Freedom To Teach
By Nancy Galeota-Wozny

For Gilbert Rome, giving up his studio meant getting back to the heart of teaching.

Gilbert Rome’s journey from ballet studio owner to innkeeper had a momentum of its own. The decision to sell his Houston-based studio of 25 years came over a long time. The decision to open a bed-and-breakfast came in very little time. Selling the studio, locating his successor, and finding the perfect house all fell into place with the same grace that Rome has bestowed on countless students. The job description may be vastly different, yet the choice has allowed Rome to do what he loves—teach dance on his own terms.

Rome, 65, ran a successful ballet studio for 25 years. He also codirected Houston Repertoire Ballet (HRB), a youth company, with Victoria Vittum, a former student and dear friend, who started her own studio nearby. Before that, Rome had had a flourishing career as a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, the State Opera Houses in Frankfurt and Koln, and Houston Ballet. After retiring from Houston Ballet in 1973 he taught at several Houston studios and the city’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and did a 10-year stint as resident choreographer and associate director of City Ballet of Houston.

As a teacher, Rome was known for producing clean dancers with few bad habits. Several of his students joined the ranks of such major companies as the Houston, Joffrey, and New York City Ballets and American Ballet Theatre. He was Houston Ballet Principal Dancer Lauren Anderson’s first ballet teacher. Anderson guests in HRB’s Nutcracker occasionally, but Rome remembers a time in 1972 when Anderson was a mouse and he, Drosselmeyer. “Now she is a principal and I am still Drosselmeyer,” he jokes.

Rome always knew he would return to his hometown of New Orleans when he retired. While he was still teaching, he and his partner of 35 years, John Crew, purchased their Greek Revival sidehall cottage in the Marigny District of New Orleans in 2001. The couple fell in love with the house at first glance and purchased it as a residence, but then wondered what they were going to do with five gigantic bedrooms and five and a half baths. They had had no intention of opening a B&B, but Rome thought they would eventually “need something to do.” Once they had made the decision to be innkeepers, the ball was rolling. Crew, a retired retail executive, moved to New Orleans first while Rome remained in Houston and commuted on a monthly basis. Within three months major repairs had been made to the bedrooms, and Marigny Manor House was open for business. Rome was leading a double life during this phase of his process, still running the studio and staying involved in HRB concerts.

The colorful Marigny district, just five blocks from the French Quarter, is known as the jazz neighborhood. On Frenchman Street, you can find The Spotted Cat and Snug Harbor, two of the most famous places to hear authentic New Orleans music. Builder William Talboett nestled the cottage there in 1848; it subsequently passed through many owners, some of whom left it in disrepair. Crew and Rome were lucky that the last owners had restored many of the cottage’s best features, including the original cypress doors and crystal chandeliers. They continued the restoration process by adding period window treatments, refurbishing the plaster moldings, and furnishing the house with their spectacular collection of antiques and reproductions.

The decision to open an inn may have influenced the timing of the sale of the studio, but the school owner says that other factors were at work. “When my double tour went, I got the idea that I should be moving on,” he explains. “I am a very physical teacher and I like to demonstrate.” The moment it became clear to him that his days as a studio owner were numbered was the day he realized that his patience with difficult parents (fortunately a rarity at his school) was wearing thin. He knew then that he was ready for the next stage of his life, which included freedom from the demands of daily teaching, recitals, and the administrative grind of running a studio. He is grateful, though, to the parents who gave of their time over the years. “I couldn’t have done run a successful company and studio without the support of many wonderful parents,” Rome says. “It would have been impossible.”

Once he had made the decision, a plan was set in motion. “I wanted a smooth transition,” says Rome. “I had to find someone I respected to continue the high standards of the school. Robert Underwood just fell onto my lap.” At a party Underwood had mentioned that he wanted to start a studio, and Rome had joked, “Why don’t you take mine?” A former dancer with American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and other companies, Underwood had the background Rome was looking for. It was a match. An offhand comment developed into a meaningful relationship and eventually a successful change of command. Slowly Rome brought Underwood into the daily life of the studio. Over six months Underwood started with a few classes and then gradually assumed some of the advanced classes. Rome was open about his plans and did all he could to make the transition easy for parents and students.

