A while ago we interviewed Primo's second board: Imre van Veldhoven and Wibrich Boskma. What is it like to be a board member of this association and when did they start with ballet? Imre and Wibrich also happen to be two of the three founders of Primo Ballerino so they told us how the idea of starting the association came about and what the process was like!
Introduction
How old are you?
Wibrich: I am 25 years old
Imre: How old do you think I am? I'm 29 years old.
Where are you from?
Wibrich: I was born in the north of Drenthe. When I was 1 my parents moved to the Randstad, we lived there for about 10 years and then we went back to Drenthe. My parents still live in that little hamlet between all the pastures now.
Imre: I live in Enschede now, but I come from the beautiful Brabant. From Nieuw-Kuip, a place near Den Bosch.
Tea or Coffee?
Wibrich: Mostly tea but coffee 2 times a day.
Imre: Tea, because I really do not like coffee.
What are you studying?
Wibrich: I am currently doing my Master's in Technical Medicine in the direction of Sensing and Stimulation. Because of Corona I have been taking it a little slower but if all goes well I am almost done there and then I am going to do an internship for 2 years.
Imre: I started with Applied Physics in 2010 with a lot of fun and I finished it in 2018. I also did the educational master and since 2018 I am working as a teacher for that program.
If you were to go to a desert island for the rest of your life and you were only allowed to bring 1 item, what would it be?
Imre: I would take someone else with me! If I were there all alone I wouldn't last.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Wibrich: I like to listen to music. I play the piano a little bit but not really well. Of course, I also like to dance and to be creative. I am not very good at that either, but I do enjoy it. I also spend a lot of time outdoors. I enjoy things like cycling, walking and horse riding a lot.
Imre: I like reading a lot, I try to run now and then. I also like baking and eating pies, especially the last part. And if I can just do things together with friends I am easily satisfied.
If you were to dance in a ballet piece, which one would it be?
Wibrich: I have seen many parts of Cinderella, but never the whole piece in one sitting. I always really like the pieces and I got to perform Cinderella for the Apollo show as well, so if I had to choose one, that piece would be really cool to dance in.
What are you proud of?
Imre: People who try to do good for others. That's not always easy, but if everyone tried to do that then many problems would be solved quickly.
What is your favorite dance move?
Wibrich: Oh I know one! It's more like a series of steps: Tombé - Pas De Bourrée, Glissade - Pas du Chat. Those are the first dance steps Imre taught me when we joked about starting a ballet association.
Imre: It must be a jump because I'm a man. And I'm in the Assemblé, our activity committee, so then I have to choose an Assemblé.
Imre then demonstrates what an Assemblé is.
Wine or Beer?
Wibrich: Wine
Imre: Neither, I don't like alcohol. If I have to choose I would go for wine.
When did you start ballet and how did you get into it?
Wibrich: I joined ballet because of Imre actually. He taught me some ballet steps and when we finally decided to start the association I started taking classes. So my first real ballet class was Primo Ballerino's first class!
Imre: When I was three years old I started taking classes. I have three sisters and they were all in ballet. Whenever my parents could not find me, I was dancing in the rooms of one of my sisters in their ballet suit. So my parents put me in ballet classes. When I was 18 I stopped because of my studies and now I am back for 3 years at Primo.
Is there a movie (series) that you have seen very often?
Wibrich: Harry Potter! I watch a few of the movies every year. I also really enjoy watching the Disney Classics and their remakes.
A night out, if this is possible again, or a movie on the couch?
Wibrich: A night out, especially now!
Imre: Movie on the couch, nice and quiet.
Amusement park or swimming pool?
Wibrich: An amusement park, but I go to a swimming pool more often.
Imre: I have to choose amusement park because I have an amusement park in my backyard.
Primo Ballerino
How did the idea of founding Primo Ballerino come about?
Wibrich: Imre, Tanja and I all three enjoyed being a board member and it actually started as a joke. Imre also has a great passion for ballet and I also already liked dancing but didn't think the other associations suited me that much. The joke had finally gone so far that we were going to watch a ballet movie as a 'meeting'. Imre had made an agenda for the meeting and one of the items on the agenda was 'Are we really going to do this?' So then we decided to just try it. And it worked out!
Imre: I did ballet for many years, but when I came here to study I had to stop because of time constraints with traveling. There was no association here so I decided with two roommates to start it myself. What Wibrich said is true: we had agreed to watch a movie, but I had made an agenda for fun. That's how it became a serious idea.
Did you want to be chairman? And what did you like most about this role?
Imre: Yes, I was also chairman for a year at the study association Arago. Since then I have also been president at different committees. When we started Primo Ballerino I had the most chairmanship experience so it was pretty soon established that I would take this role. I really like talking so giving a talk at the open classes or a speech at the Christmas dinner was something I enjoyed. I also enjoyed coordinating and keeping an eye on everything.
What was it like to hand over the baton after two years as chairman?
Imre: Yes that was difficult! But it helped that I knew it would fall into good hands. The difficult part was that we had founded the association all by ourselves and had seen it grow from an idea to reality. But I still have good contact with the current board and I see how well it goes so I'm very happy.
How did you like being treasurer?
Wibrich: I liked it very much! I started almost without any knowledge of what exactly it entailed so the first thing I did was search on Google "What is a treasurer?". So I learned an awful lot. None of us had experience being treasurer so I took on that responsibility completely and that was a lot of fun.
What does your personal bookkeeping look like?
Wibrich: I have a nice list in my head of my income and expenses. 1 or 2 times a year I check if my income and expenses have changed very much but I don't really keep track of it otherwise.
How do you see Primo Ballerino in 5 years and what would you like to see in the future?
Wibrich: Our first own show! Of course it's a lot to arrange and getting an hour full with only 3 groups is a challenge, but it would be really cool. And within 5 years I would of course also like to see our first lustrum. If all goes well, that will already be in 3 years.
Imre: A standard show of our own would be very nice, but also improving the bond between the members would be nice. That is difficult now with corona, but I hope that it really becomes a close group. Of course we will also be celebrating our lustrum in a few years, and I am looking forward to a lustrum trip with the members.
Is there a moment during the founding of Primo Ballerino that you remember the most?
Wibrich: How it started as a joke and later it was serious is a nice memory. And the big things like going to the notary for the statutes is of course what I remember most. What I also remember very much are the first open classes. We were all so tense and wanted to be there to welcome everyone. At the 3rd open lesson we realized that we were already over our maximum number of participants. After a few weeks we already went from 2 to 3 groups with 15 people each. So we were completely full from the open classes on!