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 of "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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Questions of yourself; questions of the work

Last week I asked Ramona, "What questions do you have about your own performance, learning process, preparation for the stage, etc? And as for 'questions of the work'……what is percolating in terms of the dream of the audience and how the work will be received/perceived?"

I challenged Ramona to write a series of questions for the week. Here is her response: 

• How can I work through my "monsters" (moments in the material that are anxiety producing)? Will the audience see them as "monsters?"
• It is a challenge to be face to face (Literally! The audience has been so close!) with our in-studio audience. Will performing be easier from a proscenium? 
• How will the pieces fit on a bigger stage? On a smaller stage?
• How familiar will audiences be with Twyla's work?
• Will any audience members recognize the nods to Twyla's older works in these new pieces?
• Will the audience recognize the spectrum of individual dancers for their uniqueness?
• Will the reaction be different from dancer vs non dancer members of the audience?
• What will the critical responses be? (How much should we invest in what the critics say?)
• How will we find healthy, fueling yet light food options in each city to properly eat after the shows?

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