Steven Melendez is the artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet, a Manhattan-based ballet company dedicated to performing classic masterpieces and new contemporary works for adults and innovative hourlong ballets for young children. Steven's introduction to ballet began as a young child through the New York Theatre Ballet School's LIFT scholarship program that creates an equal opportunity and an accessible dance training environment for talented at-risk homeless and underserved children. A documentary about Steven and the program, also titled LIFT, will have its West-Coast Premiere on Saturday, November 5th at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival.
@sfdancefilmfest
@couellette87
@thestevenmelendez
@liftdocumentary
@nytheatreballet
Tickets for the 2022 San Francisco Dance Film Festival are now available
https://sfdancefilmfest.org/fall-festival-2022/
This episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, part of the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/
Steven Melendez is the artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet, a Manhattan-based ballet company dedicated to performing classic masterpieces and new contemporary works for adults and innovative hourlong ballets for young children. Steven's introduction to ballet began as a young child through the New York Theatre Ballet School's LIFT scholarship program that creates an equal opportunity and an accessible dance training environment for talented at-risk homeless and underserved children. A documentary about Steven and the program, also titled LIFT, will have its West-Coast Premiere on Saturday, November 5th at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival.
@sfdancefilmfest
@couellette87
@thestevenmelendez
@liftdocumentary
@nytheatreballet
Tickets for the 2022 San Francisco Dance Film Festival are now available
https://sfdancefilmfest.org/fall-festival-2022/
This episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, part of the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/
Hi I'm Chris Ouellette and this is Dancing through the Lens. I am so honored to have today as our guest, Steven Melendez. Hi, Steven, how are you? I'm doing really well. Thank you for having me. Good. Thank you for being here, Stephen is the artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet, a Manhattan-based ballet company dedicated to performing classic masterpieces and new contemporary works for adults and innovative hour long ballets for young children. Steven's introduction to ballet began when he himself was a young child in the New York Theatre Ballet School's scholarship program LIFT that creates an equal opportunity and an accessible environment for talented at-risk homeless and underserved children. It also is the title of David Peterssn's documentary, screening Saturday, November 5, in the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, where It'll be having its West Coast premiere here. And in the film, that Steven is a mentor to these young children, including those from a homeless shelter in the Bronx, where he first started living when he was just seven years old. Steven, let me start by congratulating you on your newly appointed position as the artistic director of New York theater ballet. Thank you, it's a big, it's a big organization to carry. And I'm excited about the possibilities ahead of us. And I'm also very, very aware of a very long legacy that I'm inheriting from our founding artistic director, Diana Byer, You've had a long history with the company. So through LIFT, you eventually became a leading ballet dancer. And what happens with many of us dancers, injuries lead to different paths. How was the initial transition from dancer to guiding the LIFT program? You know, the transition from dancer to guiding the LIFT program wasn't so impossible. Actually, I think, you know, I had been teaching already for a little while, and that helped me understand the practical aspects of working with young people and interacting with the young people that are part of the LIFT program. It's interacting with my people. And so it wasn't very difficult at all. Actually, I found that we spoke the same language, and we had the same common sense, which isn't always so common. And we had the same life experiences to draw from so they responded to me really well, right from the beginning. And can you tell us briefly the goal of the program? That is a heavy question. The LIFT program is youth development program. That's the short answer. The long answer is that the LIFT outreach program uses dance as a tool to help young people who are coming from very difficult situations, to find a little bit of their own self confidence and their own self discipline, to earn their own self respect, which is a hard thing to do, and works to ensure that they become the most successful version of themselves possible. I turned out to go into the arts, and I became a dancer and a choreographer, and a director and a teacher and all of that stuff, a couple of other young people have gone on to do things in the arts as well. And I'm very proud of them for that. But most of our students that graduate the LIFT program, come out to just become really, really good human beings. And whether that means success professionally, in the field of finance, in the field of public service, or if it just means being the first in