Ballet!
...his love ...his life

As the first male to graduate from the
National Ballet Schoolin Toronto in 1964,
Andrew has enjoyed an enduring
and successful career

Andrew Oxenham

While most seven-year-old boys dream of achieving success in hockey, soccer or baseball when they grow up, Andrew Oxenham had his heart set on another vocation - ballet!
And years later, dancing on behalf of Germany’s prestigious Stuggart Ballet at the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera House, he experienced a “glory moment” which is forever ingrained in his memory.

But even dearer to his heart than the thrill of dancing on that famed stage are the words of praise he received after his performance. “You make the stage look so small,” one excited fan exclaimed, crediting Andrew’s innate ability to capture the spotlight on even the grandest of stages.

Perhaps it was the focus on self-discipline and poise that this form of performance art called for, or maybe it was the opportunity to express his creativity that initially captivated him. Either way, Andrew says ballet “naturally appealed” to him as a child and it has continued to hold his affection well into adulthood.

He remembers the days when - at a mere seven years old - he would accompany his sister to her ballet classes and expertly imitate the movements from the sidelines. “It’s a form of expression, a form of proving yourself,” he says, as he attempts to articulate the motive behind his devotion to ballet at such a young age. “It suited my mentality.”

As the first male to graduate from the National Ballet School in Toronto in 1964, Andrew has enjoyed an enduring and successful career, performing with the National Ballet of Canada and as a first-soloist (which is a step down from the principal performer) for three years with the world-renowned Stuggart Ballet in Germany.

Andrew has also had the privilege of touring all over the world for his art. Some of his most memorable travels include performances in Russia, Moscow and New York, where he enjoyed dancing in endless renditions of the classics, like Romeo and Juliet and Bamboleo.

Before his days onstage, Andrew took dance classes in his hometown in England. He and his family immigrated to Canada in 1957 and shortly after, at the age of eleven, under the request of his mentor, Gwyneth Lloyd, founder of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Andrew auditioned and enrolled with the National Ballet of Canada (NBS).

It was 1960 and the institution had only been established for a little over a year when he was selected as one of the 48 students - only 10 or 12 of which were males - enrolled in the school’s fulltime program.

“We had classes in the Masonic Temple,” he says, “And we went to Jarvis Collegiate for science classes,” he adds, explaining that the school, in its early stages, had yet to build all the proper facilities necessary for academic classes.

”Floating” – by Andrew Oxenham, won the Professional
Photographers of Ontario best black and white photograph award
in 1997. The dancers are from the Ballet Jorgen.

Nevertheless, Andrew was immediately engrossed with the study of ballet. With the support of his advisers, including Betty Oliphant, one of the founders of the National Ballet School and his fellow student colleague, like Nadia Potts, now head of the dance program at Ryerson University, he completed his four years of high school at NBS and was finally prepared to dance professionally for the company.

After six years with the NBS, Andrew says he was drawn to the Stuggart Ballet in Germany, primarily due to the influence of one particular choreographer named John Cranko.

Cranko came to Canada from the Stuggart Ballet with his own rendition of Romeo and Juliet, and, as Andrew explains, “I was enthralled by the way he worked with dancers,” adding, “He treated dancers as human beings, as opposed to puppets.”

Andrew auditioned for Stuggart soon after and joined the prestigious company for three years, touring around the world, making landmark stops at some of the most notable institutions for ballet.

But a bad back, after years of enduring “the abuse the body takes,” would eventually force Andrew to consider a career change. “I wasn’t dancing like I used to and it was mentally disappointing. It was stressful,” he says.

At this time, teaching didn’t appeal to him. “I can’t stand doing something more than once,” he says, before adding, “But I wanted to share my knowledge and experience.”
For Andrew, the transition from ballet to photography was a natural progression, “I was always interested in photography, it just evolved,” he says. He chose to shift his focus to on-stage and performance photography and made the bittersweet decision to resign from a long, successful career in ballet.

“Everyone is drawn to something in their own way,” he says, adding that photography allowed him the best of both worlds “I still get to be involved in dance, I may not be onstage but I’m able to capture what’s on stage.”

He started the transition from performer to photographer by taking pictures backstage and selling them to his fellow dancers. After establishing his reputation, he approached publishers with the idea of writing a book that would capture the different styles of choreography, as well as the distinctions in ballet companies across Canada.

