The first time I saw William Forsythe’s choreography I hated it. Passionately.
I’d just started at NYU and our choreography class was required to see Ballett Frankfurt out in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, my parents happened to be in town that weekend. But I brought them along, assuming anything called “ballet” would be safe.
You know what they say about assuming. N.N.N.N. consisted of four men walking around slapping the tops of each other’s heads. The women in Duo were wearing mesh tops THAT YOU COULD SEE THROUGH. One Flat Thing, Reproduced just had the dancers slinking around a bunch of tables. This was not what I called ballet. I was mortified.
From that point on, I avoided anything Forsythe. At ABT’s intensive the next summer I was forced to take a Forsythe-based improv class with one of his dancers, Jill Johnson. I was dreading it—until I got in the studio. Jill had us try out a simple exercise that was based on Forsythe’s process: Starting in first position, we could tendu in any direction in parallel or turnout, and use any classical ballet port de bras we wanted but one or both arms could be parallel, upside down or backwards. Exploring the infinite possibilities within this structure was thrilling. I felt in my body how movement that was completely weird and awkward actually related directly to ballet. At the end of class a couple of the students begged Jill to dance some Forsythe for us. Watching her move, I could see how the steps were based in classicism but took it to an entire other galaxy of possibility.
This week I saw Duo again. After many years of watching downtown dance, I’ve moved past my aversion to nudity onstage so I was actually able to see the dance this time. And it was so beautiful I almost cried. Sitting there I realized that seven years later, each piece of that Ballett Frankfurt performance I had hated so fervently still stuck in my mind, crystal clear. I can’t say the same about shows I saw last month. Even though it had blown my mind because I was unprepared for that type of dance, it had moved me and left an impression that has never gone away.
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Mar 01, 2021
Pacific Northwest Ballet's Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan, photographed by Jayme Thornton for Pointe
The Radiant Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan: Why She's One to Watch at Pacific Northwest Ballet
Hollywood could make a movie about Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan's big break at Pacific Northwest Ballet.
It was November 2017, and the company was performing Crystal Pite's film-noir–inspired Plot Point, set to music by Bernard Hermann from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Ryan, then a first-year corps member, originally was understudying the role of another dancer. But when principal Noelani Pantastico was injured in a car accident, Ryan was tapped to take over her role.
<p>Ryan had danced featured roles before, including Maria in Jerome Robbins' <em>West Side Story Suite.</em> But she had just one day to learn Pite's choreography. It was a daunting task, but she was determined not to squander her shot. After a session in the studio with Pantastico, Ryan went home and rehearsed for hours in her living room. "I learned the hell out of that role," she laughs.</p><p>Her hard work paid off. When she hurtled onto the stage, draped in a gray trench coat, she stared at the body sprawled on the floor, turned to the audience, her dark eyes opened wide in shock, and let out a horrified scream. The audience was rapt.</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcwMzA0MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MTEyNDEwN30.JfZ4BhAAn1SUQTr09grlx23kAedEonxs3UX-VFjtLd8/img.jpg?width=980" id="ad4cb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ed51712fa0e6221f0ab8f1e8dcd6d00b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan poses in sixth position on pointe. Her legs face profile while her upper body twists front and leans back and her arms raise high above her head with wrists together. Standing in front of a purple backdrop, she wears a pink leotard and long, brightly colored floral chiffon skirt that billows dramatically high behind her in the wind" data-width="1080" data-height="1080" />
Jayme Thornton for Pointe
<p>"The expectation was that we'd throw her onstage and she'd be tentative," says Pacific Northwest Ballet artistic director Peter Boal. "But she gave a really strong performance."</p><p>Ryan's success in <em>Plot Point</em> led to a string of featured roles at PNB, from the Sugarplum Fairy in George Balanchine's <em>The Nutcracker</em> to work by David Dawson and Donald Byrd. But Ryan is no overnight sensation; her success is the result of years of training, discipline and a passion for her art form. That passion also buoyed her during an on-going struggle with body-image issues, and her decision to establish her career a continent away from her close-knit Philadelphia family.</p>
Early Successes—and Struggles
