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thursday, february 2, 1978
Dancerchoreographer shuns the 'sedentary life'
By Charlie Krig
Last week's cold spell felt warm to a
group of Lincoln visitors. That was because
their hometown, Winnipeg, Canada, con
monly experiences winter temperatures
colder than 50 degrees below zero?
But Salvatore Aeillo finds warmth
whether he dances at home in Winnipeg or
on the road. In both cases he conducts
strenuous work-outs, gives powerful per
formances and has his wife's compan
ionship. Aiello's dancing career covers 26 years:
from his first lessons at the age of seven to
his current position with the Royal Winni
peg Ballet. His work with the company
includes traveling during half of the year
(he appeared last Saturday night with the
ballet company in a performance spon
sored by the Lincoln Community Concerts
association) and performing in Winnipeg
during the remaining six months. Some
where in between Aiello and his wife find
time for vacations.
Aiello said he rarely has danced his own
choreography because he can't see the total
picture when he's participating in the per
formance! But his responsibilities with the
Royal Winnipeg Ballet have increased and
he's presently one of the company's three
regisseurs, the persons who direct the
pieces of choreography.
"I've really been getting into director
ship," he said. "l 'retired' at the beginning
of the year from dancing' and just taught
the company. I quit performing for about
two weeks but then I realized that that
wasn't all I was interested in. I went back
and did a performance without practicing
for those two weeks and did very well.
"But at the end I went off the stage and
threw up. I couldn't afford to go without
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Photos by Mark Billinyilcy
"It's a good life and we enjoy it. My wife will eventually retire and then well raise a
family. It is possible to lead a sort of normal existence in this job."
EVENING
40 OOOONEWS
fl EMERGENCY ONE
O DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
& SUN: ZARABANDA
1:30 O NEWLVWEO OAIKE
f MARY TYLER MOORE
CJ TO TELL THE TRUTH
O CONCENTRATION
O H2,000 OUE8TION
O ODD COUPLE
0 HEE HAW Guests: Patti Page.
Brush Arbor, Buddy Alan.
1M a JOKER'S WLD
O a LITTLE HOUSE ON THE
PRAIRIE Charles tngalls facts
losing his farm whan ha makes
purchases in anticipation of an in
heritance from a wealthy relative,
t bequest that turns out to be
worthless. (60 min.)
O THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR
MAN Steve Austin must work fast
to recover a stolen SS million
masterpiece from chmelord
Chilton Kane and return it to a
touring Russian art exhibit.
O eOOO TIMES J J ., Thelma and
Michael Evans fear for their lives
when they discover that their
mysterious new boarder is the
only surviving witness in a trial
against a very dangerous crook
O MONDAY NIGHT MOVIE The
Initiation Of Sarah Stars: Shelley
Winters. Kathryn Crosby, Kay
Lenz. An innocent freshman co
ed is drawn into bizarre rites of a
strange sorority. (2 hrs.)
O ADAM 11
Gi M PURSUIT OP LIBERTY The
First Freedom The series' final
episode explores whether
freedom of the press is an in
dispensable instrument of Of a
serious threat to national govern
ment. (80 mm.)
7JI fl HOLLYWOOD CONNECTION
CI O BABY, I'M BACK Ray Ems'
seven year absence from home
takes on a menacing tone when
two strong-arm men show up to
collect a 'loan-shark debt that's
grown astronomically.
O MOVtE "V "Chato s Land
1S72 , Charles Bronson, Jack
Palance. A post-Civil War posse,
seeking an Indian who killed a
sheriff, begins fighting within its
own ranks. (2 hrs.)
tM O MOVIE "Lovers And
Other Strangers 1970 Bea Arthur.
Gig Young. Each of five stages In
courtship and marriage are
depicted through an intimate look
at the relationships of friends and
relations at the wedding of a
young couple who prior to the
wedding had been living together
for 18 months. (2 hrs.)
O 0 MONDAY NIGHT AT THE
MOVIES "Midway Stars: Henry
Fonda. Glenn Ford. Robert
Wagner, James Cobum.
Q O MONDAY NIGHT MOVIE
The Initiation Of Sarah Stars:
Shelley Winters. Kathryn Crosby.
Kay Lenz.
O O M.A.S.H. Long awaited
mall from home brings with it
varying personal problems for
B.J., Radar, Hot Lips and KUnger.
JO QQ ONE DAY AT A TIME When
the apartment building te pur
chased by a woman, Schneider's
romantic efforts to insure tits
superintendent's Job may get him
into more trouble than he can
handle.
MOO LOU GRANT Lou is plung
ed into the world of the Hare
Krishna movement when Tribune
editor Hume fears his son it toet
to the strange religion. W0 mm )
O OMGMAL8: WOMEN IN ART
"Meveiaon In Process A profile of
sculptor Louise Nevelsoii. whoee
Innovative environmental art kt
constructed of "found junk aban
doned m the streets of New York.
JO ONEWS
O TURNABOUT "Unfit America'
This physical fitness segment
visits a Parcourse exercise pro
gram and features guests: Billie
Jean King, professional tennis
player; Joan Utlyot, M.D.; Kathy
Cope land, director; and Helen
Breymann, 70 year-old sports per
son. 10:00 f STAR TREK Mlri80 mm.)
nnoonoxEwt
OOO COUPLE
m KCK CAVETT SHOW
10 Jt fj O THE TONIGHT SHOW
Guest host: Bill Cosby. Guests:
Loretta Lynn. Cheryl Tiegs. (M
mm.)
O POLICE STORY "Firebird A
young police officer, his Hands
severely burned and crippled in a
helicopter crash, is determined to
prove he can resume his career.
(R)
CI FOREVER FERNWOOD
O MOVIE The Berkleys Of
Broadway" 1M Fred Astaire,
Ginger Rogers.
