Elisa King

Elisa King was one of the first dance teachers I ever had. She was my Graham-based modern dance teacher at LaGuardia High School. I say Graham-Based because while Ms. King has taught me a lot of about Graham technique, I think all of her students would agree, her class was so much more.

The first thing that caught my attention in her class was the way she moved. She is a fantastic dancer. She demonstrated all the exercises FULL OUT… with feeling. Not many teachers do that any more. I have had the great pleasure of watching her perform many times with Zvi Gotheiner’s dance company – you could not take your eyes off of her. She danced her combinations the same way she danced Zvi’s steps…I loved that about her. My favorite combo was “It’s a Mermaid Tail and it’s a Battement… It’s a Mermaid Tail and it’s a batte-ment”. She would give a lot of her own choreography in the final combination which kept things fresh and challenging. Sometimes she would dim the lights… add Andy Monroe on the piano… can I get an Amen?! I LOVED her class. I also had a chance to perform in her choreography on stage at LaGuardia. It was a great experience… I included a picture of me in her rehearsal below!

Her class was so fun and exciting! She was good at what she did and you could see that. A good teacher needs to do so much more than give a good class, and that is where Ms. King shined. She gave so much of herself to her students. She is a very emotional and honest being. She was there for her students in and out of the studio. I remember one example when there was a lot of tension between the dancers and Ms. King made us sit down and settle it like adults in a group discussion before modern class. She fixed everything.

Elisa King is a dancer, choreographer and teacher who holds a BFA and MFA in Dance from the University of California at Irvine. She moved to New York City in 1976 to pursue a career in dance and also began teaching at the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance in 1978. Ms. King has been on the faculty of the La Guardia High School for Music and Art & Performing Arts since 1981 and has taught at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Peridance, Ballet Hispanico and the Juilliard School. In 1990, Elisa King & Dancers was formed as a showcase for her choreography. Her work on video is part of the permanent exhibition at the Hall of Human Evolution and Biology at the American Museum of Natural History. She has collaborated with the Manhattan School of Music’s Jazz Division on the Commission Project. Ms. King has danced with Doug Varone, Peter Sparling and Gerald Otte, among others and was an apprentice with Jennifer Muller and the Works. Recently invited to teach and perform in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Ms. King continues to appreciate living and working in the dance community of New York City. She has been dancing with Zvi since 1986 and is grateful for the rich experience that he always creates.

This year, Ms. King retired from LaGuardia High School and I was down about it…it felt like it was the end of an era. I can not Imagine that place without her. She cares. Even in my professional career, Ms. King makes sure that I am doing well by checking up on me through a friend or email. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to work with her. Sometimes I like to think that I have a little portion of her passion with me on stage…

Thank you Ms. King for your LOVE and inspiration.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you always want to do what you’re doing now?

I wanted to be a ballerina. I fell in love with the beauty and ritual of ballet. My childhood was defined by my father’s depression and anger. Ballet represented someplace safely beautiful and filled with order. I started ballet at six or seven years old with a wonderful Cuban teacher, but we moved when I was nine and I did not again have good training until I could drive myself at sixteen. I had the good fortune to be introduced to modern dance in high school and that allowed me a sense of possibility.

Elisa’s Favorite Things

 Favorite Things to eat?

Fruit especially, but I love good food. I grew up in California eating apricots, apples, figs, and peaches from the trees in our yard. I love vegetables (especially salad), and I also love ice cream, dark chocolate, and red wine…(is that food?).

Favorite Books?

I love to read and I love language. There are so many books that have moved and inspired me. I will list several books as well as authors because I cannot possibly choose.

1: Anais Nin’s Diaries (edited by her)

2: Gabriele Garcia Marquez “Love in the Time of Cholera”

3: Laurence Durrell “The Alexandria Quartet”

4: Gerald Durrell “My Family and Other Animals”

5: Henry Miller’s Letters to Lawrence Durrell and to Anais Nin

6: Kate Atkinson “Life After Life”

7: Donna Tartt “The Goldfinch”

8: Anthony Doerr “All the Light We Cannot See”

9: Abraham Vergese “Cutting for Stone”

10: Vickie Constantine Croke “Elephant Company”

11: Colum McCann “Let the Great World Spin”

12: Siri Hustvedt, Michael Cunningham, Louise Erdrich, Philip Roth, Nicole

Krauss, Marianne Wiggins, Barbara Kingsolver, Michael Ondaatje, Patti Smith, and so many more…My Masters of Fine Arts Thesis was a comparison of the work of Anais Nin and Martha Graham. It merged my love of language and dance.

