Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, August 3, 1984
IILWAIIL viiiiiz

THE FIRST TIME I saw the inside
of the Power Center auditorium'
was, coincidentally, the first time Ed-
ward Villella had ever seen it.
Somebody hit the house lights, and
Villella and I, along with a few others
from the local press, walked out onto;
the empty stage together to give the
celebrated American ballet dancer a
chance to see where he was to perform.
As Villella tried a few steps in his suit;
and tie for the benefit of the vacant:
auditorium, I told him that I would be
covering him and his company when.
they premiered in Ann Arbor this
summer. He didn't seem impressed.
At that time, neither he nor I had any
idea that my coverage would include
meeting many of the professional dan-
cers in his company, spending the

greater part of a week watching,
reading about, and talking with
Villella, and even trying my hand at
dancing with the 25-year veteran of the
New York City Ballet.
As a ballet dancer, I am one hell of a
mud wrestler. Before I took a class with
Villella, my knowledge of this particular
art form consisted entirely of knowing
how to assume some facsimile of the
first position-you put your heels
together. I also know now that 20
minutes on a wooden floor in the
basement of the Dance Building does
not a serious performer make; not even
if Edward Villella himself is the in-
structor.
The decision to make a fool out of
myself in front of Villella and his pupils
See INTRO, Page 10