By Daniel Ling
Sherry Tay is a native of Singapore and arrived in Norman, Oklahoma in August 2006 to pursue an education in ballet at the University of Oklahoma. She will be graduating in December 2009 with a major in ballet performance and a minor in chemistry. In the following interview, Sherry discusses her thoughts about the ballet program, making friends in America, and her future plans. Contrary to popular belief, Sherry remains loyal to her culinary roots in Singapore and yearns for the familiar dishes we all know so well. Why did you choose to study at OU? I chose OU because of the ballet program. I searched online and I was looking through a few schools and I heard from a few friends that OU was a good place. I auditioned at four schools and I got into two, and I thought OU was a better choice. I came here for the dancing, mostly. You’ve been here for two and a half years. What do you like about Norman? It’s a quiet town, so there’s not a lot of distraction from school. That’s a good thing because I’m so busy all the time and I don’t need the distraction. What do you miss about Singapore? The food! I love Singaporean food and, of course the friends and family. I have a lot of friends in NUS (National University of Singapore) and they have a lot of stuff going on. There are also friends in Europe. I see a lot of pictures where they are all together, and I’m here by myself, and there are only five Singaporeans here. So you mentioned earlier that you like the quietness of Norman, Oklahoma. Where else have you traveled to in the United States? I’ve traveled to New York for the past two summers to dance and I think it’s a great place for me—for my career—although the people there are another story. I mean, some people are really nice, but because it’s a big city, many people are unfeeling. It’s dirty and smelly, and only when I went there did I realize why people say Singapore is a clean country. I went to Texas a couple of times. I was in Dallas for this year’s OU-Texas football game but I didn’t watch the game. I just went there for the party since it’s a big thing. I thought I should go there at least once. Could you describe your process of adapting to Norman and America, it’s a whole new country, school, and culture. I got fat because I came here and stayed in the dorms with a meal plan. It’s mostly fast food in the union. And because I was in the dorms, there’s no kitchen for me to cook and I ate a lot of dormitory food. I think the weather played a part. I wasn’t used to winter and ate more. I also thought it was hard to be friends with the people. It’s easy to be acquaintances. Maybe, because of our cultural differences, it’s hard to be actual “real” friends with them. It helps that I’m in a ballet department where I see the same people everyday. I can say hi to them and talk to them about mundane everyday things that are not really consequential, but it took me at least a year before I found an actual friend whom I can talk to about other stuff. I think it’s just like that all around. I guess Americans are used to that—they don’t really have many good friends. They have one or two that they’ll confide in. I think it’s harder to make really good friends or friends whom you can hit it off with. But, you really have to make an effort to ask them out to coffee or something. There are still good friends to be found here, but it’s just the cultural differences and things they are interested in—it’s definitely different. Yeah, I agree. While we’re on that subject, have you met any international students here whom you’ve become good friends with? What kinds of activities do you participate in? Yes, I have. The first year I was here, a couple of people helped me a lot. They called me to do a lot of stuff such as performing in a cultural festival. I was dancing in three performances for the eve of nations (a major international event that provides registered international student organizations to display their cultural heritage). Everyone in the international community pretty much knows who I am. Hanging out with international students is sort of comforting because we have something in common. I was in the International Advisory Council (IAC) my second year so I was even more involved. What other extra-curricular activities do you participate in? Can you tell us a little more about the IAC? I was the sports coordinator/historian. Because we didn’t have many sporting events, I helped the other committee members. We had a few major events like the international bazaar and we raised funds for UNICEF. Of course there was the eve of nations and the IAC leadership camp that was at the beginning of the semester for all the presidents of international societies that are under the IAC. We organized that and had bonding time. It was fun. Let’s talk a little about the education here. Is the ballet education at OU different from what you’ve received in Singapore? Yeah, it’s different. In Singapore, ballet’s just extra activity and you go there to have fun. There’s a big difference between the ballet classes in Singapore because I was under the RAC (Royal Academy of Dance) syllabus and they had set exercises for each level of