Hochstein alum Youri Spindler came from a musical family of Eastman professors and started his time at The Hochstein School as a clarinet player in the Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra. However, after discovering a love for dance, Youri’s career path changed. He says:
“I have always had a deep passion for music, but it wasn’t quite fulfilling me in the way that I wanted it to. I needed something more, and I found ballet. I think that adding movement to music is what spoke to me – it was like adding on to it, not changing it. When I transitioned into dance, Hochstein was the first place I came to try to start because it’s a safe place where I know I will get a good quality education. I think that growing up as a musician really helped me as a dancer because I understand the music in a way that I think you can’t without training.”
After Youri’s training at Hochstein, he was accepted with a full scholarship to The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory, a renowned ballet training facility in Connecticut. His training also brought him to Florida before returning to Rochester to work with the Rochester City Ballet and New York State Ballet.
In 2016, Youri became one of the first American dancers to train in Cuba since the Cuban Revolution. His experience in Havana was showcased in “The Cuban Method,” a documentary that recently aired on WXXI. (You can watch “The Cuban Method” on YouTube or view the video below).
Despite all his success, the mentors that Youri found at Hochstein have always been important to him. He says:
“My first mentor, Christopher Morrison, has since passed, but he was a former Garth Fagan dancer and taught a modern class at Hochstein. He was an incredibly wonderful person, and he spent so much time with me, helping me privately as well as in classes. He was a really, really great friend who kept in touch with me and kept me going.
“Diane Lewis is still at Hochstein – she has always sort of been my Fairy Godmother. She’s the person that I still come back to, even now that I’m a professional. Whenever I have free time, I will take classes with her because she’s my mentor, she’s someone I can always trust to push me and have my back, but also keep it real.”
Throughout Youri’s life, his experience with Hochstein shaped his future and fueled his passion for music and dance.