their family to graduate college, or if it just means being able to look themselves in the eye every day and stand up straight and walk down the streets of Manhattan, which can be a hard thing to do for anybody. And that's okay, too. Well, I mean, that's a gift that you you give to them, too, so that's really great. So in the film, we see you as a mentor. And you had the opportunity to follow these students and see them develop and grow over the years. It's an extraordinary commitment by the filmmakers to follow this. How long did this film take to make? the LIFT documentary took over 11 years to film. There are a lot of practical reasons for that. David Petersen, our fantastic director, had no money at the beginning. You can imagine going to funders and saying, "I want to do a documentary about ballet." And that's maybe not the most popular thing. "I want to do a documentary about homeless kids." Definitely not a very popular thing. And you stick them together and I think people looked at him a little bit sideways. But I think David saw the potential and the need for the story of LIFT to get out into the public and he just stuck with and he started quite literally by himself with one of his students, he's a film teacher as well as a filmmaker, holding the microphone and a I'm filming here, and there a little bit over time. And I think what he realized very quickly, and he doesn't have a background in homelessness or background in dance even, and I think what he spent some time doing in the first couple of years of filming, was still trying to figure out what exactly the story was. It's tempting to make a film or to make a story that sort of buttons up nicely, that says, "here's a bad situation. And now everybody's happy at the end," you know, happily ever after. It's also tempting to make some version of what I've learned to come in the industry is called "trauma porn," where you say, here's a bad situation and look at all these poor, poor people, how sad for them. And David, I think, evolved to realize that neither of those things were reality. And I think that the story he ended up telling, it's very honest, and I think, honestly, I think that's why the film is so good. Because it avoids all of the orange cones of trauma porn and it does actually tell the story over a generation. 11 years is old enough to watch young people grow up into young adults. And when he shows the story over a generation, and in the film, you'll see that, you know, Victor goes off to become a dancer in New York City Ballet, fantastically successful artist. And other students don't, they go off to do other things. And for some, yet, they're still at the beginning of their journey. And you see that also, and the audience is left with hope for the future. But also a very real sense that this is real life happening in real time. And it's not the kind of thing that you can put into a talking point, or put into a neatly buttoned-up 90 minutes of cinema. I mean, it's quite a commitment, an 11 year film, documentary. And for you, did you find, revisiting these spaces, and being a part of this, what did you do rediscover anything about you as a child and how you felt when these were introduced? Impossibly difficult, impossibly difficult. Being filmed for 11 years, was more difficult than than the certainly than I knew it would be going into it. But looking back at the at the experience now, it was more difficult than I even realized it was at the time. David and I got into a couple of pretty heated conversations about what he was and wasn't allowed to film. And he won every single one of them ultimately. But I was so against so much of him showing the reality of my story. Because if I'm honest, I spent a lot of my young career running away from the hyphen. You know, it's hard to find a review of me from when I was say, you know, a teenager, early 20s, that didn't say, "the homeless ballet dancer," or "the homeless ballet child," or, you know, "Steven Melendez was in this program tonight, he was fantastic. And did you know he came from an outreach program." It seemed to follow me around, and I was never sure if I was being critiqued or judged for my dancing or for my story. And that was really difficult. Then just of course, as David started making this documentary, I had started to build the reputation for myself internationally as a dancer where nobody in Estonia where I was living knew anything about that. Nobody in South America or nobody in Japan certainly knew. And I was nervous that it was going to, like undo all of the work that I had done as a dancer somehow. Then I got injured, and I had to stop dancing. And suddenly, none of it mattered anymore. There were no more reviews coming. There were no more critics watching. And I was moving on to other things. I was becoming a director, and you know, other things. And that's maybe when I started to recognize the value of my story as a role model for others. And so suddenly, then I wanted that story told that it was the exact opposite then it was, you know, "David, how come you're not filming this? I gotta tell you about this thing. Did you know this thing happened to me when I was little." And I don't know what that felt like for David to feel like he was working with Jekyll and Hyde at the same time. But it was not an easy thing. And if I'm honest, I don't recommend anybody else put themselves through