As difficult as it is to plan for a trip to a new city, there’s a whole additional set of details for a dancer on tour to worry about. What should I pack in my carry-on? Will there be someplace open for dinner once the show’s over? What if the stage is raked? But dancers can become adept at pretty much anything—from conquering jet lag to learning the necessary foreign-language phrases. Five dancers gave us a peek inside their touring lives.
STERLING HYLTIN
Company: New York City Ballet
Rank: Principal
Favorite theaters: “It’s a tie between the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg and the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen. There’s such history in the Mariinsky, and in Tivoli, there’s a roller coaster next to our dressing room that flies by every few minutes!”
Antidote for jet lag: Melatonin. “It’s my secret weapon. I take a pill right before bed to help me sleep through the whole first night.”
Suitcase must-have: A neck fulcrum. “It looks sort of like a pillow. I lay on my back with it for 15 minutes and it aligns my neck, which can go out very easily, especially when I’m on a flight and sleeping in a horrible position.”
Staying in touch: “I use the Viber app on my iPhone. It’s basically an internet telephone, so as long as you have Wi-Fi, you can use it to make calls or send texts.”
PASCAL MOLAT
Company: San Francisco Ballet
Rank: Principal
Go-to travel snack: ThinkThin energy bars from Trader Joe’s, which he munches on if he’s stuck in a theater all day and can’t grab a real meal. His favorite flavor is peanut butter. “I usually bring a dozen with me!”
Best audience reaction: “When I was training as a teenager with the Paris Opéra Ballet, we toured to Tokyo and the people there went crazy for us. We must have had 20 cars of people following our tour bus. We all felt as if we were Michael Jackson.”
On having a roomie: “At SFB, whoever wants a single room puts his or her name in, and then we draw to see who gets one. I prefer to be alone, but we’re all good friends. If I do room with somebody, I try not to choose anyone very young—because they are very ready to party!”
Staying in touch: Molat, who has a wife and 3-year-old son, is a huge fan of Skype. “Depending on where we are in the world, I use it to wish my family good morning or good night.”
TRICIA ALBERTSON
Company: Miami City Ballet
Rank: Principal
Best audience reaction: Paris, in the summer of 2011. “We did 17 performances, and every one had standing ovations—for every ballet.”
Essential carry-ons: Thinksound headphones (eco- and acoustic-friendly) and a feather pillow.
Best hotel amenity: A refrigerator. “Late-night dining options are often just a Denny’s, so I like to have my own food.”
Worst disaster story: “When traveling to Cedar Rapids, we had a layover, and several of us decided to hang out away from our crowded gate. We didn’t keep an eye on the time, and the plane ended up closing the doors before we could board. We had to rent a minivan—I was the only one old enough to drive a rental car—and drive six hours to the hotel!”
RACHEL FOSTER
Company: Pacific Northwest Ballet
Rank: Principal
Theater pick: The Joyce in New York. “I like its small, intimate feeling.”
Overcoming travel troubles: “I need to have my compression socks so my feet don’t swell. And when I get to the hotel, I have to take a bath. I’m a bath-taker.”
Go-to travel snacks: Carrots, raw almonds and fruit-and-nut trail mix.
Essential carry-ons: All of the dancewear necessary for the shows—shoes, tights, a leotard and warm-ups. “Just in case my luggage doesn’t make it.”
BENJAMIN BEHRENDS
Company: Trey McIntyre Project
Harshest performing conditions: “I have a really hard time adjusting to higher altitudes, and when we performed in Vail, Colorado, we were dancing on an outdoor stage. It was beautiful, but they had to have oxygen tanks waiting for us offstage. We would run off, throw ourselves on the ground and someone would put an oxygen mask over our mouths.”
Essential carry-on: A long, thick scarf. “It can be used as a blanket, a pillow, or a divider between you and the person who has his arm on your chair.”
First foreign phrase to memorize: “I always try to learn how to count, since it comes in handy when asking for prices and when we teach master classes.”
Favorite souvenir: A helmet from Vietnam. “They’re all motorcyclists there, and everybody wears a certain kind of helmet. So we went to a vendor, and a bunch of us got one to use with our bicycles back home. But then one of our translators explained that it’s not actually for protection—it’s just a fashion statement!”
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Left to right: Dance Theatre of Harlem's Daphne Lee, Amanda Smith, Lindsey Donnell and Alexandra Hutchinson in a scene from Dancing Through Harlem. Derek Brockington, Courtesy Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dancers Share Their Key Takeaways After a Year of Dancing on Film
Still, it's been an adjustment. How are dancers developing performance energy? How can artistry best be communicated through the camera? What is the best angle to present technique? Dance Theatre of Harlem's Derek Brockington explains that dancing for film is "about acknowledging that it's not going to be the same experience—it's a different way of dancing." Below, Brockington and several other dancers share their takeaways after a year of dancing on camera.
Adapting to New Spaces and Timelines
Rehearsing in the back of a crowded studio used to seem like a challenge, but since the pandemic began last year Zoom rehearsals became the norm, and gave new perspective to exploring movement in small spaces. Dancing an entirely digital season this year, Jessy Dick, a company apprentice at The Washington Ballet, explains that learning contemporary movement via Zoom last fall was confusing to translate into the body. "It is hard to feel the movement," says Dick. "I never realized how expansive moving in the studio can feel. The walls mess with your head."
