048 Inspiring!

“Great Expectations” or How One of the Savvy Broads Was Inspired

Many of my memories come from the arts. As a little girl I took the requisite piano and ballet lessons. I have loved them both from the tender age of four. I still “noodle” around on the piano and throughout my adult years have used dance as part of my teaching career and in productions for civic activities. So many memories from childhood lessons live on!  I once danced at a party with a jazz musician. He gave me the ultimate compliment--“you’re really good and you’re a middle-aged white woman.”

I see every day how very fortunate we were in the Winchester area to have had excellent teachers who inspired us by being our role models and our mentors. Some of you readers will recognize immediately the two women who inspired me; for others, these women may read like “My Most Unforgettable Character” feature that used be in the Readers’ Digest. Be that as it may, these women had a major impact on me and on our town that is unforgettable.

Two of the most important non-family members in my life were pianist Eugenia Evans and dance teacher Dorothy Ewing. Brave and passionate both, they were well before their time by choosing their professional careers. Both overcame odds to pursue their dreams. 

Let’s begin with Dorothy Ewing and the Ewing Studio of Dance. For many little girls, a tutu and toe shoes are a rite of passage to becoming a beautiful, graceful person--a little princess. Miss Ewing made this dream come true for hundreds of us. My first costume was a green satin leotard with a yellow tutu attached--I was a flower. My last costume was a golden traditional short ballet tutu along with gold pointe shoes for my senior presentation solo. I wish I still had these!

Miss Ewing was born in October of 1896 (which many of us did not learn until her obituary was printed) in Washington, D.C.  She was the daughter of a Methodist minister. Ewing studied ballet in New York City and graduated from Peabody Conservatory. She danced professionally in NYC and the DC area. The story of her early years is that the family came to Winchester while her father was traveling as a district superintendent of the Methodist church. Her full name was Dorothy Ewing Jameson Locke, but because some church sanctions against daughters with careers and daughters who danced (“God forbid.”) and for peace in the family, it is said that she took her mother’s maiden name of Ewing for her professional name. 

In the early 1930’s (not a prime time for a woman starting a business enterprise), Miss Ewing opened her studio. Her first recital was in the George Washington Hotel ballroom with 34 students. One year later, even in a depressed economy, she had over 100 students enrolled. Yes, little girls (and a few boys) wanted to dance! 

I studied with Miss Ewing from 1950 to 1964 and then again when I returned to Winchester from college until she closed her studio and retired in 1971.

How did she inspire me? With the principle of great expectations. I loved her and I was in awe of her and maybe a little frightened of her. She expected good manners, good posture, a pleasant attitude and perfect behavior from all her students. One paid attention to her and her instructions every minute of each class. No chitchat and, for goodness sake, no gum. I once got sent out of class to sit on the “thinking stool” (a round wooden piano stool) outside the classroom because I had forgotten to throw away my gum before class. It was Double Bubble gum--bright pink-–with the cartoon inside the wrapper! This happened only once!

Everyone in each class curtsied (or bowed) and clapped as we were dismissed from each class. Protocol was and is important.

Miss Ewing’s extraordinarily high expectations made us rise to meet those expectations. This is a powerful message still. She believed in the ability of each of us. This stimulated us to be our very best selves. I think I can also say that she expected with confidence.  Her praise was not the “let’s make the child happy” praise, but rather realistic praise and only when it was deserved. I remember like it was yesterday when Miss Ewing told me that I had good leg muscles and was ready for pointe (toe) shoes. High expectations take us to higher levels. 

A number of Miss Ewing’s students went on to be professional dancers or to open their own studios. After her retirement, I tried to visit her at least once a month, sometimes taking my little daughter along to hear her ballet stories. Dorothy Ewing Jameson Locke lived until 1988, but her memory and her inspiration and her love of her profession live on the in memories of the hundreds of students who studied with her.

The Ewing Studio of Dance did not use records for music. Miss Ewing had two exceptional pianists, one of whom was Eugenia Weisman Evans. Thus, I met Mrs. Evans when I was four years old as well. It is truly a small world that this noted pianist ended up in Winchester and that the two ended up working together. Both have Shenandoah University connections as well. Miss Ewing’s legacy is the Ewing Studio of Dance at SU and Mrs. Evans was for many years a member of the SU piano faculty.

Eugenia Weisman was born in Odessa, Ukraine and, as a child prodigy at the piano, went, in her early teens, with her mother to the Prague Conservatory to study. She was the youngest ever to have been accepted at the time. Receiving both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, young Weisman was playing concerts all over Europe and the Eastern Bloc countries. Because of family background, she and her mother fled in 1940 to America on a refugee ship. Oh, such stories she would tell: of a German boyfriend who joined the Hitler Youth, of hiding in a wardrobe when police came to her house, and of sitting under Vladimir Horowitz’s window listening to him practice. She entranced us all with her long life’s myriad stories. Genie Evans’ life story is history.

Born in 1909, Genie Evans lived until Christmas day, 2012 at 103 years of age. For all the years of her life, she was first a pianist. After arriving in America, she joined the faculty of the Chicago School of Music and resumed her concert tours. In 1942, Genie married Dr. Rudy Evans, a chemist, whose profession brought him to Winchester. Genie joined the music faculty of Shenandoah University. In 1987, Mrs. Evans retired from SU and moved to Gastonia, NC near her daughter and family but continued teaching piano until age 102. 

I think I have never seen a sight more beautiful than Eugenia Evans’ gnarled fingers on the piano keys when muscle memory took over. Her music made one weep with joy and appreciation for her passion. I remember her saying to our daughter Mary Willis that she was not yet ready for Chopin because she had not yet had her heart broken. “You must love and lose to play with passion.” 

Genie Evans’ love of life, her acceptance of everyone and their beliefs and idiosyncrasies as well as her talent made her a beloved person. As well as being on music faculty, she taught privately as well. A pair of noted local physicians studied with her to learn to play duets. Along with her gentle nature, though, was that same principle of “great expectations.” “Do not waste my time with your lesson if you did not prepare.” Oh, the shame. “I do not ask you did you practice, I can tell.” “Again! Again! Again!” with her left hand on your right shoulder. High expectations always.

I loved them both--these women who braved the “old world” style of life to the new. These two brilliant, passionate women worked together in our community, inspired us and left us a legacy. How could we ever forget them?

I hope in some way the great expectations of Dorothy Ewing and Eugenia Evans have made me a better, more inspired, and savvier broad.

Glenne