The Big ToDo: Q&A with Lisa Carter, Director of the Columbus Ballet and the Columbus State University Dance Conservatory
Where is your hometown?
That's a loaded question. I was born in London and grew up in South Africa in Capetown. ... After university, I got a job at the University of Capetown and then I got offered a position in Hong Kong. ... Then we went to England for five years, but it was hard because everything is part-time in England. ... So then I got offered a position at Creighton University which is a Jesuit school in Nebraska. I was there for eight years and then off to New Zealand. Then we went back home to South Africa, but you know, it's hard to go back. ... South Africa is a very different place now. So then I went back to Nebraska and then I got this position here.
How long have you been here?
A year and a half. This is my second "Nutcracker."
Tell me about your family.
It's just me and my daughter (Caitlin). She is 8 and goes to Clubview. She loves it. It was one of the attractions because when we were in South Africa she was in an IB school.
You pay through the nose for good education in South Africa. So when we came here and found Clubview, which is a fabulous IB school, and found that it was free, it was fabulous. ...
So your formal education was in South Africa?
... My background is the Royal Academy of Dance, which is based out of London. It is the English tradition. ... Then I became an examiner for the RAD, which meant going back to London for three months of training at the head office.
How was it being an examiner?
... I enjoyed the kids and I enjoyed working with teachers. .. Sometimes you see work that's not great and it's a way to kind of engage and say, "You know, there's all of this good stuff going on but let's try and make it better." It was interesting navigating that.
What is your official job title now? You have two, is that correct?
Yes. ... The first one is that I am the director of the Columbus State University Dance Conservatory. ... The classes and technique classes all come from CSU. People pay fees to the Continuing Education to have their kid dance here.
Then the other arm and the other organization is the Columbus Ballet. It is its own organization. ... It is a non profit 501(c)(3) run by a board so thereby we are able to raise money through grants, lots of money, to put on these productions. The partnership is that they provide the money to put on these productions and they use CSU's dance studios and the dance students to produce them. It's a collaboration.
I am the link between the two. ... My job at the Columbus Ballet is executive and artistic director.
So how many local children do you have and how many college students?
Oh, see? It's so interesting when I hear the perception of what we do. There are no college students. It's all just kids. However, saying that, there is a student who is a dancer and a nursing student and lives downtown. She moved here and saw all of the dancers and wanted to get involved. She now dances, she's Dew Drop Fairy in "The Nutcracker"... and she's a work/study student so she works for us at the desk.
I wish we could have more than that. Unfortunately, we don't because we don't have college credit. Everything with the conservatory falls under Continuing Education.
So how is it doing "The Nutcracker" in Columbus?
... People love "The Nutcracker." They come and they get involved and they put their kids in the show. It's a huge deal in Columbus. We've been partnered with the RiverCenter now for over 10 years. ... The Schwob (School) also gets involved. Paul Hostetter is the conductor and he does it every year. ...
You have a musical background. Would you say this is an advantage for you?
It is a huge advantage. Maybe not for my students, because I am hysterical about musicality. I always say to them in class, "What is the biggest mistake you can make?" and they say, "Not dancing in time to the music." And I say, "Yes!"
So the balance between the two organizations is friendly and works well?
Oh yeah. It does. ... Another thing to know is that when I arrived we only did "Nutcracker." So I was like, "All this for only one show a year?" I wrote lots of grants and we received $100,000 from the Mildred Miller Fort Foundation Foundation so that enabled us to have a second season. We did "Queen" at the Springer last fall and this year we will be doing "Coppelia" in April at RiverCenter. But then Cameron (Bean, executive director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra) came to me and said, "Don't you want to partner with us?" So we are doing "Peter and the Wolf" ... at the end of January.
We are hot on the blocks of Nutcracker. It is really close, but why "Peter and the Wolf" was a really great vehicle is because I started a day school. I really feel that everything is so competitive these days and to give the kids the best edge, if they can be dancing during the day it's really better. So I started that this semester and it's gone really well. ...
