Student/Teacher/Performer/Admirer: A Correspondence with Ramona Kelley of Twyla Tharp Dance

Many years ago, dancer Ramona Kelley was a student of mine in a teen modern class in Berkeley, California. Over the years, it has been exciting to see her head off to college at NYU and then launch into a professional career. Ramona merges technique and joy onstage and is magical to watch. Knowing that she will come full circle and be back in Berkeley in October 2015 to perform with Twyla Tharp at Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, I thought it would be fun to correspond over a few months prior to the performances. This correspondence, shared on the blog, offers a window into the world of Twyla Tharp as well as following a young and talented dance artist based in New York City.

Ramona Kelley is originally from California, where she began her training at Berkeley Ballet Theater under the direction of Sally Streets. She is a National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts (NFAA) scholarship award winner and she holds a BFA in Dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Ramona danced the principal role "Betsy" in the North American/Japanese tour of Tharp’s “Come Fly Away.” A current member of Twyla Tharp Dance, she has also worked with Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance, Oakland Ballet Company and The Phantom of the Opera 25^th Anniversary Tour among others.

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This week from Ramona:

I think this tour is an incredible milestone for Twyla. Her body of work is a monumental achievement. 

I think Twyla's name carries different connotations to different people. For example, some remember first of her days working with American Ballet Theatre and Baryshnikov when they think of her choreography, whereas others think of her Broadway shows (Movin' Out, Come Fly Away, The Catherine Wheel to name a few). The same can be said of people who admired her work in film (for example Hair, Amadeus) and still others think of her early minimal works set in silence.

The 50th tour presents two works in concert dance form, but there is a huge theatrical range within the works themselves. Twyla has often said to us that she thinks of us as more than dancers – we need to be actors as well – a very fun challenge! I think these anniversary pieces encompass many elements of Twyla's past, but also (maybe more importantly) show that she is truly a creative force through many decades of work.

As we go back into rehearsals for the tour, my goal at first will be to work on the demanding technical aspects in the movement. Within the first week I hope to be comfortable enough with the physicality to explore the characters and find fresh nuances in the wide emotional range of these new works. Both of these tasks will be demanding, but I am looking forward to the challenge of fulfilling them!

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