it. I've done it already. That's it. I had a career-ending injury as well. And I went into this space where I was like, Who am I like, my identity as a dancer is, it's done. It's gone, you know? And, and I kind of had to shift that and empower myself to be like, well, now everything's available to me. You know, now I can take my ballet training and all those things I learned at the studio and apply that everywhere. So it is really valuable, what ballet brings to you and your life and ways that it affects you that you just aren't aware of. Yeah, this identity, this identity question, I'm struggling with that even now, especially now, you know, like I say, when I was younger, I was trying to figure out who I was, aside from being a homeless child. And then in the classical ballet world, I started struggling with how do I fit into a predominantly white ecosystem, being the only person of color in a lot of the organizations that I worked in. I'm a straight man in ballet, which everyone outside of ballet thinks that's weird. People in ballet don't think that's weird, but people outside think that's very strange. And I found myself not really ever sure who I was. And I mentioned this earlier about going on stage with the costume and the makeup. I think the reason why I enjoyed it so much is because I knew who those characters were, I knew exactly who they were. And then when I get back to the dressing room, It was just me and the guy in the mirror, right? And it's scary sometimes. I'm working through it. It's a work in progress, All of us. Absolutely, yeah, totally. You know, it's our first time ever doing this altogether. So just gotta show up and do what you can Just show up and do what you can. I like that. So what are the benefits you see from teaching ballet to students? What are you trying to instill in them? I think that dance can be used as a tool to instill discipline, and self confidence, and a worldview that recognizes that we're all connected, that actions matter and consequences are real. And I think dance is the most, I mean, I'm biased, but I think dance is the most valuable way of teaching those things. The one thing that I find with ballet is the constant of, ballet itself is an escape, you know, the performance is fantasy, and you're going somewhere else, but you're met in the studio with your true self, you know, it's you, a ballet barre, a mirror, and the work that you put in is what you're going to get out. So to get there, there, these children have so many other obstacles. And I really saw you as a constant presence that you know, wanted to open this for them, and give them this gift of the ballet. Yeah, you know, you hit it right on the head, the work you put in is the work you're gonna get out. The thing that I think makes the actual LIFT program successful, most successful, is that, and you'll see this in the film. And the way that I interact with some of the kids is that it's real life, you know, a handful of children walk into a ballet studio, they're all given the exact same instruction, put your arm here, put your foot there, turn out, whatever the case is, and then they go home, and the next day they come back, and it doesn't matter, really, whether one of them has a parent who's the mayor, and the other one has a parent who's a drug addict, it's irrelevant. What matters is how much homework you did, how much you practice, and whether you're the one falling over or not. And it really levels the playing field. David used to say early on that everyone is equal on the dance floor. And I think he's right, I think that's exactly right. And through that kind of very obvious hierarchy that gets built, those who work and those who don't, those who do the homework, and those who don't, those who take responsibility for themselves, and those who don't, I think that children are able to recognize that and the parents, the adults as well, are able to recognize that the value of being part of a dance program is much, much greater than whatever you get out of it as an actual dancer, those same rules, those same work ethics apply, you're a dancer, you know, the same work ethics apply to any form, right? If you're gonna be a doctor, or a lawyer or a line cook, it doesn't matter. You have to do your homework and to come in prepared more than the person next to you, and you will be more successful than the person next to you. I mean, even even things like these, these kids saying, like, I was born to dance, you know, they just know, it's inside of them. And it's giving them the resources so they can cultivate and explore that and grow from that. And yeah, and then and then on their parents faces, you know, when their parents got the opportunity to see them either in the studio are in a performance, you know, they realize like, wow, this is this is my child's gifts. So, yeah, yeah, you know, a fantastic thing happened at the premiere of lifts at Tribeca, the youngest child who's in the film. Her name is Sharia. And during filming, she must have been, I don't know, maybe five, six and seven or six, seven and eight over those years more or less of her life. Now she's a little bit older, of course, but she was at the premiere. And she was up there with me and with David doing a Q&A. And there was a question from the audience that was for her father and her father was sitting in the audience. And he, you know, he came up, he's