Rome returned to New Orleans once a month during the transition to help Crew with the endless amount of work involved in operating a B&B. Over long weekends he familiarized himself with the business and helped with the guests; meanwhile, back in Houston, Vittum and Underwood were getting used to his absence. “Gil was a very hard act to follow,” says Underwood. “His 25 years of running a successful studio gave him a perspective that left me astonished time and time again. Not only did he turn out an unusually high number of dancers who went on to successful careers, but the students he left upon his retirement were instilled with an excellent and rare work ethic.” He still seeks his predecessor’s counsel from time to time.

Rome found it toughest to leave his most advanced dancers, whom he had trained since day one. But he finally cut the cord and moved permanently to New Orleans in July 2005, one month before Hurricane Katrina. “That’s another story,” he says. “We sent our guests to Hotel Monteleone and hunkered down at the Fairmont. It was like being on the Titanic.” When they received news that the levees had broken, Crew, Rome, and assorted stranded neighbors headed up to the second floor of their home with provisions for a few days. Flooding came within one street of the cottage.

Rome has kept his ties to Houston intact. He still codirects HRB and choreographs for the company, which he refers to as “the fun part. I will continue to coach the company, teach classes when I am in town, and will return to choreograph a new work for the Spring Concert.” He will also return for HRB’s Nutcracker, to play Drosselmeyer. “I will be dancing that role in my wheelchair,” he says with a grin.

Despite his semi-retirement, Rome’s teaching career isn’t winding down. Freelance teaching requires a different level of investment than training the same students over a long period of time, and Rome finds that teaching on these terms suits his retirement needs. With his days of dealing with parents, concerts, and costumes behind him, he is able to get back to the heart of teaching ballet. He also finds that he has more energy for teaching when he gets to pick and choose assignments to sandwich between his duties at the inn. And now that he has reframed his teaching life the missing double tour seems to be less of an issue. Teaching in short-term assignments also releases him from the long-term training commitment he held as owner of one of Houston’s finest ballet academies. He has experienced the satisfaction of seeing many a dancer learn and grow under his tutelage, and he continues to follow the careers of his former students. But now he’s in a new phase of life, and it has its own rewards.

Last summer teaching projects appeared out of nowhere. Rome taught at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (the city’s acclaimed high school for the performing arts), the Loyola Preparatory Ballet Program, and in a program organized by the New Orleans Recreational Department and New Orleans Ballet Association that offers year-round free dance classes throughout the city. Rome has also reconnected with his New Orleans dance friends and stays on top of the comeback of the city’s dance scene.

The in-demand ballet teacher has some new skills to boast about. With a 150-year-old house there’s an endless amount of work to be done. He can operate a power drill and saw, is getting handy with a wrench, and gets in a Zen mood when painting.

Despite the devastating hurricane, Rome considers his first year away from the studio a success, though he admits it was difficult to let go. “After 25 years I felt I shouldn’t be sitting behind that desk in my studio, even though I was so ready for it and I had known for some time. It was like letting go of a child.” But the flexibility of innkeeping goes well with freelance teaching, and when he and Crew want to travel, they simply close up shop. Summer in New Orleans is slow in the B&B business and busy in the ballet business.

What’s most important to Rome, though, is that he’s back to doing more of what he cherished as a dance teacher. “I left the management and politics of running a dance studio behind, but I haven’t left dance,” he says. “I am teaching, and that’s what I thoroughly love.”

Photo Captions (from top to bottom)

Gilbert Rome (right) with James Buchanan, board member, Houston Repertoire Ballet. Photo by Neil Simpson.

Gilbert Rome as Drosselmeyer in the Nutcracker, Houston Repertoire Ballet. Photo by Neil Simpson.  

Marigny Manor House, Gilbert Rome’s Bed & Breakfast. Photo by John Crew.

Gilbert Rome as Drosselmeyer in the Nutcracker, Houston Repertoire Ballet. Photo by Neil Simpson.  

Gilbert Rome in his early career.