Dancing may have lost its substance to physicality and self-absorption, so visiting French teacher-choreographer Candice Behlert reminds dancers that an honest performance is derived from emotions growing out of the movement.

 

“I ask the student: Tell me a story with your body,” she said. “I must feel something in you. There has to be some sensation. When you give a lot of yourself, technique will follow.”

 

Behlert is a guest teacher at Perry Sevidal Ballet and staging her work “Angel,” by Franco-Italian singer Cascadeur. She  will conduct a  jazz-dance workshop at Dwight Rodrigazo’s Dance Pull School in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.

 

Expansive dancer

 

An expansive dancer, Behlert built her craft from various influences. Her first mentor was her mother, who studied under pioneers in jazz such as Matt Mattox, freestyle dancer Serge Alzetta and Broadway choreographer Rick Odums.

 

Behlert then studied at Conservatory of Toulouse, where she acquired her academic, classical-ballet and jazz training, and music education.

 

During the summer, her mother would take her to La Baule, a resort town in western France, and make her participate in the prestigious dance festivals there.

 

Her talent was noticed by one of France’s top dance pedagogues, Colette Milner, who invited Behlert to study at Conservatoire National de La Rochelle.

 

In 1992, Behlert, then 18, joined Le Jeune Ballet de France (JBF), a touring youth dance company composed of  French and foreign talents

 

With her long blond hair, taut frame and smoky eyes that gazed with the sharpness of a hawk’s, she was a powerful figure onstage, looking passionate.

 

Those special qualities landed her a role in Claude Brumachon’s  “Les Indomptés (The Untamed),” a contemporary dance duet made for men.

 

At JBF, she met her then future fiancé, Filipino dancer-choreographer Ernest Mandap.

 

One of Behlert’s turning point was to dance with Redha  Benteifour, a choreographer for the entertainment industry. (He was in Manila recently to restage his work “Je, Tu, Elle  [I, You, Kill], which was tailor-made for Ballet Philippines). Despite his commercial bent, Benteifour never compromised his artistic integrity. His works were technically challenging, provocative and compelling.

 

“Interpretation was the most important,” said Behlert. “Rheda told me to get it from my heart and my gut. He’s not after just technique or dance for its own sake.”

 

Yet, hassled by the instability of work and the frequent financial woes  endemic to dance,  Behlert returned to Toulouse to study to become a dance professor and be accredited by the French Ministry of Culture.  At 21, after passing a series of stringent examinations, she got her diploma.

 

Instead of pursuing a dance career, Behlert went to St. Martin’s Island in the West Indies, took up windsurfing with sports icon Jean Sebastian Lavocat, and taught private lessons to gymnasts and ladies of leisure.

 

Behlert said she was saturated with dancing and needed to explore other possibilities.

 

Return to dance

 

Returning to France, she got married and had a daughter, Arwen, whom she taught jazz.

 

Settling in Sollies-Pont, a city in the southeast of France, Behlert resumed her dance career after a 15-year hiatus.

 

By word of mouth, Behlert’s reputation for producing interesting performers started to spread. She would be tapped to coach young dancers who would enter competitions.

 

She explained that in competitions, dancers were to perform the same combinations. “At that point, dancers tend to look the same. There’s got to be someone who stands out from the rest. That individual has exuded something special that can’t be explained.”

 

Thus the 40-year-old mentor can intuitively discern the inner qualities of the dancer and bring out attributes.

 

Behlert has been selective about her protegés. She once coached a 13-year-old dancer who eventually won in four dance competitions. However, the girl got cocky and was only after the hi-jinx.

 

Behlert then favored an 8-year-old student who was sincere about perfecting her craft rather than seeking popularity.

 

“I look for a strong personality and determination,” she said, adding that she could hammer out the dancer’s body and soul when the ward was fully committed.

 

Last year, Behlert encountered Mandap through Facebook after more than 20 years. By then, Behlert was divorced. When they were reunited last year, they felt they could speak to each other on a heart-to-heart level.

 

They’ve been partners in life and in art as well. This fall, the couple is launching  EC (as in Ernest and Candice) Project, which offers  their services in teaching, coaching, choreography and photography.

 

Although they specialize in capturing movement and dance, they can also do portraits and documentary photography.

 

As artists, Behlert and Mandap said that dance was never just movement or technique, but an approach to reality.

 

Candace Behlert and Ernest Mandap will hold a workshop in jazz and contemporary dance  on Aug. 9-10 at Dance Pull School. Call (034) 435.08.01; e-mail [email protected], www.dancepullstudio.com.