In the wake of the recent terror attacks across the globe, I received a Facebook message from a family friend. She wrote that her brother had recently visited the Nuremberg Museum and sent her an e-mail that read, “When the world is Beirut, dance”. I thought to myself, “Wow, this man is inside a museum constructed to cope with the era of National Socialism in Germany, while our world is being terrorized by extremists, and he thinks the answer is dance. He’s either absolutely insane, or he’s on to something.” It was particularly hard for me to appreciate the latter because during this time I was performing in our opening season program at Ballet West, ‘Iconic Classics.’ I had the great privilege of performing in two of my ‘bucket list’ ballets, Jerome Robbins’ ‘Fancy Free’ and  George Balanchine’s classic ‘Symphony in C.’ Along with the excitement of dancing in roles that had inspired me as a bright- eyed youth at the School of American Ballet, came nights of Epsom salt baths, stage make-up induced acne, swollen joints, excessive pointe shoe sewing and intense nostalgia of my ankles when they were attached to my once 18 year old body.

 

There were performance nights when I wondered if the audience could see beyond the beauty of the white tutus and the staged comedy of the hopeful sailors trying to enjoy a night on the town. I wondered if our patrons appreciated the work and dedication of our corps de ballet while we danced in perfect lines, in unison, while smiling (gasping for air) and executing some of the most difficult technical steps I’ve performed on stage to date. But when I read that message, it suddenly didn’t matter that I was feeling tired and sore. It only mattered that the work I was doing was helping someone to cope, forget, remember…feel.
On some especially long days, (especially during Nutcracker Season) being a professional ballerina can feel like the daily grind. But it is so much more than that. It is my day job, night job, life  passion since age 3, tasking, relentless, yet absolutely amazing ‘work’ I do every day. It is this transcending art form that shields our eyes to the harsh offenses of the world. It is the universal language of expression that can embrace or distract us from reality. As dancers we rehearse for hours to perfect those moments of magic on stage that can lift the audience to an alternative universe; they can lose themselves in the beauty of a flurry of tutus or the Land of the Sweets, and forget about the woes of the present. And what would the world be without such a glorious escape?
…my pointe exactly.

 

 

“Dance, when you’re broken open. Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when
you’re perfectly free.” – RUMI