A favorite friend of the dancers of the Sacramento Ballet and a longtime supporter of the company, John de la Vega, MD (known affectionately around the studio as “Dr. John”) joined me for a brief interview this afternoon. Also a ballet superfan, he even watched the run of Serenade that preceded our meeting. I scheduled it that way on purpose, but still. The man loves his ballet.
EMILY HITE: How long have you been following the Sacramento Ballet?
JOHN DE LA VEGA: Seven years.
EH: What draws you to performances?
JDLV: It’s a combination of the athleticism, the music, the storytelling, and the acting that comes together in such a way that no other art form can match.
EH: What about opera?
JDLV: The problem with opera is, it doesn’t have any movement.
Ballet builds on the basics—the most basic yearnings of people. Love, love lost. Nothing else gets me this way. Well, Gilligan’s Island does. It’s actually trying to be funny in a funny way.
EH: What draws you to the Sacramento Ballet, specifically?
JDLV: I think it’s the ability to connect with the individuals. The way they can tell a story or show emotion on the stage, that everyone’s not the same. It really makes for a cast of characters that’s interesting to watch.
EH: What are you looking forward to seeing in the October performances at the Community Center Theater?
JDLV: [With respect to Ron Cunningham’s Dracula,] it’s nice to match the piece to the season. There’s the mysticism of the Balanchine piece, the excitement of the McIntyre piece.
EH: What would you like to see more of at the Ballet?
JDLV: I prefer more classic pieces.
Works where the whole company has roles to play, pieces that can showcase each dancer’s individuality and strengths, pieces that the dancers are excited about themselves, because then it really shows through.
EH: What would you tell a friend who’s never been to the ballet to expect on a first visit?
JDLV: “It’s all about men in tights.” Just kidding.
Well, people I tell to go usually have kids, and everybody in the family gets something out of it.
EH: How does what you see on stage or in the studio connect to your own life?
JDLV: Gets me out of the house.
All I see all day is disease and suffering in my work, and it’s great to see, these days, activity in young adults in peak physical shape. It’s fun to watch people with skills and abilities that I don’t personally have: acting in front of others on a stage, having physical abilities to dance and leap and jump and act.
EH: You’re a peak-form athlete: a bicyclist.
JDLV: In one direction. Doing one thing.
Seeing the trend of most people away from health and fitness as well as the classical arts of Western civ., it’s refreshing to see another young generation carrying it on, even without much in terms of monetary compensation. It’s refreshing to see any young person answering a calling these days.
EH: Why “these days”?
JDLV: Oh, these days are just terrible!
I don’t know. I think it’s because there are so many different directions for people to go these days in terms of their life—personal relationships, jobs, careers.
EH: Why do you choose to support the ballet financially?
JDLV: Tax deduction.
Well, there’s really no other part of our culture that plays such a central role in the community. Usually the theaters are in the center of the city across from city hall—very dramatic buildings. There’s some underlying importance to the position in which we hold them. It’s a social endeavor with a way to connect to the other artists in the community. It’s great seeing an entire school built around the company [the Sacramento Ballet Center for Dance Education].
EH: Why not spend towards a political campaign? Venture capital? Weapons proliferation?
JDLV: I think more than enough money is put towards those areas and there’s no dedicated taxes that go specifically towards the arts as in other countries. [Sacramento Ballet has not been a beneficiary of NEA funding.]
I believe in helping those in your own communities, keeping the money local. Helping those that directly make your life better, rather than sending money off to some third party far, far away, which results in a diluting effect.
EH: Why has this made your life better?
JDLV: I guess it’s a direct link to the community giving me contact with hundreds of people, both people in the company and audience members. That I can help bring it to the stage and have literally thousands of people enjoy it gives me more satisfaction than seeing it, myself.
EH: We’re glad you feel that way.
Anything else you’d like to say that I haven’t asked you?
JDLV: [Recites narration of a Swan Lake mime sequence between Odette and Prince Siegfried at the lake. I am impressed.]
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