Lone Star – ArtDesk

CELEBRATED DANCER SILAS Farley, recently retired from the New York City Ballet, walks us through a springtime class in Texas. This summer, Farley will choreograph a new work with twelve dancers from American Ballet Theatre, the storied company will be the 2021 summer artist-in-residence at Green Box in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. Here, deep in the heart of Dallas, Farley brings a bite of the Big Apple.

Silas Farley

Silas Farley served as the 2020-21 ballet artist-in-residence for the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. Farley danced with the New York City Ballet from 2013 until 2020, when he retired from performance to pursue a leadership role in the world of dance. Now, he is the incoming dean of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

H7A7945 copy — Working with Matthew Bejarano on creating a moment of alert stillness in fifth position

H7A7983 — Shaping Kiera Mays' foot in battement tendu

H7A8189 — It's important to keep the wrist lifted. Here, the dancer is working on crossing her right leg behind her in battement tendu to create a streamlined movement.

H7A9134 — Much of my teaching is influenced by George Balanchine, the visionary teacher and choreographer who founded New York City Ballet. He emphasized the differentiation of each finger and the roundedness of the palm in this position.

H7A7917 — Katherine Pawlowski and I are working on the shape of her hand and fingers.

H7A8266 — I am reminding Amanda Stone to lift her eye focus to match the height of her leg. We are both looking in the mirror to evaluate.

H7A8111 — The student here is Grace Furst. She is concentrating on keeping her right hip back as she reaches her right heel and foot away from her. You also see a Merce Cunningham quote I'd written on the white board weeks before: 'The only way to do it is to do it.'

H7A9227 copy — I choreographed a new ballet, Meadows Serenade, for the SMU students earlier in the semester. They gave me this hoodie as a thank-you gift. It's been such a delight to teach these dancers. They have worked with diligence and intelligence.