MIDTOWN — When Australian-born Lee Serle first fell in love with dance as a child, he dreamed, like many, of becoming a star in New York.
Although his training in started at age 11 in Melbourne, and eventually led to a career in contemporary performance, the door to a New York residence didn't open for Serle until 17 years later. Last year, he packed up for Manhattan when he was chosen for a highly selective mentorship program with contemporary dance master Trisha Brown.
Serle was one of six artists worldwide accepted into the 2010 Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative, a program that paired famous masters such as Brown, visual artist Anish Kapoor, musician Brian Eno and other well-known artists with ambitious protégés for at least one year of collaboration.
"Lee has a very strong and refreshing way of moving. He was very open," Brown told DNAinfo about the protege she worked with. "He charmed me!"
Now, starting Thursday evening, Serle and other protégés will join their mentors for a performance and lecture series curated by Paul Holdengraber at the New York Public Library as part of its LIVE event series. The weekend's program promises an eclectic array of top artists from fields including dance, theater, literature, visual art and more.
"It's a way of paying tribute in the most active sense to those who have perfected their craft." Holdengraber said about curating the guest list for the Rolex Arts Weekend.
"In an era where we seek shortcuts, the notion that someone can take a year in their life to perfect their craft...give that attention to detail...it's incredible," he added.
Like the other artists selected for the program, Serle was already established in his field before his mentorship with Brown. The amazing thing about his experience, he says, is that he was still able to grow because he learned a new method of movement while dancing with the Trisha Brown Dance Company.
"The choreographers that I’ve worked for in the past have either choreographed a movement 'on' the dancers — or set a task [for the dancers to perform]," Serle said in an interview on the Rolex Arts Weekend website.
"Working with Trisha, we have spent five weeks of straight-up creating movement in the studio. This is unlike any other experience I have had with a choreographer making new work."
During his interview for the series this Sunday, Serle will likely also speak about his unique New York experiences since meeting Brown. During his mentorship, for example, Serle scaled walls for "Walking on the Wall," a piece Brown choreographed in 1971, and performed for public audiences in the Museum of Modern Art and in the Whitney Museum.
"Performing at the Whitney was truly an event — the fact that the performances were presented at the Whitney Museum 40 years after their first showing," Serle said. "There was so much buzz and it was thrilling to be part of the history of Trisha’s work."
Other protégés also promise to relate extraordinary experiences. Actress Maya Zbib, for example, traveled the world with her mentor Peter Sellars, so they could both become more educated on cultures within the United States, the Congo and Lebanon. Visual artist Nicholas Hlobo has gushed about what he learned from Anish Kapoor, the artist famous for installing massive sculptures in public spaces.
"I’ve gained a lot of strength. It’s kept me awake, and I’ve gained a lot of encouragement and wisdom," Hlobo said about the mentorship.
"One of my mottos, each time I make something, is that there has to be an introduction of something new," he added. "What this Rolex project has done is allow me to have some new outlook on my life as an artist and have a thousand scales to weigh different things."
What makes this weekend's program even more exciting is that regular New Yorkers will be able to hear from these artists and their mentors, as well as see their work in rare live performances within the public library, curator Holdengraber added.
"What comes to my mind most pungently is this notion of a story not being far removed from that of the teller," he said. "It's the idea of excellence continued in the library; trying to get a younger generation to continue the work."
Rolex Arts Weekend will take place from Nov. 10 to Nov. 13 at the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street.