One of the excellent pictures Andrew took of
Karen Kain, principle dancer at the National Ballet
of Canada, during the late 1990s.

From this vision, Dance Today in Canada was created, followed by his second book, Puppetry in Canada. “Ballet exists all over Canada,” explains Andrew, referring, as an example, to its popularity in the prairies – an area that is seldom recognized for its talent.

“There are so many variations to ballet,” he says, adding that he wanted to spotlight these variations and capture the different styles in his photography.

Aside from his focus on dance photography, Andrew also ventured over to the dramatic arts and began shooting theatre photography, while getting his hands dirty designing and building sets for performances. He proved to be talented in yet another creative endeavour, as he won an award in 2001 for “Best Set Design” from Theatre Ontario.

Despite the difference between theatre and dance, Andrew says he found the transition from one medium to the next rather instinctual, explaining that theatre and dance photography is “interrelated.”

“With theatre, it’s about the relationship between actors and it involves words and body interaction,” he says. Like a dance photographer would converse with a ballet’s choreographer, Andrew explains, he would apply the same method with theatre performances. “You have to capture what the play writer felt about the play.”

On the similarity between the two artistic forms – theatre and dance – he says, “Both involve capturing emotion. It’s about the dramatic impact between characters; the love story.”

Speaking of love – Andrew says his passion for performing arts led him straight to his own love, his wife Vivian, whom he met in 1996 while designing the set for a play she was acting in. Andrew explains, he moved to Port Perry “for love” three years after meeting Vivian and they have been together ever since.

Settled in Port Perry, Andrew and Vivian combined their love for the arts and opened the Water Street Studio in Port Perry. At the studio, they specialized in wedding photography and portraiture. “We were always well-appreciated in Port Perry,” Andrew insists. “Local families will still come up and say I still have your picture from five years ago.”

His work in the studio and on location for performance shoots had Andrew witnessing another transformation in his career – the shift towards digital photography.

“The advent of digital photography changed the whole process,” he explains. “Before it was called ‘shoot and rush work,’ I would allot a certain amount of film for the show, shoot and develop the film, sleep maybe 3-4 hours, make contact sheets the next morning and deliver it to the client by 1:00.”

Now, with digital photography, he adds, “You shoot but you don’t compose. You don’t have to worry about the film, so you just shoot, shoot, shoot and you only have to process so much,” he says, explaining that the process is a lot less time consuming without contact sheets and printing.

On the other hand, Andrew hints that there is a sense of artistry lost with the birth of digital photography. “You’re not looking, just shooting,” says Andrew, before adding, “But that’s the difference between professional and amateur: the ability to create.”

And the ability to create is a quality that has never wavered for Andrew. “I rely on my instincts to guide me,” he says, as he mentions performance photography as an example. “With experience you can feel the moment coming, the music picks up and you know the moment, you learn to follow the music.”

Andrew also insists that he doesn’t simply rely on instinct alone, although he admits he is “quick to pick things up.” He makes sure to talk to the director before-hand in order to understand “the thrust or the point of the play.”

And one element he always prides himself on is his ability to create with his photography. “You need to take something 2D on a piece of paper and capture something living, that’s what a real photograph is,” he explains, adding, “You can’t change what a dancer is but you can help achieve better position through clean lines. The object is to create perfect exposure and position to make them look their best.”

With over 25 years of experience in photography behind him, Andrew says now he’s looking forward to slowing down while still staying involved in photography and dance. “I no longer feel the need to achieve so many things,” he says, adding, “I’m ready to take life a little easier. What I do, I do well and that satisfies my need for creativity.”

He and his wife Vivian closed their studio about three years ago and since, Andrew has focused on part-time teaching (he will be teaching ballet classes this fall in Toronto), while still making the time for photography projects. He has also dedicated his time to restoring and renovating his Port Perry home - a feat he calls a “labour of love.”

After all, Andrew insists that his home and the community of Port Perry have significantly inspired his artistry. “I love the ambience and the feeling in Port Perry, you don’t feel like a stranger,” he says. “It’s a peaceful place and having peace allows creativity to foster.”

By Christina Coughlin
Focus on Scugog