O CSS LATE MOVE "Vt "How
To Break Up A Happy Divorce
Stars: Barbara Eden, Hal Linden.
11 f BUHJIMOKE
CJ CSS LATE MOVK The
Wicked Dreamt Of Paula Schultz
Stars: Elfce Sommer, Bob Crane.
O POUCC STORY "Firebird
makes a vein appeal to Irene for a
son. 400 mm.)
ttJO n AFFIRMATIVE UPE POWER
VtM fl SERGEANT SJLKO
fj O TCaOROW Host: Tom
Order (60 mm.)
ff NEWS
" I I BROUGHT
f I NEWS
ttM f DRAGNET
f I NEWS
12J IINEWS
13MJ fj MOVC "V "Lovers And
Other Strangers 1I7S Sea Arthur.
rehearsing."
Although traveling has its drawbacks,
Aiello said he prefers it to the "sedentary
life" of performing with a company that
stays in one city. He tried that for three
years in Germany but he quit in order to
return to the Winnipeg Ballet. His travels
have taken him everywhere but "I haven't
beeh to India," he said.
Aiello said he was "dragged" to his first
dance lesson in a small town outside of
New York City. It was tap-dancing, which
is a "very natural way to start" in learning
rhythm, he said. "I never left after that be
cause it was a natural feeling.
'Then my parents got very worried be
cause I was enjoying it so much. They even
made me stop for awhile but I talked them
into letting me continue," Aiello said.
"When you studied dance you sort of
foundout who your real friends were. I
was popular in school probably because of
the things I did. I performed on talent
shows, which was very big in those days.v
so the other kids were in awe of me.
"I gained a little more respect from
that. They got to realize tie's some kind of
celebrity'."
Professional dancing has been his life
ever since. Aiello also has tried some chor
eography and directing of dance
companies. His creations include a work
done for a dance company in Washington
and a new piece that will debut in May, a
dance based on a Navajo Indian lesson
that will be "sort of a theatre piece with
some acting," he said.
Sitting in a bus for four to five hours a
day "cramps" his body, Aiello said, but
another hazard is eating "fast food."
"The problem in traveling is not going
to a good restaurant and overeating. It's
going to some fast place and downing ham
burgers instead of getting some good
food," he said.
Aiello said one of the better results of
his dance career happened ten years ago
when he met a special woman while per
forming in another dance company. One
year latei he married her and they've been
performing together since then. The couple
celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary
in Lincoln with an evening at the Lincoln
Underground restaurant.
"We're together morning, noon and
night and we have been for ten years. Us
ually comples never see each other but that
isn't the case with us. We sit on the bus
together, we eat together, we practice to
gether, we perform together, we're
together in all things," he said.
"But we never argue. We're in the same
situations so we've got the same feelings
about what goes on. We enjoy the same
things, but we're mutually irate if some
thing goes wrong."
He continued, "It's a good life and we
enjoy it. My wife will eventually retire and
then well raise a family. It is possible to
lead a sort of normal existence in this job."
Aiello said he likes his work with the
Royal Winnipeg Ballet, too. He said it's a
prestigious company due to its "royal"
designation (it is one of only four "royal"
dance companies in the world) but people
don't realize how special that honor is.
"We're a company built on the fact that
we're versatile. We have dancers with back
I
Salvatore Aiello
grounds in tap, jazz, ballet, everything. It's
getting harder and harder to find those
kind of dancers anymore. People are start
ing to specialize in their training so
you don't get a well-rounded dancer Very
often," he said.
He noted that more males are entering
the field of professional dancing because
they realize what is involved in the work.
He also said world famous dancers such as
Rudolf Nureyev have helped improve the
image of the male dancer.
"Dancers used to work for nothing but
that was good. You got rid of the people
who didn't want to work but at the same
time the people who were good said they
wouldn't dance unless they got more
money. As a result, the quality goes up,"
Aiello said.
A recent "dance boom," as Aiello called
it, is helping companies get better perform
ers and schedule more engagements. He
said the Royal Winnipeg Ballet is booked
for appearances two years in advance.
Yet, some audiences don't appreciate the
modern ballet the company does, he said.
'Personally, I would like to see classical
and modern ballet kind of blend just
call dance, dance, and people can appreci
ate what they're seeing."
And where's the toughest audience?
"They're probably our worst audience in
Winnipeg because they have a chance to
see us all the time. They're the hardest
to please," he said.
Aiello said his own days in dance are
numbered. He said most dancers hit their
peak at 35 years of age. "Some people
keep going much past that but that's sad
because the muscles don't keep their
tone," he said. Dancers are most flexible
at age 21, he added.
But being 33 years old doesn't bother
Aiello. He's enjpying dance as a performer,
he said, but later, when he retires, being a
director and choreographer will be just as
exciting. rf
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MIDWAY
One of the most crucial naval
battles of World War II is recreated
in the epic 1976 motion picture
'Midway,' making its television
Kemiere Sunday. Feb. 5 on NBC
r$ The Big Event and concluding
Feb. 6 on 'NBC Monday Night at the
Movies.
The confrontation between the
United States Pacific Fleet and the
Imperial Japanese Navy nears its
explosive climax in part two on
Monday night as military com
manders on both sides endeavor to
smash the opposition. The battle of
Midway opened the path to an
eventual American victory and dealt
the Japanese their worst sea defeat
3f the war but at a heavy cost to
doth sides.
An all-star cast includes Henry
conda and Toshiro Mifune as oppos
ng admirals (both pictured) along
ith Chartton Heston. Robert Mit
Aum. Hal Hofbrook. Glenn Ford.
Robert Wagner, James Cobum and
Robert Webber.
J.