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Eran Bugge is from Oviedo, Florida where she began her dance training at the Orlando Ballet School. She went on to study at the Hartt School of the University of Hartford under the direction of Peggy Lyman, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a B.F.A. in ballet pedagogy in 2005. She attended The Taylor School and the 2004 and 2005 Taylor Summer Intensives. Ms. Bugge has performed in works by Amy Marshall, Katie Stevinson-Nollet and Jean Grand-Maître. She was also a member of Full Force Dance Theatre and the Adam Miller Dance Project. She joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in Fall 2005. The following is an excerpt from an email interview LOLAstretch New Media Assistant, Stephanie Wolf had with dancer and LOLAliaison Eran Bugge. SW:Tell me a little about your background. . .When did you start dancing? EB:I started dancing when I was 3 years old at the Orlando Ballet School. It was fairly strict Russian ballet training. I was there all through high school. I did to do a little bit of jazz and modern with that school. Ellie Potts was a really great modern teacher that I had growing up. She was the first one make to me love modern dance. But, I am grateful for my time with Orlando. I got to perform with Orlando Ballet a lot. Dancing roles such as Clara in the Nutcracker and a Swan in Swan Lake. After high school, I went to the Hart School, the University of Hartford, for college and got a degree in Ballet Pedigogy. And that is where I decided that modern dance was for me. Our director, Peggy Lyman, was a wonderful teacher with a background in Graham technique. Katie Stevinson-Nollet was another great modern teacher I had at the school. She had Limon and Taylor-esque influences in her classes. They were the two that encouraged me to pursue Paul Taylor Dance. This is what lead me to attend the Paul Taylor summer intensive. SW:Did you end up auditioning for the company by attending that summer intensive or an open call? EB:Right before I graduated from college, I auditioned for Taylor II and made it to the last six women. But didn't get hired. Then, at the end of my second year at the intensive, they announced an audition for the main company. So I attended and this time I got the job. I auditioned on a Sunday and by Monday was already rehearsing with the company. It all happened very quickly. I had actually just accepted a pilates teaching job a few days before. I had come up for the intensive with the intention of staying in the city and continuing to attend the school. . .hoping for the best. Of course I had to call the pilates studio back and turn down the job. SW:: ) I guess the best happened! What was the transition process like for you when you first moved to New York City? EB:Getting into the company made the transition to NYC smoother. I was very young. I was only 22 when I got into the company. Most of the other members had been living in the city for a long time, so they were able to help me. I was very lucky because so many dancers have to struggle for so long to find a dancing job in the city. I felt like I was quickly accepted into this family of wonderful dancers that were able to guide me through the transition. SW:Was it vastly different from what you were used to? EB: I lived in Connecticut for college for 4 years so that helped me adjust to things like the weather. And I visited the city a lot while I was in school, so I knew my way around a little bit already. I love living here. Sometimes I still can't believe I live it. I can be walking down the street and just suddenly realize how amazing it is to be living in this city. It has everything. It's amazing. SW:Have there been any hurdles that you have had to jump in your career as a professional modern dancer? EB:I haven't had to deal with too many setbacks. I do have a chronic hip injury that bothers me sometimes. PTDC has full benefits so I feel well taken care and am able to get treatment whenever I need some. But, the hip doesn't bother me too often. . .sitting actually hurts it more than dancing. SW:It seems like the company tours a lot. What are some of your favorites places that you have visited since joining PTDC? And do you get time to explore while on tour? EB:We do get time for exploration when we are on the road. We usually have one easy day to recover from jet lag, especially if it is an international tour. We often rehearse the show the day of the actual show. If we are doing the same show for several nights in a row, it leaves the day time hours free for us to explore. Bangkok is probably my number one for favorite places we've toured. We just got back from Istanbul, Italy, and Israel. We stayed in Tel Aviv and performed in