Special
Features / May 2007
An Eloquent Body of Work
 Kim Pauley
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By Pat Lawrence
Kim Pauley is fluent in two languages, English and dance. As both the principal dancer and artistic director of the Charleston ballet, her speech is dramatic, sometimes tragic, sometimes comic, always graceful. Her life is a kinetic composition of motion, motivation, performance and people.
Between performing, teaching classes ever day, rehearsing, choreographing, art direction, management and administration Kim works about eighty hours a week. She says, “It’s an interesting life. But, it’s not normal!”
Born and raised in Charleston, Kims been dancing since she was six. She attended the University of Charleston, “But, I didn’t have a major and didn’t graduate. I took French, history, music, art-things that would help me in ballet. I knew I could always go back to school, but I couldn’t always dance.”
She has constantly expanded her knowledge and experience, studying and performing with great dancers from North America and Europe, New York’s Joffrey Ballet School and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.
She has danced the major roles in the best loved ballets, Romeo and Juliet, Beauty and the Beast, Madame Butterfly, Sleeping Beauty and of course, Nutcracker. She has shared the Charleston stage with some of the most illustrious names in ballet.
In addition to performing as principal dancer, in 1989, Kim assumed the position of director/choreographer for the troupe. “I thought I was busy before, but that was nothing! It’s certainly the equivalent of two full time jobs.” Today, the company includes fifteen dancers, twenty apprentices supported by four staff members, a foundation, a board of directors and Friends of the Ballet. “Even when we aren’t performing, there’s very little downtime because there’s so much planning. I have theater dates already scheduled through 2009. You work far, far ahead in the theater business. It's like planning a big wedding, constantly, with all these things that must come together for a specific moment.”
Ballet puts great emphasis on the method and execution of movement. According to Kim, “The movements are the vocabulary for the story.” The carefully choreographed leaps, turns, glides and bends of a ballet dancer only appear effortless. But, it takes more than coordination and joint flexibility to look that effortless. Ballet requires real body strength and great endurance. A distinctive feature of ballet is the outward rotation of the thighs from the hip and the five basic positions of ballet are all performed with the turnout. Dancers must have boundless energy, great patience, strong feet for going en pointe and the ability to do splits. And, they must be able to get along with others and take criticism easily.
Ballet is not for the weak or faint of heart.
Yet, every year Kim welcomes a new class of eager young dancers. As she says, “When your child studies dance, wonderful things happen. Ballet lessons instill poise, grace, discipline, self-confidence and self esteem. Ballet teaches perseverance, coordination and concentration. It is the gift of a lifetime.”
Traditional ballet is a formalized collaboration of planned movement and music that, through its 400 year history, has showcased the artistic talents of dancers, choreographers, musicians, costume designers and set decorators. Like most companies, the Charleston Ballet reflects past and present, from the staging of traditional classics like La Sylphide, one of the oldest romantic ballets still danced today, to this past season’s rollicking home-run hit, Play Ball, featuring dancing, gum-chewing baseball players in uniform.
Kim has never lost her passion for classical ballet, like Giselle. She says, “I love that ballet! There are two acts. It’s like two different characters in one ballet. You are always in character in ballet. That’s even more important than the steps. And, I enjoy comedic roles like Coppelia, a traditional ballet with a lot of humor. A lot of modern ballets don’t have a story, which is a challenge for me.”
As resident choreographer, she often stages classical ballets. Still, she says, “There’s a strong foundation of technique in ballet that can be used in other dancing. Ballet teaches movements and precision so when you’re trained in ballet, you can do many kinds of dancing.” The company has performed dances based on African images, Romanian folk dances, Rhapsody in Blue and the songs of country singer Pasty Cline.
Married for thirteen years, Kim does take a few weeks off in the summer. She enjoys gardening, travel, “most music”–and going to the ballet. Kim works out daily, teaches every day and rehearses at least three times a week or every night the week of a performance. “You want to feel that you’ve given your best performance and that you prepared your dancers to give their best performance. An art form like this is only passed from generation to generation by people, not videos or books. You have to learn it for yourself.” She remains an irrepressible student, a passionate teacher, and an articulate public speaker in the language of her life.
Copyright © 2007 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
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