Ballet School Teaches Students Confidence Through Artistry

This Patch article is sponsored by Westside School of Ballet.

“Being a native of Los Angeles' westside, born in Santa Monica and raised in Malibu, my life came full-circle having trained at Westside Ballet, enjoying the privilege of an elite professional ballet career for so many years, and then returning to the school that launched me and the assuming the directorship a few years later. We, the Artistic Staff, are all custodians of the legacy that is Westside Ballet. We make up the very fabric of its storied past, and we continue to produce professional dancers, well-rounded, respectful young people, and generate ballet fans for life.”

Patch had a chance to talk with Martine Harley, Artistic Director, Westside School of Ballet and Westside Ballet of Santa Monica.

Patch: How long have you been doing business in town, or how long has your organization been around in the community?

Harley: Westside School of Ballet is one of Southern California's premier ballet schools, founded in 1967 by New York City Ballet principal dancer Yvonne Mounsey and Royal Ballet soloist Rosemary Valaire. I succeeded Yvonne Mounsey as Artistic Director in 2013.

Patch: What attracted you to the line of work you’re in, and how did you get started?

Harley: I have always loved dancing and moving to music. I was lucky I had a natural gift for classical ballet — a long slender body, flexibility, musicality (from playing the piano), and a passion for movement from a very young age. I was raised in Malibu and therefore was fortunate to study at Westside under Rosemary Valaire and Yvonne Mounsey who mentored me. Without a doubt, my training at Westside Ballet prepared me in every way for my 24-year professional career with Houston Ballet as a soloist and ballet master.

Patch: If you had to sum up your business mission to a stranger in five words, what would those words be?

Harley: Inspiration. Dedication. Excellence. Artistry. Tradition.

Patch: What’s the biggest challenge or most difficult moment you’ve faced in your job?

Harley: Before the pandemic, the greatest challenge for me was to effectively carry the torch of artistic director that was passed to me in 2013. Yvonne Mounsey was irreplaceable, so my task was — and is — to maintain her legacy while taking the school and company into the future successfully.

These past 19 months have been devastating for the performing arts. Every time we see light at the end of the tunnel, it moves further away again. However, you can’t quarantine a soul! What we learned from this experience, has been the resiliency of our Westside and broader ballet community. Our Volunteer Guild built an outdoor studio in Summer 2020. And we created a beautiful, very well-received drive-in dance event “Grace and Grit” in October 2020. These experiences brought our commitment to the performing arts to the forefront of the greater Santa Monica/Los Angeles community. We gained strength with every hurdle we survived. Truly the embodiment of “Grace and Grit!”

The challenge now is helping our students regain their confidence as they make up for lost time in their training, and return to the stage.

I graduated from UCLA in 2016 with a baccalaureate degree in psychology, and that education has given me some much-needed skills to guide the students through mental and emotional setbacks they've suffered as a result of the ongoing pandemic. Their physical health is only part of the equation — their mental fitness in the other.

Patch: What’s the most satisfying part of your job?

Harley: To watch aspiring young students transform into beautiful, refined artists through their training with us. Helping a child fulfill their potential as a dancer is what makes this work worthwhile. As the saying goes, “teachers don't do it for the income, they do it for the outcome.”

Patch: How would you say your business or organization distinguishes itself from the others?

Harley: First and foremost, we are a non-audition school where anyone can join our curriculum and be trained to the highest pre-professional level. Whether they aspire to be a professional dancer or not, everyone is trained to the same elite level.

Also noteworthy is that our school's artistic faculty is nearly entirely alumni, having trained and taught at Westside for decades, ensuring a uniform and consistent approach to classical ballet instruction.

Our pre-professional ballet company, Westside Ballet of Santa Monica, has been offering professional-caliber performing opportunities to generations of young dancers. Our dancers are given “real-world” experience — they learn all aspects of becoming a professional dancer, from preparation in the studio and backstage (dedication and planning), to learning to dance in a corps de ballet (team work), to the heady responsibility of carrying an entire ballet as the principal dancer. These assets are carried in them throughout their lives, in everything they do. Numerous alumni of Westside Ballet have gone on to dance in prestigious professional ballet companies all over the world, and we are committed to bringing the benefits of dance to everyone in the community.

Patch: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given when it comes to success?

Harley: Work hard! No one owes you anything. Ballet training requires daily commitment and you must maintain a good attitude about it through every setback, whether it's an injury or you just didn't get the role you hoped for. As a teenager, I asked Rosemary (Valaire) how to stand out in a corps de ballet (the ensemble work that is integral to every major classical ballet); she said to “be the best.” That simple ... be the smartest, best-prepared, most dedicated, passionate dancer and the rest will follow. And that was, and remains, true. If you love what you do, it shows.

Patch: Are there any new projects or endeavors you’re working on that you’re excited about? If so, what details can you share and what makes it so exciting?

Harley: A year ago, our Community Outreach and Diversity & Equity Committee helped us launch a free, weekly introductory classical ballet class for girls and boys ages 6-11. The creative, joyful and inclusive hour-long class has introduced ballet training to numerous young people who may not otherwise get such an opportunity. Several children have now joined our regular curriculum as a result of this successful outreach to the greater community. One young boy will even debut in our Nutcracker this season!

We are also very pleased to be launching a new creative movement class for three year olds in January 2022 — offering the youngest children the opportunity to explore the imaginative and playful world of music and dance.

Patch: Do you have any events coming up in your community? If so, tell us about them.

Harley: This year will be the return of our Nutcracker to the Broad Stage for our 49th Season! We produced an abbreviated, virtual Nutcracker in 2020: a private, in-studio “blackbox” event, so our dancers could perform for their families in masks.

This will be our 8th year at the Broad Stage — and we are so thrilled to return to our Santa Monica theater! Westside's Nutcracker has withstood the test of time and become one of the coveted traditions for our audiences and our dancers. Audiences return each year to appreciate the production they've loved for so long. Dancers who've grown up performing in this production now have their own children performing in it, or bring their family to enjoy it. The Westside production preserves its most beloved traditional characters and scenes — the tree that grows, a firing cannon and falling snow over a stunning corps de ballet of Snowflakes.

Since succeeding Yvonne Mounsey as artistic director in 2013, I have made updates and adaptations to the production in recent years. The goal is always to maintain the integrity of our beloved Nutcracker and also keep it fresh and apropos for the current generations.

Patch: How can Patch readers learn more about your work and business?

Harley: We are located at 1709 Stewart Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 and can be reached at 310-828-2018. Patch readers can also find us online at our website. We are also on social media. They can find us on Instagram, Twitter or our Facebook pages for the school or the dance company.