- Rest in Peace Mr. Pestov -
Photo: The John Cranko School, Stuttgart.
Pyotr Antonovich Pestov came into my life when I was 14. He was doing a tour through the US with other teachers from the Bolshoi and Paris Opera and he invited me immediately to join him in Stuttgart where he had been teaching at the John Cranko Schule. I remember my classmate and friend, David Hallberg (now of ABT stardom) and I marveling at how much Pestov demanded from us during our first master-class with him in Vail, Colorado. (David was also invited to attend Stuttgart School but opted to go to school in Paris for a year instead.) Pestov expected the utmost clarity in each movement which was near impossible during those first few classes because we were all shaking just hoping to get through his complicated barre exercises.
When I did decide to join Pestov in Stuttgart I learned that what set him apart from other teachers was his obsession with articulation. He filled our heads with history of ballet, art, music and wanted us to be able to bring this knowledge with us when we stepped out onstage. That was the fun part. The difficult part was that his method required that we express all of this through our bodies in the absolute purest ways possible. One single gesture or stretched foot at the exact right moment in the music could speak volumes and connect with the audience. Everyday was like trying find a needle in a haystack and he was rarely satisfied. His painstaking attention to detail inspired all of us boys to keep trying until we developed a love for the ''swimming upstream'' work ethic that good ballet requires. I often think about the kind of ''articulation'' Pestov asked for especially in Cranko roles like Onegin, that require nuance and subtleties that are difficult to get just right. Even working with Wayne McGregor on developing his detailed and contemporary choreographic language reminded me of some of Pestov's effective movement principles.
Pestov's list of students guarantees that his legacy will grow and live on in the modern world. Words cannot give him the kind of tribute he deserves. His male pupils all over the world know that the only way to pay hommage to him is to do what he taught us to do through dance.
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I interviewed Mr. Pestov for DANCE magazine last year and here are some of the things that he revealed.
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