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John Gluckman: Ballet is life
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BY SID SMITH
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Chicago Tribune arts critic
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Published September 12, 2004
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Dancers struggle for years for recognition. Any recognition.
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And then there’s John Gluckman, who, at 23, not only enjoys a budding career on stage as a dancer with the Joffrey Ballet but has already been in a movie. In Robert Altman’s “The Company,” Gluckman enjoyed a choice role as a shy, wide-eyed naif, crashing on the communal floor of a stranger’s apartment as he struggles to make it as a dancer.
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Though he had his days in a cramped Lakeview one-bedroom unit (“The walls were practically falling down”), Gluckman’s own struggle has been a bit easier. And last year’s brief flirtation with cinema came and went. “I got to go to a film festival in Virginia,” he recalls. “But, frankly, I thought I’d be more recognized. It was fun, but ultimately it had no effect on my life whatsoever.”
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Oh, well, such is the fickle finger of filmdom. Not to worry: Gluckman has his hands (and feet) pretty busy right now. A rapidly rising performer since joining the troupe as an apprentice just three years ago, he takes on a plum assignment this fall as the lead in “Petrouchka,” the one-act classic that’s part of the company’s tribute to Rudolf Nureyev, scheduled Oct. 13-24 at the Auditorium Theatre.
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“I never actually saw him dance live myself,” Gluckman says of Nureyev. “We’re working with videotapes, but I feel he’s one of those dancers you don’t really appreciate on video. Technically, he wasn’t that great. It was more a matter of his stage presence. That, and he had a pretty crazy life himself. He made a dash and ran for his freedom [from the U.S.S.R.], and then Margot Fonteyn picked him to be her partner when she was 20 years older than he was.
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“Sure, there’s a technical side to `Petrouchka,’ and all these works,” he continues. “But with Nureyev, a lot of it’s all about emotion.”
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Gluckman grew up in Philadelphia, the son of a physician and a physical therapist. “My mom enrolled me in both ballet class and gymnastics, but eventually I had to pick one over the other. It was almost a flip of the coin.”
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And hardly all-consuming. “I wasn’t that focused on ballet in high school,” he says. “It was something I did as an extracurricular. I also wrestled and served as captain of the team. And I took academics seriously.”
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Even in college, he was torn at first between dance and academics, expecting to major in languages or literature. But at Indiana University in Bloomington, he was exposed to top dance instructors, including American Ballet Theatre’s Julie Kent, and eventually accepted the Joffrey job from among several offers.
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“In high school, ballet was my third or fourth priority,” he says. “Now, it’s my life. I’m so different now. I feel I would have been a different person if I’d given up ballet.”
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Gluckman took to the company’s renowned discipline. “I like to be pushed.” Last fall, expecting to perform Mercutio in only a couple of outings of “Romeo and Juliet,” Gluckman took over the role full time after an injury sidelined a lead performer. “I’ve worked hard, and I think they saw that. This is a company that rewards hard work. As for the performances, I loved it. I felt my artistry grow every minute I was on stage during those two weeks.”
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He’s branching out more now, learning the guitar and finding the time for some intense reading (Marcel Proust). “I’m not quite so consumed by ballet as when I first joined the troupe,” he says. That means room for some non-artistic pursuits too.
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“I’m single,” he says, “but I’m working on it.”
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