<p>Ryan, now 23, has been dancing since she was 3 years old, when her parents enrolled her in tap, jazz and ballet classes at a local dance studio. At age 5, her teacher recommended she pursue more rigorous ballet training at Philadelphia's acclaimed Rock School for Dance Education.</p><p>Ryan flew up the levels there, and by the age of 12, she'd advanced to the top, the youngest student in her classes. Although she held her own with high-school–aged peers, Ryan knew she was different. "Everyone was older," she says. "You were expected to look a certain way, but I was still going through puberty!"</p><p>That didn't stop Pennsylvania Ballet, which then did not have an affiliated school, from casting Ryan in its annual <em>Nutcracker</em>. Ryan was 10 when she danced her first role, a toy soldier. Miami City Ballet School director Arantxa Ochoa was a principal dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet at the time, but she noticed the young dancer.</p><p>"I just remember her beautiful eyes and big smile," Ochoa recalls.</p><div style="padding: 20px 0 40px;">
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcwNDEwOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDQ1MTgwOH0.JH-mOCsrpfijQCRkaH65HdMS5VLtJuGzHfGsi20eMOY/img.jpg?width=980" id="78f26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cda1810e8c1ca1bfe7f5564896a2ab02" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan wears a light gray dance dress and poses in front of a white backdrop in a low first arabesque on her left leg. She opens her upper body slightly towards the camera and smiles, her long brown hair billowing in the breeze." data-width="4500" data-height="4500" />
Jayme Thornton for Pointe
<p>Five years later, when Ryan enrolled in Pennsylvania Ballet's newly revived school, Ochoa was her teacher. "She was that ideal student," says Ochoa. "Hard worker. Very smart, very talented. To me, she had that thing, that 'It' factor."</p><p>Ochoa wasn't the only one to notice her potential. Ryan continued to win roles in Pennsylvania Ballet productions, including Balanchine's "Diamonds," videotaped for PBS. At 16, she was offered a contract with Pennsylvania Ballet's second company. From the outside, it looked like the culmination of Ryan's dream.</p><p>The reality was less idyllic. Ryan had struggled with body-image issues since her early years at the Rock School; she was particularly self-conscious about the size and shape of her thighs. She remembers one Rock School teacher asking if her Mexican-born mother made good flan. When Ryan replied in the affirmative, he told her she looked like she was enjoying too much of it. Another teacher at the school suggested she go on a liquid diet to drop some weight.</p><p>Ryan recalls other "advice," such as being told not to go out into the sun, so that her skin wouldn't get too dark. Although she took that particular comment in stride, it compounded her self-consciousness about her appearance. It also strengthened her resolve to work harder in the studio.</p><p>At PBII, Ryan was determined to show she had what it takes to succeed as a professional ballerina. But while artistic director Angel Corella told the young dancer that he liked her dancing, she says he advised her to slim down or risk fewer onstage opportunities. She valued his feedback, and her long relationship with Pennsylvania Ballet, but Ryan knew it was time to look for opportunities outside her hometown. She focused her attention on Seattle.</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcwMjY5My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjgyNTkwOH0.EkdLxmLp3hVxI1Wsbfr1hflCe6luSnE4yf_0zG6Abdg/img.jpg?width=980" id="2c78f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1d3a9ed9fe73d403358d18f59d10e05a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="During an onstage performance, two female dancers balance their torsos on the left shoulder of their male partners, lifting their upper bodies up, reaching their arms in a V-shape and lifting their right leg high in attitude. The two women wear pastel dresses and the two men wear jeans and T-shirts." data-width="3318" data-height="2212" />
Ryan with company dancers in Jerome Robbins' West Side Story Suite
Lindsay Thomas, Courtesy PNB
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A New Home
<p>Ryan had attended Pacific Northwest Ballet's summer intensive the summer after joining PBII. She was among 30 young women enrolled in Peter Boal's class that summer—all excellent dancers, he says—but Ryan stood out.</p><p>"She had this kind of go-for-broke presence," Boal says. "A gutsiness." He made a mental note. A year later, when Ryan contacted him about an audition, Boal invited her to attend class when the company toured to New York City. At the end of that class, Boal offered Ryan a contract; she joined PNB as an apprentice in the fall of 2016.</p><p>"I loved PNB's rep, I loved the idea of working for Peter," Ryan says. Although she was scared about moving across the country, she calls it "good scared."</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcwMjcwNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjk1MjYxM30.x_BY9CkmMCJOsGUPG840LFL8UH70i6XoM-BWayy20cQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="aeb60" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="42f5d59af4e8522434111d7eacb5c8cd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan does a piqu\u00e9 retir\u00e9 on her left foot and holds her arms in fourth position en evant, leaning her upper body over to look towards her right leg. She wears an ornate blue tutu with off-the-shoulder sleeves, a blue feathered headress and pink tights and pointe shoes." data-width="2593" data-height="3300" />
