Western Symphony – With Bruce Caldwell and Myself

 

The top male dancer in Ballet West was the indomitable Bruce Caldwell. He started dancing at the age of 10 and has never stopped. Even with skills and abilities that could have made him an international star, he made his home in Utah and never really left.

There are those very rare beings that have a body that can handle an incredible level of punishment that ballet requires and somehow manage to keep going against all odds.

Bruce Caldwell was one of those amazing souls.

He had the talent to dance anywhere … but his heart and soul were in Utah.
Even today, he continues to teach class, rehearse dancers, stage ballets, and be the Ballet West Archivist.
He single-handedly saved the stores of old video tapes from the intentional and wanton destruction of the director John Hart who wanted just to copy over the entire history of Ballet West’s videos to save money. He quietly tucked those hundreds of videos away for safekeeping and saved the legacy that meant so much to him and all of us.

Bruce is a deep reservoir of the many various ballets and productions that have allowed Ballet West to thrive and become the great company that it is today.

When I knew him, he was (and still is) a very quiet, reserved, sincere, determined, and highly focused individual whose abilities were never in question and who could always inspire others.
Through his consistency, we were allowed to see him mature and grow in a variety of ways that showed us … how to keep stretching and growing … with him.
While Rudolf Nureyev was a God in the ballet world, Bruce Caldwell was a legacy unto himself. And Ballet West is a better company because of his gifts and great sacrifices.
It is a rare dancer that can do pretty much anything asked of him.
That is what made him so remarkable and essential in Ballet West.
All dancers need someone to look up to. We need someone who can pull off things that we would only dream of. Bruce was such a person. He was technically brilliant with a personality that was understated and kind.

As a prince, he always had an unassuming elegance. Because inside, that is who he really was. He clearly had a powerful personality that could go from darkness to light, but he was always a partner you could depend upon.

While Bob Arbogast could not help but have that whimsical boyish charm. Bruce was the prince … forever seeking true love. A manifestation of the passions of the masculine searching for purpose and meaning.
I was gifted multiple times to dance with him. And that was an honor on all levels. I am sure he could have his choice of which ballerinas to work with. And there were many moments that I did get that very special opportunity.

While dancing with Rudi was always a bit terrifying because you never knew what he would throw at you (in the last minutes before going on stage) or if he was going to have a temper tantrum off stage (while yelling and throwing things.)
Bruce never seemed to lose his temper or fly off the handle.
It was not his style.
I am sure there were moments that were extremely frustrating for him, and I would see the stress and strain on him in moments as his dark eyes would smolder under a furrowed brow while his normally expressive face remained unchanged.
But he knew a level of personal self-control that made him always appear professional, concerned, and willing.
The first ballet that I got to dance with him was in the Helen Douglas ballet, Mistress of Sorrows.
Leticia Hernandez was Helen of Troy; Bruce Caldwell was her husband, Menelaus; I was the demon (created by the Greek Gods) to replace Helen and cause mayhem by removing Helen and taking her place. And I was to create an attraction with Paris (Mark Borchelt) and run away with him, which then began the Trojan War.
This ballet was an intriguing twist in the story of Helen of Troy.
I was nervous to work with Bruce because he was the top male dancer in Ballet West, and one does not want to screw such opportunities up.

I am tall, and while Bruce is also tall, on point, I am a lot to handle. Regardless, he was up to the task and portrayed a powerful Menelaus, determined to get his wife back from Paris.
There was a moment when we were performing a different ballet, and Bruce Caldwell was dancing with Odette Milner in the principal roles when Odette injured her knee during her variation.

Sondra Sugai, came up to me and asked me with a very serious tone and look on her face, “Suzanne, do you know the role? Can you do the steps and sequences with Bruce?”

I quickly answered, “Yes. I can do it!”

And she said, “Go! Do it!”

That meant that I had to leap into a role that I had never rehearsed and dance it with Bruce all the way through till the end!”

In the dance world, that is terrifying!

I instantly started sweating and wanted to throw up!
I never really told people that I have sort of a strange brain. I have an almost photographic memory for choreography and music combined.

That means that if I see a ballet and it is to music, an odd thing happens in my brain. If the music comes on, I see the costumes, and what the arms and legs are doing for all the dancers dancing at that moment. No, just my own parts. The only weird thing about it is that the dancers have no faces!

I know … That sounds so bizarre.

But that is how my brain works.
I will even see two screens playing the same music, with the version of the Berlin Ballet running side by side with the version of choreography from Ballet West.

In this instance, I knew the choreography, even though I had never rehearsed it with Bruce.

While Bruce and Odette had done the hard part of the Pas de Deux, and she had injured herself on the variation in the Pas de Deux. I still had the end of the ballet to do with Bruce and the coda, which included the 32 fouettés.
(That is something that one wants to have rehearsed and practiced first). It is not something one likes to just pull out of their pocket.
I made a calculated choice to do the fouettés on the left because I was a “lefty.” Meaning that my turns are better from the left than the right. But at that moment … I would be by myself. It did not include Bruce needing to partner with me during that moment.

So … off we go. My regular dance partner in that ballet just stayed off stage. We were one less couple in the corps de ballet, making the stage a bit lopsided but better than missing a principal couple in the center and at the front of the stage.
Bruce was a professional … through and through.
He never missed a beat.
He did everything perfectly with me instead of Odette. I managed to do the 32 fouettés (They were not my best, but the best I could do at that moment.) And Bruce and I finished the performance without making any mistakes.

The curtain came down, and we both looked at each other with a wry and shocked smiles. And Bruce slightly bowed and tipped his hand (like a hat) with the bow, saying, “Thank you for the dance!”

But my favorite moment with Bruce was in Western Symphony. Another Balanchine ballet based on the compilation of Western Folk Tunes arranged by Hershy Kay.
As with most Balanchine ballets, it is a Cardiac Race from beginning to end. It is split into 4 sections with four principal leads, Allegro, Adagio, (Skert-zo) Scherzo, and Rondo.

Bruce and I were in the Rondo section at the end.

This moment in Western Symphony plays out the story of a cowboy who has bought a fancy big hat for the longest-legged dance hall girl he could find.
It is a playful dance competition where the boy and the girl try to flirt through the movements as the male cowboy tries to impress the girl with big jumps, and she tries to flirt back using her new hat and high kicks to captivate and dazzle him.

Balanchine is wonderful in how he can take classical movements and turn them into the free-spirited epitome of the glamorous Wild West.
Balanchine ballets are always fun. Even as they try to make, you feel like a racehorse searching for the finish line.

I will forever remember Bruce Caldwell (perfectly at home) wearing his cowboy chaps, and his cowboy hat. Eternally young and full of playful passion.
Our dance of “upping the ante” on each other was gleeful and graceful.
I loved the part where I kicked my leg up while he pretended to avoid getting kicked … as he ducked under my leg … dancing around me in a modified hoe-down movement.
Even now, when I hear the music … my hips start to bounce, remember me standing on one foot and putting the tip of my toe shoe on the floor … so my knee is bent. That way, I can rock my hips to the music, pointing at him in admiration as he danced.
Thank you, Bruce, for the many dances and many gifts you continue to share with each generation of dancers.
I am sure you be forever remembered as the single greatest historical archive of Ballet West.
You will forever be the unchallenged King of Ballet West.

~Suzanne Wagner~