July 2013 - by Victoria Kickham
The dance world lost an inspirational figure earlier this
year with the passing of Eva von Gencsy. Affectionately known as “queen of dance” by many,
von Gencsy also was a key figure on the Boston dance scene, due in no small
part to her close relationship to the Jeannette Neill Dance Studio.
The 89-year-old Hungarian-born dancer died on April 11 in Montreal,
where she’d immigrated in the 1940s. Von Gencsy became a star of the Canadian
dance scene, dancing in the early days of the Winnipeg Ballet (now the Royal Winnipeg Ballet) and later with Les
Ballets Chiriaeff (now Les Grands
Ballets Canadiens). She eventually
found her way to jazz and is credited with introducing a new dance form—ballet-jazz—to Montreal audiences when
she co-founded Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal (BJM). BJM remains one of Canada’s top
dance companies; von Gencsy served as its artistic director and choreographer from
1972 to 1979.
Von Gencsy’s influence as a dance educator and choreographer
brought her to the Jeannette Neill Dance Studio in the 1980s, and she developed
a close relationship with studio founders Jeannette Neill and J. Allen Collier.
Neill describes their connection as immediate and deep, and says von Gencsy
visited Boston as much as possible throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, teaching
master classes and serving as a sounding board for her and Collier as they
built JNDS.
Von Gencsy later became an honorary board member of Boston Youth Moves, the studio’s
non-profit dance education and training program for teenagers. She choreographed and taught master classes
for BYM during the program’s early years.
“She really was an educator and an inspiration—especially
for young dancers,” says Neill, who echoes the comments of other prominent dance figures who recall von Gencsy as a
positive and enduring influence on the art. “She continued to spread her wisdom
and love of dance up until the end of her life.”
Although von Gencsy’s death struck a deep blow to the JNDS
staff, Neill says she and her colleagues will remember her in a celebratory
way—quite simply because that’s the way von Gencsy lived. Neill talked in-depth
about her in a recent interview for the studio blog this spring. What follows
are excerpts from our conversation:
Q: What role did Eva
von Gencsy play in the development of the Jeannette Neill Dance Studio?
A: We met her at
the very beginning of the studio’s existence. A student from Montreal, who was
a ballet dancer, knew of Eva and suggested we contact her to come and teach.
Eva immediately became family. She came to the studio and inspired us all.
From then on, her influence was artistic and also very
realistic in terms of the business. Artistically, she never lamented difficult
times [for the arts]. Everything had a cycle and you just kept dancing while it
was going around and around; that was her attitude.
From a business perspective, she and I were of a like mind.
You need to run a studio business based on the recreational dancer. We were
particularly in sync on that point. The door should always be open to recreational
dancers to take class and learn about dance. They are the ones that support
you. They are vital to a studio’s success.
She was also very clear that studios need a children’s
program—because you always have to grow new crops. She had so much wisdom and
experience, and she very clearly saw that we needed to put some effort into a
children’s program.
Q: Can you
describe her style and influence on dance?
A: Eva was a
ballet dancer, but she embraced all forms of dance. She went to New York and
found Luigi and that was a whole new way to dance, so she fused that with her
own work. She celebrated all kinds of dance. She was also very smart—a
visionary, really. She always said that you open dance up to more people when
you expand ballet. She thought ballet could be added to. I think that was
pretty visionary.
And I don’t think she ever had a “no” in her head. Eva was
always, “yes; it’s all possible.”
Q: What will you
remember most about her as a dancer?
A: She was always a student of dance and she was
always a performer, giving everything as much love and commitment as humanly
possible. As a teacher, I think she
wanted to share dance, so she taught it. It was the same with choreography; she
wanted to make it available to others and she wanted to make connections with
other dancers and teachers.
I can’t think of her without smiling. Every day you sort of
stretch a little to reach in the direction of where Eva lived.
Q: How would you describe her legacy?
A: It’s kind of
like fireworks. You see one shoot up, but all of these lights come out of it.
She’s an inspiration in every way. She was loving, positive, nurturing,
inspiring and uplifting. And yet, she had known hardship in her life. Still, she
never spoke in a negative way, never spoke against anyone or anything. She
celebrated every pirouette, every plié, every student she ever had, every
dancer she ever watched. She was an amazing human being.
She’s such a light that continues to shine and sparkle.
Every day that I think of her it’s with laughter, a smile and amazement. She is
this wonderful gift that lives in me. We truly loved her. We just truly loved
her.
That I was able to meet her and be touched by her life and
her love of dance … She was a gift.
Les Ballet Jazz de
Montreal has established a scholarship in honor of Eva von Gencsy and her many
contributions to dance. Visit the BJM website for more information.