Ryan in Ronald Hynd's The Sleeping Beauty
Angela Sterling, Courtesy PNB
<p>Ryan credits Boal with helping to free her from her self-image issues, but that didn't happen overnight. During her apprentice year, Ryan attended class in "trash bag pants," concerned that if Boal saw her thighs he'd decide not to cast her. She braced herself for the all-too familiar weight talk.</p><p>It never came.</p><p>But Boal noticed Ryan's tension, how she seemed intent on proving herself every time he was teaching class or watching rehearsal. He took her aside and explained that he'd hired her for a reason—he liked her dancing—and advised Ryan simply to dance for her own love of it. By the end of her apprentice year, new contract in hand, Ryan felt she'd found a true ballet home.</p><p>Ryan also credits her new-found comfort to the camaraderie she feels at PNB. She gravitated to a small group of Latinx dancers, who reminded her of her close-knit Philadelphia family. Ryan's mother is Mexican; her father grew up in Belize. The family identifies as Latin American, speaks Spanish at home and celebrates especially their Mexican heritage. Ryan was particularly touched when one colleague, a Seattle-area native, brought her samples of Mexican dishes her own mother had prepared. Small gestures like this helped ease the young dancer's homesickness.</p><p>Ryan had another reason to embrace her new city: Not long after she joined PNB, she caught the eye of a fellow dancer, principal Kyle Davis. They've been partners onstage and off for the past three years. "She's fantastic to work with," Davis says. "She's intelligent, open to discussing how steps work and how we can better work together. I personally think that's a phenomenal quality in a partner."</p>
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Finding Her Voice
<p>During this long pandemic year, Davis and Ryan have had ample opportunity to explore their partnership. They share a Seattle apartment with two miniature Australian shepherds, Hawk and Magpie, who make frequent cameos during the online classes the couple both take and teach.</p><p>PNB's 2020-21 season is all-digital, and when the dancers returned to the studio last August, only those who co-habitated could partner one another. In the company's opening program, Ryan and Davis reprised the pas de deux from Balanchine's "Rubies." While dancing for cameras instead of live audiences hasn't been ideal, Ryan says she's learned how to use her face to convey emotions in a more intimate way, instead of playing to the second balcony.</p><p>Beyond the pandemic, the past year also ushered in frank national conversations about race and racism, which freed Ryan to speak more openly about her Latin heritage. "It gave me a voice I didn't always have before," Ryan says. "I always knew I was different, especially in ballet, but didn't often talk about it."</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcwMzM3My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjgzNDE3N30.HGL1FFIRIjaLqqdnDeKEiigTOe_MA0RwtnuLZKkP6zQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="c1edf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="276932390dfa9bc7606ff0a86cfbba7a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Standing in front of a bright purple backdrop, Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan wears a pink cap-sleeved leotard and long chiffon skirt with a bright floral pattern. She faces profile to her left, props her right foot up onto her pointe shoe and looks back toward the camera with a close-lipped, confident smile." data-width="1080" data-height="1080" />
Jayme Thornton for Pointe
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<p>Last fall she encouraged PNB to acknowledge Hispanic Heritage Month. But she also wants to see ballet open its ranks to more dancers of color, and to see them advance to the upper echelons of companies like PNB.</p><p>Perhaps she'll be one of those dancers; at 23, she still has a long career ahead of her. Although she dreams of dancing the iconic classical roles—Giselle, Juliet and Kitri—Ryan also looks forward to the contemporary ballets that are a PNB mainstay.</p><p>Boal believes she can do whatever she sets her mind to. "Some dancers, there is no ceiling to their capability," Boal says. "Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan is one of them."</p>
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Mar 04, 2021
#TBT: Maria Alexandrova, Maria Allash and Yevgeny Ivanchenko in "Swan Lake"
While not nearly as common as the pas de deux, the pas de trois is a frequent feature in classical ballets that poses its own unique challenges. The seamless braiding of three dancers, in which all can equally shine, is no easy feat. In this clip from 2002, the Bolshoi Ballet stars Maria Alexandrova and Maria Allash and Mariinsky Ballet principal Yevgeny Ivanchenko, achieve that synergy in this sumptuous pas de trois from Act I of Swan Lake.