Dick had to adapt and develop mind flexibility, which she says later carried over when the company began dancing in site-specific locations and adjusting to the quick pace of a filming day. When shooting Something Human, by TWB artist Andile Ndlovu, last October, considerations such as natural lighting and weather shaped a single day of filming at Maryland's Patapsco Female Institute. There was little time for dancers to acquaint themselves with the space, adapt and, as Dick says, "just go for it." Yet she adds that the challenge of performing outdoors on unfamiliar surfaces and in tennis shoes or bare feet was balanced by the inspiration of dancing with the wind and sunshine. "The location fueled us to be able to turn it on and off quick," she says, especially when doing multiple takes throughout the day.
The Washington Ballet's Jessy Dick on the set of Andile Ndlovu's Something Human
Mena Brunette of XMBPhotography, Courtesy TWB
Even when filming in the familiar confines of a theater, the recording experience can be intense. San Francisco Ballet principal Aaron Robison describes recording George Balanchine's Jewels at the War Memorial Opera House in January as "one run-through, notes and then a quick touch-up, and we did it again." While rehearsing his role in "Emeralds" was relatively typical (save Balanchine répétiteur Sandra Jennings coaching via Zoom instead of in the studio), the recording day included two back-to-back run-throughs. When asked how he rallies performance-level energy multiple times in a row, Robison explains that knowing that a performance run is complete in one single day of filming gives him the fortitude to push to his max.
Turning On Performance Mode—Without the Audience
The energy between dancers and audience members during a live performance is hard to replicate digitally. Since films are often shot from different angles, dancers have had to explore how to project through different parts of the body and with specificity, depending on the shot. "It involves more thinking than you normally have to do," says Brockington. He says he has to have keen awareness of where the camera is, while also trying to project beyond it and considering the different angles it is potentially capturing.
While Robison's filming process of Jewels was a straight run-through from one angle, he was still performing to an empty theater. Yet he says he drew energy from "the fact that we haven't been able to perform for all this time, and I felt fortunate in that moment being back on the stage."
San Francisco Ballet principal Aaron Robison and soloist Sasha Mukhamedov in George Balanchine's "Emeralds"
Erik Tomasson, Courtesy SFB
Regardless of the circumstances, being committed to the moment is imperative for a filmed performance to be effective. Not only do viewers need to feel it, dancers want to do justice to the choreography in a way that stands the test of time. "That's the thing with a film," says Robison. "It stays."
Reaching a Global Audience
One of the major advantages to online performances is that anyone can watch from anywhere in the world. On a personal level, dancers from international backgrounds can share their dancing with family, friends and teachers who supported their training. From a more global perspective, virtual performances allow dancers and companies to share their missions on a broader platform.
When DTH initially created Dancing Through Harlem, a virtual submission for Harlem Week last August, it went viral with over 7.6 million views. Brockington and his roommate, fellow DTH dancer Alexandra Hutchinson, conceived, produced and edited the film—with choreography based on Robert Garland's New Bach and set throughout beautiful spaces in Harlem—over seven days in August using an iPad. Not expecting to reach such a large audience, Brockington says that the video's popularity is why representation matters. "I grew up not seeing many ballet dancers who looked like me." Brockington says he was honored to share his dancing and the stunning architecture of Harlem with the world while representing DTH's mission of inclusivity and accessibility.
Another audience added to the pool of viewers is the dancers themselves. Waiting for a film to debut can produce greater anticipation than pre-performance jitters, especially when you're not sure what the final product will look like. Robison explains that while he knows which takes he felt particularly good about, the chosen cut will be what best represents the entire cast—and that isn't revealed until the film is released.
For dancers, being able to watch the work they were a part of is a reward that is entirely new. "There's nothing that compares to the feeling of performing onstage," says Dick. "But it was beautiful to watch my colleagues blossom in front of the camera."
Alexandra McMaster
Start Your Dance Day With This Delicious Berry Breakfast Crisp Recipe
You're probably thinking, Doesn't a crisp technically count as dessert? Well, yes, but when you serve this Berry Breakfast Crisp with plain yogurt instead of ice cream, you have an awesome, balanced breakfast option with carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats.
I've been mindful of the amount of sugar in the recipe, considering this is breakfast. However, feel free to explore and adjust the ingredients to suit your liking.
Berry Breakfast Crisp (serves 8–10)
Alexandra McMaster
Ingredients
2 cups frozen blueberries
2 cups frozen raspberries
2 cups frozen strawberries
3 tbsps maple syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
For crisp:
1/2 cup coconut sugar or raw sugar
1/3 cup + 3 tbsps coconut oil or butter, melted
1/4 cup almond butter
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups almond flour (also known as "almond meal")
1/2 tsp salt
Plain, unsweetened yogurt to serve
Berry Breakfast Crisp
Alexandra McMaster
Preparation
Preheat oven to 320°F (160°C).
1. In a large baking dish, add the frozen fruit, maple syrup, lemon juice and vanilla. Lightly stir with a spoon.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted coconut oil/butter and almond butter.
3. Using a food processor, grind 1 cup of the rolled oats into a flour. Add the oat flour and remaining crisp ingredients to the medium bowl. Stir well until everything is evenly coated.
4. Scatter the crisp over the fruit and bake (uncovered) for 45 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the crisp looks golden.
5. Enjoy hot or cold with your yogurt of choice.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days in the fridge. The crisp also freezes well.
For more of Alexandra McMaster's recipes, go to ballerinabites.com or follow her on Instagram at @ballerina_bites.
