Space that we reserve for any student who stands out for his attitude, his work, or for any achievement that deserves to be shared with others.
Almudena Maldonado placeholder image
During my studies at the Professional Conservatory of Dance and Dramatic Art of Murcia. I did many of the courses offered by the School of Carmina Ocaña and Pablo Savoye. Among others, that fantastic “Great Summer Cursillo” that is organized every year in Madrid and in which you can breathe an atmosphere full of good work, effort, enthusiasm and desire. Each time I was left wanting to return and with the feeling that this was the place where I could learn a lot and very well, in addition to the feeling that they were great professionals. His rigor, accuracy, effort, perseverance and his students: reference to take, example of class, technique and style. That was the image I wanted to achieve. All this because I only found the desire to be able to start an experience there, a learning to get more and the best of me and where to move forward, grow and achieve my goals. Thus, with the transfer to that wonderful city full of life that is Madrid, my experience in this school began. Stage full of illusions but also of fears and obstacles to overcome. Each story has a different path and each one of us tells it according to how we have lived it, the most important thing being to be satisfied with what was obtained: and in my case I am happy to say that it has been fulfilled.
This stage began and continued with many corrected ups and downs, little by little. At first I collapsed, I lost myself, I became invisible in class and they did not see me, despite being there physically, aspects that I had to fight against (and that I continue to face). It turns out that he not only had to learn technique but also attitude, something that you cannot do without. The best and most positive thing is above all that I got that support, that help, and I never had the feeling of abandonment from them: they wanted to get the best of me and I of them. They gave me a teaching by which I learned little by little how to deal with these types of situations and sensations. They pushed me to overcome those fears to come to appreciate myself as I am.
The first classes were complicated. I already knew a little about the Techniques they teach: Bournonville and Balanchine, two great schools that totally attract people to want to participate and make them yours, but they had, and still have, a lot of work. With Carmina, I began to reinforce the basic technique and learn a little about the fantastic Bournonville style that she masters and in addition to those valuable technical terms, she transmitted me many basic concepts for this profession but it was not so much what but the degree of demand of them, their importance and how much. His strength, desire and rigor are present in all his classes. At this stage I also obtained the support of other great professionals such as María López and Elisa del Campo, from whom I also had a lot to learn.
And here begins the stage with which I feel the happiest in these four years. Little by little I began to get more involved in Pablo's classes.
"When you arrived you could not do even half a pirouette" as he well reminds me. At the same time I believe this very harsh phrase, it synthesizes a bit the root of the work he did with me: making me value my achievements, those that I did not approve, no matter how great No matter how small they were, along with many other aspects prompted me to move forward. He knew how to “read” me and help me in the best possible way to get everything out of me, and for that I am and will always be deeply grateful. He knew how to understand me and my body , give me the necessary tools to be able to work in the best possible way and achieve the technique that I have today.
Pablo's teachings went beyond the strictly academic or the transmission of the whole Balanchine spirit and technique: I think that if he has something special that makes him such a great professional, it is knowing how to transmit, that gesture, that musicality and the essential of things, of living the movement, adapting to each one of us. That essence or ingredient that dancers seek without which, nothing in this profession would make sense, is what is tried to create in order to reach the goal of transmitting and awakening a sensation or a feeling in the viewer.
In this course nothing was so simple. Obviously there were difficulties, also external influences that, at the time were complicated, but that over time I understood that those obstacles were only signs confirming me once again, that the achievement of a dream is never easy but they help you to draw strength and reaffirm yourself. so I can keep chasing him.
This last year, for me so important, it completes and summarizes what this school is, what it has taken me and what it means. It is where I have seen reflected more than ever that a job well done produces good results and I believe it is the essence of what is transmitted in this school. That is to say, the goal we aspire to is truly achievable when you insist on it. Of course, you also learn that in this profession you need ingredients that sometimes are beyond your magnitude, such as luck and other aspects, but that first, without a doubt, you must have that desire and willingness to give your best.
I have felt support, trust in me and not only by Carmina and Pablo but also by the people who were and are involved in this school, so I can only thank all of them and, especially, them, their great teaching and what remains in my one of them, a trace that will always remain.
Almudena Maldonado has obtained a contract for the 2013-2014 season in the