Jerusalem, Haifa. We did get a day off in Israel and got to see things such as the Dead Sea. It was pretty incredible. The wonderful thing about touring to these cities is that they are often places I don't think about visiting on my own. But, now that I've been there with PTDC, I want to go back to see more. We have a tour to Norway coming up soon that we are rehearsing for right now. When we tour the US we are constantly changing the repertoire from city to city. We usually do 3 different dances with 2 intermissions. Paul likes to keep the programs varied. . .almost as if each dance could seem to come from 3 different choreographers. SW:What are you working on right now? EB:Paul is working on a new dance right now and we are rehearsing for upcoming tours. We call this our creative period. We do it twice a year, every year. So he creates new work twice a year. SW:What do you enjoy doing when you aren't rehearsing, performing or touring with the company? EB:I really enjoy cooking. A perfect Sunday with my boyfriend would be getting up, making a grocery list, going to the farmers' market, getting groceries, and coming home to cook. I also do window sill gardening. In October, I am moving to Brooklyn, which is exciting because then I will have a real backyard to do my gardening in. I like to grow things that I can eat: herbs, veggies. I also like to read. . .anything, everything, my tastes change. Right now I am reading a book called Stiff. It's a nonfiction book on medical research. SW:What inspired you to pursue dance professionally and what continues to inspire you to dance? EB:I can't remember not wanting to be a dancer. It's hard to say what initially inspired me. It's always been a part of me. I can't imagine doing anything else. I love Paul's work. It is so varied. Within his repertoire there are so many different styles. You are constantly stimulated and challenged. The other dancers provide such a source of inspiration. I think they are some of the best dancers in the world. There is something about his work that feels very human allowing us to always find ways of connecting with each other on stage. Everyone is totally committed and there 100%. I can't help but to be inspired working in the studio with Paul and the other dancers. SW:Do you have any advice for others aspiring to be professional dancers? EB:See a lot of dance, especially modern dance. There are so many different choreographers and style. You have to see the shows, take the classes, discover what makes them different from each other. Be knowledgeble and well rounded. SW:Where do you see yourself in 5 years? EB:Still with dancing with Paul, I hope. I wanna dance till my last day with Paul. SW:In 10 years? EB:Still with Paul (smile). SW:Do you have any interest in choreography or teaching? EB:I do. My degree was in Ballet Pedagogy, so teaching is a huge interest of mine. A post performance dream would be to teach at a university. Whenever we have time off I try to teach master classes. I love to expose young people to modern dance. I love exposing modern dance to young ballet dancers. Paul's technique is very line based so it is often a great modern dance intro. SW:How did you get introduced to LOLAstretch? EB:One of my best friends (who actually just got hired into the company this past weekend) from college wore a LOLAstretch unitard to class one time and I loved. It's so hard to find unique well fitting unitards and Paul loves unitards so I was totally interested. She's the one that got me wearing LOLAstretch and now they are my favorites. I wear them all the time. SW:What is it that you like most about a unitard? EB:A unitard is like a dress. You know how a dress is a whole outfit, you don't have to worry about matching the top and bottom. Same with a unitard. It's a whole outfit and you don't have to try to match two pieces together. Paul doesn't like baggy clothing. He likes to see the full line. A unitard is very clean. I feel like tights or warm ups cut off your line. Paul feels that warm ups can be a distraction while he is creating new work or rehearsing older rep. I think that unitards are actually very flattering. In college I didn't like them, but Peggy encouraged us to wear them to class. When it fits well, it looks and feels great. Your body becomes one long, lean line. SW: What is your favorite LOLAstretch leotard, or rather unitard? EB:My purple Spudnik Sweetheart unitard. . .I only have unitards form LOLAstretch. {Eran in a Shooting Star Short Unitard. Photo by Steven Schreiber.} The views expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, LOLAstretch. Archived Featured Dancer Interviews: Spring 2010 -- Victoria North, Columbia Ballet Collaborative |
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