So how is your parent involvement? What's that like?
It's hard to have children for the party scene for Nutcracker. So the children who are in the party scene -- which are my level two students -- I offered their parents to be able to come and be in the party scene with them. ... A couple of families took me up on it, so it's the mom and dad dancing and their kid in the party scene. It's really nice.
I'm sure that will be very popular.
Yes. That one was thing I started last year and then I also started inviting local celebrities. ... This year it is Kristina Privette, Bridget Markwood, and John Pezold. Miller Robson is Mother Ginger in Act 2. ...
Also, to keep it fresh we switch up the choreography. Last year, I did Act 2 and this year I'm doing Act 1. Our Sugar Plum, Jade Malave, is a ballerina with Ballet Magnificat and is actually from here. ... She became their principal dancer. Then she married a guy who is a doctor and is now based here with the military. So she is back here and she's great. ...
How old are your youngest dancers on the stage?
I let them start in level one, which are the angels. They are 7.
Do you teach younger than that here?
We do. We go from age 3 to 18. They are in levels one through six.
Who is your lead male?
It's kind of a funny story. There are two lead males, The Nutcracker and The Cavalier. Alexander Trefi is a Romanian dancer who has come here. He was sort of a Nutcracker who fell into my lap. But there is just not a Calvalier on every corner. So there is this website that's called needdancers.com and it's sort of like internet dating but for searching for ballet dancers. So I just searched for a Cavalier and people started popping up. Last year I got Ryan. He was just lovely, gorgeous. He is from Alabama but came to us from New York. I asked him if he would do it again this year, but he said no because he is in a bus and truck tour for "The Producers." But his partner, Billy Blanken, is coming. ...
So does your daughter Caitlin dance as well?
Oh yes. Oh yes. She is level three so she's Small Mouse and Chinese. Every year they play whatever character is assigned to their level. Before I arrived there was an audition process and it was kind of random. When I got here I thought, "Why am I auditioning 7 and 8 year olds? I know what they can do." So I stopped all of the auditioning and I gave them levels. ... Everyone now has a role in each act. So now they understand the progression year after year of what they're going to be. They get their roles year after year and it's like a rite of passage. The lead role of Snow Queen really has to be a professional for the big full performances. But we have some school performances and for those my best senior kid will be Sugar Plum for those. She'll do the solo and get to say she did Sugar Plum. So the leads like Sugar Plum, Dew Drop Fairy, Clara and even the toy soldiers are all auditioned. ...
Is there anything else that you'd like for the audience to know about "The Nutcracker?"
I just feel so blessed because there are companies in the world who don't dance to live orchestra and here we have two out of three performances with live orchestra. It's an amazing opportunity for our kids to dance to a live orchestra and on the other hand, it's huge for the audience to have a live orchestra. We try to spruce things up always. I'm hiring a new first act backdrop and changing out the choreography.
Part of the ballet's mission is to engage the community and to reach people who wouldn't otherwise be able to come to the show. We have always gone out to the schools and done little school performances. ... That was great and all, but I wanted it to be a little bit more. So I was able to convince the board to give me two school shows on a Friday so that we could actually bus the kids in. To me, if you're going to have the experience, have the whole experience.
BIO BOX:
Name:Lisa Carter
Hometown: Capetown, South Africa
Family: Daughter, Caitlin, 8 years old
Formal Education: Bachelor of Music in piano performance from University of Capetown, Ballet training with the Royal Academy Ballet
Occupation: Director of the Columbus Ballet and director of Columbus State University's Dance Conservatory
Interesting Experience: Trained to be an examiner for the Royal Academy Ballet and traveled the world examining and coaching young talent.
IF YOU GO
What: "The Nutcracker"
When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12 and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 13
Where: RiverCenter for the Performing Arts
Cost: $20-$32
Tickets: The RiverCenter box office is open Monday-Friday 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Visit www.rivercenter.org.
This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "The Big ToDo: Q&A with Lisa Carter, Director of the Columbus Ballet and the Columbus State University Dance Conservatory ."