dancing. When I came here, we had classes where the teachers taught new exercises every day. At first, I wasn’t used to it. In Singapore, I’d memorized the exercises and did it in class. But now I have to think about the exercises. Also, I had two ballet teachers in Singapore but we have at least five faculty members here who teach us. Right now I have three different teachers in a week. Their style of teaching is different so you have to be able to adapt. I think that’s a good thing because you should be versatile in your dancing and learning. You’re a ballet performance major—when did you start ballet in Singapore? I started taking classes since I was six. What made you want to pursue it professionally? I always liked dancing and I cannot see myself living a life without dancing. I also cannot see myself doing a nine-to-five job in the office. My parents said I can do whatever I wanted as long as I completed junior college in Singapore and did well. They also wanted half of my tuition paid in college. I managed to do all that and I decided I wanted to dance because that’s what I really love doing. Could you tell us about the kinds of opportunities to perform as a ballet major at OU? Well, we have a major show every year for ballet performance. Its two weekends with four shows a weekend. For the fall semester, we pretty much spend the whole time practicing for that show. For the spring semester, we’ll learn smaller dances. It’s different for each semester that I’ve been here. The first semester, we did Oklahoma dances because it was the Oklahoma centennial. We performed the dream ballet from the musical, ‘Oklahoma!”. That wasn’t ballet ballet, but was more of a musical theater style of dancing. We performed it at a few places like Bartlesville and Ada (in Oklahoma). That was an interesting experience. So you get one big show a year that goes on for two weekends and a couple of smaller performances here and there? Yeah, sometimes we go to several high schools and middle schools to perform for them as part of an arts education program. How long does it take to prepare for the performances? The big performances take the whole semester and the smaller performances take a couple of weeks. How many times a week do you practice? We have to be available for rehearsals Mondays to Thursdays from six to eight every night. Then we’ll have rehearsals on Saturdays from morning till mid afternoon. Oh, I forgot about the Young Choreographers’ Showcase! That’s in January. We’ll prepare for it in the fall semester. Student choreographers can pick their dances and set a piece of their dances. If they get chosen by the faculty, they get to perform their piece. I got to perform my piece for the past two years! Could you describe your experiences being in other performances—going to rehearsals, being in front of everyone, dancing—how does it feel? Well, it was really scary when I first came. In Singapore, I didn’t really perform. I was in a ballet school where I practiced and went for examinations but it wasn’t in front of a big audience. I got to perform twice with my ballet school and a few times in Raffles Junior College and Raffles Girls’ School. But that was kind of different because it wasn’t ballet. Ballet seems more rigid and structured. The professors here are so strict about being professional and how we act, as if we’re in an actual company. So we’ll rehearse the piece however many times they want. It’s tiring but the performances are always worth it. We have a lot of patrons here and our performances will always be sold out, so it’s very satisfying to see a room full of people watching us perform. After you graduate from OU, what are your prospects for finding a job in America and Singapore? If I go back to Singapore, I’ll probably be teaching and dancing on the side instead of dancing professionally. If I stay here, which will probably be the case, I should be able to get a job at least in a small dance company somewhere. I’m hoping it’ll be a bigger city like Chicago or New York or San Francisco. I’ll be starting to audition for companies next spring to practice auditioning before i actually have to audition when I graduate. If I get a job offer this spring when I audition, I’ll probably take it because I only have one semester left and I can always come back during the summer to do it. Most companies have a summer vacation so I can just stay in shape and finish up next summer. Would you recommend OU to anyone who’s looking to come here? Well, it depends on what you’re looking for. I mean, the teachers here are good but the pieces they choose for performances are not the style of dance I intend to get into when I graduate. The ballet program and the modern dance program are so separated here that you cannot be doing different performances due to your requirements for graduation. If you want a strictly ballet program, this is a good place to come. The standards have risen since I first arrived. Their repertoire is really classical ballet driven and will be good if you want to go into a strictly ballet company. |
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Sooner Update >
A conversation with ballerina Sherry Tay |
