studio over the past month, during which volunteers have made petticoats, skirts, underbodices, overbodices - nearly everything needed for the cast of 70 dancers. Some tuxedos and a woman's wrap were borrowed from the Valley Light Opera, Stemple says, but nearly everything else has been built from scratch or "pieced together."

"It's been a real Amherst Ballet-community project," Stemple said.

The music

Amherst composer Ted Trobaugh first offered his services to Fair several years ago. A classically trained musician, he composes music for small films and commercial videos.

"Three years ago, I said, 'I'm here, if you want music,'" Trobaugh said in an interview last week.

It wasn't too long before Fair took him up on his offer - asking him to compose the music for "Emily of Amherst."

"Very early on, we decided we needed something to root it [the music] in the time period," Trobaugh said. To that end, he got his musical inspiration from "The Syracuse Polka" by J.A. Fowler, using it as the core for his composition. It was piano music known to have been on Emily Dickinson's piano, he says.

"Much of it is based on that piece, but I really stretched it," Trobaugh said. "It's clearly contemporary but rooted in the music of the time. It's not a mimic of the music. Much like a clay pot that's still wet, I could mold, pull and stretch and modify it greatly."

Trobaugh worked closely with Fair, he says, to ensure that the music would be exactly right for the dances that were being created.

"I like the collaborative process of talking with Catherine," Trobaugh said. "She described the scenes, the relationships, then, based on that conversation, I created the music that conveyed and supported the message she wants to portray. ... It's why I love composing for dance: I see it as pulling out the characters and the drama and accentuating the drama and the choreography that the director wants. The music supports, emphasizes, clarifies the emotion and drama in the work."

Trobaugh called upon some modern technology - and just a handful of musicians - to create the sound of a full orchestra. Each musician played several of the parts and by overdubbing, using a computer, he says, he was able to create "the illusion of a full orchestra," which he has recorded for the show.

A 'daunting' responsibility

With a budget of just over $51,000 to fully mount the ballet, funding for the project has come in part from a $1,500 grant from the Amherst Cultural Council, sponsorship by Florence Savings Bank and WFCR radio and donations from individuals and businesses. The remainder will come from ticket sales, Fair said.

In addition to Fair's choreography, Sam Kenny, a former Amherst Ballet faculty member and now a professor of dance at the State University of New York, Fredonia, and Townsend, who joined the Amherst Ballet faculty in the fall, have contributed to the work.

Although Fair has directed other big ballets in Amherst, including "Ballet Stories" and "The Magician's Nephew," the prospect of creating and producing "Emily of Amherst" was "initially daunting," Fair says.

"It is a tremendous responsibility ... but it's been so fun," Fair said. "Emily Dickinson - the more you explore her, the more tremendous admiration and respect you have for her. The collaborating has been fabulous, now we're seeing it come together."

Kathleen Mellen can be reached at kmellen@gazettenet.com.