Marjorie Kovich

Training/Performance
Community Works
Choreography
Teaching Accomplishments

Training / Performance

Marjorie Kovich began her early ballet training at the Edith James School of Ballet in Dallas, Texas. Her teachers included former stars of the Ballets Russes: Alexandra Danilova, Nathalie Krassovska, and Victor Moreno. She was accepted into the Dallas Civic Ballet Company at the age of 12. During this time, she performed in her first production of Giselle, which was staged by former Diaghilev Ballet Russes premiere danseur, Anton Dolin and was a soloist with the company.

She received her B.F.A. and M.F.A. in ballet performance at the University of Oklahoma, studying with Yvonne Chouteau and Miguel Terekov who created leading roles for her.

From 1976 to 1981, Marjorie Kovich performed with Ballet Oklahoma. She danced principal roles under the directorship of Conrad Ludlow and later, Bo and Stephanie Spassoff. Her roles included the title role in the Firebird, Snow Queen in the Nutcracker, Myrtha, queen of the Wilis, in Giselle, the waltz and Mazurka roles in Les Sylphides and other principal roles.

Community Works

Throughout the years, Ms. Kovich has provided many performing opportunities for her students.  Many of these performances were designed to bring ballet and dance to the children in the Norman community. Her programs for the Pioneer Library System have included: *

• Sing and Dance Americaa bicentennial event of dancing and sing-a-long, dance-a-long to the music of Woody Guthrie and other traditional American songs.
• Dancing Books Series - Sometimes I Dance Mountains
• Dancing Books Series -Where the Wild Things Are
• A Day for Dancing (1976) ( also performed at the Texarkana Public Library)

*Later, these programs were performed in libraries throughout the state; from Frederick, Oklahoma to Poteau, Oklahoma and in the OKC Metropolitan Library System.

Ms. Kovich has been awarded two Individual Artist grants from the Norman Arts Council. One grant was for children’s workshops in Norman and Moore Public Libraries as part of her Dancing Books Series and the other was for Dancing Masks a program in conjunction with the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.  She has also presented two original seminars on choreography and literature entitled From Page To Stage at Norman High Schoolas part of the Norman Arts Council’s Arts in Education program.

Choreography

In 1984, Ms. Kovich founded the Norman Ballet Company and was named Artistic Director. She has staged and choreographed the company’s productions of:

As Artistic Director of NBC she has choreographed for and worked with guest artists from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Texas Ballet Theatre, and other professional companies.

Other choreographed works include:

• Hansel and Gretel and Amahl and the Night Visitors (1988-1995)for Cimarron Circuit Opera Company
• The Sleeping Beauty(1982)
• 16th century court dances (1990), a collaboration with Eugene Enrico and the OU School of Music for its Renaissance Feast.
• “The Gondoliers” (2008) Southern Nazarene University School of Music

Teaching Accomplishments

Ms. Kovich continues to be involved in the current ballet scene by attending and observing classes at the School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and company classes at the New York City Ballet.

Ms. Kovich has worked with master teachers Suki Schorer of the School of American Ballet, Victoria Leigh (Washington Ballet Co. School), and Paul Boos (New York City Ballet Co.) in workshops for the Norman Ballet Company.

From 1993 to 1996, Ms. Kovich was a guest teacher in ballet at Dansens Hus, a training facility for professional dancers in Copenhagen, Denmark.  She taught the professional ballet level for dancers from throughout Europe.  She was also a guest teacher for the Marie Brolin Danseteater in Arhus, Denmark.

Students from the Marjorie Kovich School of Ballet have been accepted for advanced study at the School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and other professional programs nationwide. Students have been accepted into both the modern and ballet programs at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute. Since 1990, more students from the Marjorie Kovich School of Ballet have been accepted into the ballet program at OSAI than any other studio in the Norman area.

Former students have performed  as professional company members with Ballet West, Ohio Ballet, Texas Ballet Theatre, Fort Worth Dallas Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre and Ballet Oklahoma. They also have performed in the professional division at the Pacific Northwest Ballet and with the Oklahoma Festival Ballet.  They have become choreographers, dance teachers, actors and singers on Broadway and television.

Her students also have degrees in dance from the University of Oklahoma, University of Indiana, University of Utah and Southern Methodist University.