Favorite Movies?

I love film and again, there are so many–I will do another list of favorites.

1: “Magnolia” Paul Thomas Anderson

2: “The Tree of Life” Terrence Malik

3: “Melancholia” Lars Von Trier

4: “Dr. Strangelove”, “Eyes Wide Shut” Stanley Kubrick

5: “Singing in the Rain”

6: “Casablanca”

7: “Blazing Saddles” Mel Brooks

8: “Annie Hall”, ” Manhattan””, and so many more of Woody Allen”s films…

Favorite Dance Piece or Show/Musical or both?

Pina Bausch and George Balanchine are my favorite choreographers, but I have loved Merce Cunningham, Ohad Naharin, Martha Graham’s “Night Journey”, “Errand Into the Maze”, “Dark Meadow”, “Clytemnestra”, “Diversion of Angels”, “Appalachian Spring”, “Seraphic Dialogue”, “Primitive Mysteries”, “Deaths and Entrances”, and “Celebration”. I have loved early Mark Morris, Paul Taylor’s “Esplanade” and “Last Look”, Bill T. Jones, Ron Brown, Lar Lubovitch, Twyla Tharpe, Doug Varone, Zvi Gotheiner, early Jennifer Muller…Anthony Tudor, William Forsythe, Jiri Killian, Alexander Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins… There is really no end to it.

My favorite musicals are “A Chorus Line”, “West Side Story”, and almost everything by Stephen Sondheim (especially “Sweeney Todd”).

I like dancers who…

….have soul, who are artists, who use technique as a means of expression. I love dancers who are passionate and fearless and truthful, whose musicality is a profound part of their dancing.

I am afraid of…

….not being able to dance, to move, to celebrate living and feeling through my body.

A dance piece should…

….I do not think I can define what a dance piece should do. There are so many possibilities.

Something you like to do other than your current job?

I love to read books, write in my journal, spend time with my husband and my cat and my dear friends. I love to garden at my house in Cape Cod, watch the birds and walk on the beach all year long. I love to have music all around me…

What is your most embarrassing moment?

I am not sure I want to define my most embarrassing moment…

One of the hardest things about your job?

Teaching Martha Graham Technique at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts to a magnificently diverse student body, united through talent but filled with the complexity of different backgrounds and changing desires over the arc of four years was challenging. To inspire passion and profound work on a daily basis was never easy, but it was always deeply rewarding.

One of the happiest moments in your life?

My wedding day. Performing always makes me happy. Teaching students who are passionate about learning has always made me happy.

One of your most unusual or coolest experiences?

Driving across the country in a U-Haul truck with two friends and a cat, as we moved from California to NYC.

Who has been the most influential person/people in your life? or Career? and why?

Anais Nin was and continues to be an inspiration to me. I heard her speak in an intimate setting at UCIrvine in 1970. I was already a journal writer, but her courageous, open, loving, generous life propelled me forward. When I was an MFA student writing my thesis, she opened her home to me, made time for me, and helped me interview her. Christine Dakin, Tim Wengerd, Anthony Tudor, Alfredo Corvino, Zvi Gotheiner, Lar Lubovitch, Jennifer Muller and Margie Gillis inspired me through their teaching and their dancing.

Do you have any goals you still wish to achieve?

To face the challenges of aging with grace, love, happiness, and courage.

A question you would like to know the answer to?

Why is there such cruelty in humanity?

Dear aspiring artists,

Believe in yourself and trust your heart.

— Elisa King

 Photo Journal

©David Rauch

©Steven Speliotis

©Steven Speliotis

Emily Oldak and I in rehearsal with Ms. King in high school!!!

©Steven Speliotis

Have you worked with Elisa? Help me say thank you by sharing your stories in the comments below. Thank YOU for reading!