David Howard (ballet teacher) facts for kids

David Howard (born David Charles Edwards) was a famous English ballet dancer and teacher. He was born on June 14, 1937, and passed away on August 11, 2013. Howard taught ballet all over the world at very well-known places like the Royal Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. He also opened his own popular dance school in New York City in 1977, called the David Howard School of Ballet. This school welcomed everyone, from young children to adult beginners and even professional dancers from Broadway shows and ballet companies. Besides teaching, David Howard was an expert on pointe shoes, which ballet dancers wear, and he even helped design new ones.

Early Life and Dance Career

When David Howard was a boy, he loved to study dance. At just 16 years old, he won a special award called the Adeline Genée Silver Medal from the Royal Academy of Dance. When he joined the British performing artists' union, he found another person named David Edwards was already a member. So, he decided to change his name to David Howard.

Howard later became a dancer in the chorus at the London Palladium, a famous theater. He performed in shows with big stars like Julie Andrews, Marlene Dietrich, and Danny Kaye. He was also a soloist, meaning he danced alone, at the Sadler's Wells Theater Ballet. After a short time with the National Ballet of Canada, he returned to London in the early 1960s. Sadly, a back injury ended his performing career.

Teaching in New York

Even after his injury, David Howard continued to teach dance. In 1966, a wealthy woman named Rebekah Harkness asked him to teach at her ballet school, the Harkness Ballet, in New York City. Howard moved to Manhattan, where he lived for the rest of his life. He once said that moving to the United States made him feel like "a part of the American dream."

Howard later taught at other famous dance schools in Manhattan, including Steps on Broadway and the Broadway Dance Center. He also traveled internationally to teach and created many instructional dance CDs and DVDs to help dancers learn.

Howard's Teaching Style

David Howard had a special way of teaching dance. The New York Times newspaper described his method as helping dancers feel their movements from the inside. Instead of just looking in a mirror, he taught them to understand how their body parts were positioned in space.

Howard believed that "Out of the feeling comes the form." This meant he thought dancers should first understand the emotion and feeling behind a movement. Then, the correct dance shape or "form" would naturally follow. He felt that many students were taught the form first, which made it harder for them to truly feel the dance.

Many famous dancers learned from David Howard. Some of his well-known students included Gelsey Kirkland, Patricia McBride, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Patricia McBride called him "one of the great teachers of our day." Mikhail Baryshnikov said that Howard was like "a kind of father figure" to him and Gelsey.