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<p>Allash and Alexandrova move with mesmerizing synchronization. They travel as one, taking the same precisely timed steps, and bend with the same lush cambré in the motif that appears at 0:38. Ivanchenko complements the two with his regal air. The women's costumes—gorgeous romantic tutus of yellow tulle—also add a softness to the piece, as their skirts flit and float about them.</p><p>In their variations, the dancers command the Bolshoi Theater's expansive stage. Allash sails across the space in buoyant pas de chats and a wide manège; Ivanchecko shows his power and crisp technique in a diagonal of double tours en l'air; and Alexandrova flies, as if blown by a breeze, in brisk, light pas de couru. The coda shows their power in unison as the dancers chug together across the stage and Alexandrova and Allash soar in suspended jetés. Happy #ThrowbackThursday!</p>
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Mar 03, 2021
Yonah Acosta in Sin La Habana, Courtesy Miami Film Festival
The Miami Film Festival Is Streaming 2 Films Spotlighting Cuban Ballet Dancers, Including Yonah Acosta
Many ballet companies are sharing digital productions these days, but if you want to get your ballet fix on the silver screen, the Miami Film Festival has something for you—and you don't have to fly to Miami to see it! Two ballet-centric films, the drama Sin La Habana (Without Havana) and documentary Cuban Dancer, will be featured in theaters and virtually at the 38th annual Miami Film Festival, running March 5 to 14.
<p>The premiere of <a href="https://miamifilmfestival.eventive.org/schedule/6018908ce2c1da005cdc340a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Sin La Habana</em></a><em>,</em> directed by Kaveh Nabatian, stars Bayerisches Staatsballett principal <a href="https://www.staatsoper.de/en/biographies/detail-page/acosta-yonah.html" target="_blank">Yonah Acosta</a>. Acosta plays Leonardo, a classical dancer, who is in love with Sara, a lawyer. They have big dreams together, all of which are thwarted by Cuba's closed borders. They realize their ticket to a brighter future could be with Nasim, a Canadian tourist who is struggling with her own demons, and a love triangle ensues. (Note: This film may not be appropriate for younger viewers.) The film is available with English subtitles and features Acosta's impressive ballet technique in several dance scenes. <em>Sin La Habana</em> will play in Miami on Sunday, March 7, at 2:30 pm ET and virtually on Monday, March 8, at 12 pm ET. </p>
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<p><a href="https://miamifilmfestival.eventive.org/schedule/60188a32d42a4d008d7686ac" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Cuban Dancer</em></a> is a documentary which chronicles the journey of a young student from the National Ballet School of Cuba, Alexis Valdes, as he moves from his comfortable life in Cuba to a radically new world in Florida. Directed by Roberto Salinas, <em>Cuban Dancer</em> showcases how Valdes, now an <a href="https://www.sfballet.org/artist/alexis-valdes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">apprentice</a> with the San Francisco Ballet, navigates the world of American ballet while trying to stay faithful to his roots. The film runs on Thursday, March 11, at 7 pm ET in Miami, and Friday, March 12, at 12 pm ET virtually. </p>
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<p>Also of note for Miami locals: <em><a href="https://miamifilmfestival.eventive.org/films/5fff796a4fceae0096ef6acb" target="_blank">Aburo</a></em>, a 17-minute short film that follows the tensions between an aspiring Cuban ballet dancer and his thieving twin brother, and the French drama <em><a href="https://miamifilmfestival.eventive.org/films/60104edf08dd6b004cbc4379" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Simple Passion</a></em>, starring Ukrainian-born dancer Sergei Polunin as a Russian diplomat (it does not feature any ballet). Both films are only being shown in theaters.</p><p>Tickets for the virtual screenings of <em>Sin La Habana</em> and <em>Cuban Dancer</em> are only available to viewers in the U.S. and can be purchased for $13. (The films can be viewed for 48 hours after release.)</p><p><em>Sin La Habana</em> highlights the best of Cuban dancing with Acosta, himself a graduate of the National Ballet of Cuba and nephew of ballet star Carlos Acosta. And with <em>Cuban Dancer</em>, ballet fans can witness how the future of Cuban ballet will continue to shine brightly. </p>
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