in the film. So he came up and he took the microphone. And I don't know that he answered the question. But what he said was, "what I realized is that today Sharia is not with me, I'm with her." And that is really, really powerful. I think it, it begins the snowball effect for Sharia to understand who she is, and her strength as a person. And I think also ensures that there can be a generational impact from a program like LIFT, because there is support of the parents understanding the value of what they're getting, by being part of a program like this. And the film is it's, you know, I think I was lucky in New York Theatre Ballet was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to have David following us around for 11 years, because the story is fantastic, and extraordinary and amazing. But also, it's not unique. There are other youth development programs all across the country, all around the world, that are doing fantastic work similar to LIFT them in and out all using ballet, they're not all going to homeless shelters, but similar work and developing young people into extraordinary young adults. And my hope, is that the LIFT film can be used as a sort of aggregate average, as a testimonial for all of these programs to hold up and say, you know, we do this work too. Come support us and help us. Be our allies. I mean, in you I see, I see how much it enriches you as well. And I think you're just passing on your life experience to these children and your true care and compassion for them. And not even about ballet, but about life as well. You know, like, "Hey, if you don't do this, this is going to happen to you, if you do this, this will happen to you know," so I think just getting down on their level with them and speaking with them, truthfully, you know, is a great way of being a mentor as well. Yeah, it's interesting about that, because I realized that, you know, in the film, I don't know how David managed it. But he captured that really, very, very honest moment between Yolanssie and myself. And the truth is that I'm giving this guidance and advice, while still figuring it out for myself, I am a fairly young person. And I can't actually say that if you do X,Y and Z, you will become more successful, or you will get whatever you're looking for. And I try not to say that to the kids, they have to know that, I'm just, I'm human, I'm working through it just like they are. This is what I think. My experience when I was in your position, I had this choice and that choice, I chose this one, it was the wrong one. So I don't know if the other one is the right one, but don't choose this one, there's no reason to make the same mistake again, or the other way around, you know, and we'll we'll see how it goes from here. I think I'm on the right track. I hope I'm on the right track. And as the kids get older, and they get closer to my age, again, this idea of being a role model just scares me more and more because I'm not in any position to be an expert about how the world works. Is there anything else you want to say? Do you have any, any thoughts? I think that there are going to be people who watch this film who I think are not going to know how to feel at the end of it. And I think that their their reactions will evolve over time. Immediately after the film, they might feel one way. And then a day later, they might feel something different. And then a week later, they might feel something even totally different again. And I think that's okay. I think that there are that this film is made to be a little bit inside the echo chamber of the dance industry. It's made to highlight the kind of work that's being done by administrators and directors of outreach programs and other people mentors. And to sort of lift them up and say, "this is the value of your work, congratulations and keep going. It's important. But there's also a different constituency. There's a constituency of families and young children who are in outreach programs who are who are in maybe they're not in outreach, maybe they're in a difficult situation. Maybe they're in homeless shelters or they're, you know, whatever their life circumstances who will watch this and I hope we'll see a path through you know, and then there are going to be people that maybe actually decide to become donors or patrons or audiences because they recognize the value and the importance of dance and arts. And then there are going to be people who are new to dance and in the Venn diagram probably also new to dance, and overlapping with new to outreach work, new to the struggles of underserved communities and new to the ideas that maybe people can be homeless and what that looks like, you know, and I think those people will have a little bit of an eye opening experience to see that. And I welcome all of those people and all of those reactions. Well Steven, thank you so much for your time. It's really such a pleasure speaking with you and you know, talking Ballet and you know, just scholarships and opportunities. So thank you pretty much for being here. Thank you for this opportunity. This is really great. Again, LIFT will be having its West Coast premiere here at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival on November 5, and Steven himself will be here for the premiere as well. So it will be nice to meet you in person. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. Thank you.