|
|
the
New York manufacturer of fine dance apparel for women and girls.
Click here to see a sample of our products and a
list of web sites for purchasing.
With Body Wrappers it's always performance at its best.
|
Go back to Flash Reviews
Go Home
Flash
Tribute, 5-1: In Memorium
Muriel Topaz, Teacher
By Rebecca Stenn
Copyright 2003 Rebecca Stenn
Mickey Topaz was a warm,
kind and giving person. She was straightforward and had a terrific
sense of humor. When I first arrived at Juilliard as an 18-year-old
dance student from a small town in Canada, Mickey Topaz was, I think
looking back on it now, one of the only reasons I was able to survive
at first and then later, flourish. Ms. Topaz, as we called her,
received us openly, was clear and concise and quite simply, made
it all seem not quite so scary.
Ms. Topaz was unflinchingly
supportive. Once, I went to her office with a suggestion about something,
an idea I had. She listened carefully. She was thoughtful and helpful.
And then, she did something amazing. She took me seriously. She
found a way to implement my idea. For this I will always be so thankful,
because what she was doing was bigger than helping me see my idea
come to fruition, she was giving me the confidence in myself I would
need for a career of making ideas happen.
When I was still at
Juilliard, and still under Ms. Topaz's tutelage, my mother passed
away. I was 20 years old and quite lost. Ms. Topaz opened her heart
to me. She told me to come to her office at anytime I needed to
talk. She made herself completely available to me. And when I was
silent and just wanted comfort, she would regale me with wonderful
stories of her youth, her work with Antony Tudor, her experience
as a young mother.
I liked to think of
her as a bit of a "fairy godmother" and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Ms. Topaz had a way of watching out for her students, for subtlety
guiding us, finding opportunities for us, encouraging us. When I
was interested in branching out and writing about dance, Ms. Topaz
was unfailingly supportive, reading my fledgling articles, offering
advice and sending them where they needed to be sent. She would
go out of her way to attend performances. Her smile was wide and
sparkling. I loved the laugh lines around her eyes. And it seemed
that she would break into laughter so easily, so freely. We were
all blessed to have her as a director, a mentor and a friend. She
will be dearly missed.
Go back to Flash Reviews
Go Home
|
