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Day-To-Day Life As A Professional Ballerina

April 9, 2017 by 4dancers

black swan
Sharon Wehner as the black swan in Swan Lake. Photo by David Andrews.

by Sharon Wehner

As a professional ballet dancer, I often get questions from non-dancers about what a work day/week/month looks like. This is usually followed by a look of surprise when I say that I dance 6-9 hours a day, 5-6 days per week, an average of 45 weeks a year. b35 of those weeks are as a member of the Colorado Ballet. The others involve guesting and contract work. The 8 weeks of “off-time” are scattered throughout the year, and spent taking class and cross-training.

So what does a typical day look like? That all depends on the week. During my season with Colorado Ballet, there are two basic time periods: Rehearsal and Performance. Rehearsal weeks consist of a 4-6 week period of learning and rehearsing repertory. Performance weeks involve both rehearsals and performances, including stage, tech, and dress rehearsals in the theatre, as well as “maintenance” rehearsals at the studio.

Rehearsal Period

During a rehearsal week, we begin every day with an hour and 15 minute Company Class. As a dancer who also teaches, I’m always amazed at how much the ballet mistress/master can squeeze into 75 minutes with 50 dancers in the room! Barre is usually only about 30 minutes, but we still get in every necessary component: plies, several tendus and dégagé combinations, ronde de jambe, fondue, frappe, adagio, and grande battement. Center combinations vary depending on the teachers, but we alway do a center tendu, adagio, pirouettes, small jumps, assemble, petit allegro, sisones, grande allegro, and sometimes a coda combination. One teacher manages to squeeze in additional center fondues, grande battement, and an assemble jump combination.

As one can see, company class has to run like a super efficient well-oiled machine. There is little time for corrections or individual attention. But even some of that does happen. Professionals are expected to pick up combinations quickly, transition from one group to the next seamlessly, and apply corrections without interrupting the flow of class.   There is also an etiquette amongst professionals which enables the class to churn along. Every company has their own unique unspoken rules about barre space, mirror space, groupings, and “territory”. I always smile when I see the new “kids” trying to navigate these rules when they first enter the company. Luckily, most dancers are fairly intuitive, and masters at reading body language. Ideally, the less-than-aware dancers are taken aside and given a little guidance. But, I have also witnessed a senior principle chew out a young oblivious pup, and it can be quite the spectacle.

Class is followed by a fifteen minute break. Three hours of rehearsal follow this, then a one hour lunch break, and another three hours of rehearsals. Depending on the person and the productions being rehearsed, a dancer may only have one hour of rehearsal, but could just as easily have six hours. Generally, we rehearse more than one ballet at a time. We may be preparing the most immediate production (Swan Lake, for example), as well as learning repertory for later in the season, and working on the creation of new choreography for another season, all at the same time. As we get closer to production week, rehearsals are increasingly distilled down to focus only on the most immediate production.

Performance Period

Tech week involves a mix of technical, orchestra, and dress rehearsals twice a day in the theatre leading up to Opening Night. Our company usually performs a student matinee the morning before opening night. In the past few years, this performance has been live-cast locally and internationally to schools in ten different countries. Thus, even though it is technically considered a dress rehearsal, the student matinee is actually treated like a live show. Dancers and orchestra are expected to carry on in the face of mistakes and mis-cues.

The following weeks consist of a mix of rehearsals at the studio during the day and performances in the evening.   During a performance day, our rehearsal time is limited to three hours, with a minimum of two hour break before being called to the theatre. We always have formal class before rehearsal, and then are responsible for warming ourselves back up at the theatre before the show.

After a run of performances, we return to a rehearsal period schedule, and the cycle starts all over again. Sometimes there will be a week or two layoff in between. This is usually a welcome recovery time for both the body and the mind (not so much the bank account, but that’s another story).

Off Season

Once the season winds down, usually in April for my company, we enter into a four month lay-off period. This time is utilized differently amongst various dancers. Many, like myself, pick-up contract “gigs” either performing or teaching, which often requires being free to travel. For example, I have been to Japan about 10 times, working with choreographers and performing as a guest artist. I have also worked with various pick-up companies. This involves a pretty serious commitment of daily rehearsals and performances, much like the work I do during the season with Colorado Ballet. I have also utilized the time to take college courses. Other dancers prefer to pick up non-dancing work, such as waiting tables or nanny-ing. It’s always a tricky thing—balancing rest and work and play during a lay-off. By the end of the rigorous season, the body and spirit are usually craving time on the beach eating copious amounts of ice cream.   Sometimes this is possible, but not usually my style. The closest thing was last spring, when, after a very difficult year personally and professionally, I did a yoga teacher-training in Costa Rica. Even though the schedule was packed—a 200 hour training in 21 days—being immersed in nature and learning a new skill steeped in wisdom teachings, was extremely nourishing for me.

In terms of staying in shape and cross-training, this also looks differently for every dancer. Some dancers thrive on doing “normal-people” stuff—hiking, swimming, going to the gym. I admit, I love a great non-dance cardio workout with a set of headphones and a good pod cast.   At the same time, I strongly believe that there is nothing like doing ballet class if you really want to be in dancer-shape. Yet, age and experience has also taught me that most bodies need some form of constructive rest, in which more body-friendly exercise is necessary. Yoga, pilates, and Gyrotonics are my go-to sources of conditioning in this arena. And then, every once in a while, I let myself totally veg out on the beach with a good book and an iced latte.

So, that’s it in a nutshell—the various faces of being a professional ballerina in a mid-sized company with a 35-week season. At least, in my world…


What’s coming up for Colorado Ballet? Keep track of their performance schedule here.


Ballerina
Colorado Ballet’s Sharon Wehner. Photo by Allen Birnbach

Contributing writer Sharon Wehner is originally from San Jose, California. She trained with Jody White and David Roxander, San Jose Dance Theatre, San Francisco Ballet and San Jose/Cleveland Ballet. Ms. Wehner joined Colorado Ballet in 1995 and was promoted to Principal in 1999, and in the last 20 years, has performed many lead roles with the Company. These include Kitri in Don Quixote, Giselle in Giselle, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Medora in Le Corsaire, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Swanilda in Coppelia, Mina in Dracula, Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, the Cowgirl in Rodeo, the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Cinderella in Cinderella, Esmerelda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Titania and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Second Violin in Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, the Principal couple in Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, Rubies, and Theme and Variations, Antony Tudor’s Leaves are Fading, and Twyla Tharp’s In The Upper Room. She has been honored to have solos and pas de deuxs created on her by choreographers Val Caniparoli, Edwaard Liang, Mathew Neenan, Christopher Wheeldon, Darrel Grand Moultrie, Dwight Rhoden, Jessica Lang, Brian Reeder and Toru Shimazaki.

In addition to Colorado Ballet, Ms. Wehner has also performed with The Washington Ballet, Oakland Ballet and Amy Seiwert’s Imagery. She has also been a guest artist at the Vail International Dance Festival, in Japan in the Aoyama Ballet Festival, and the National Ballet of Japan’s Golden Ballet Co-star.  Sharon enjoys teaching dance to all ages and abilities, particularly Dance for Parkinson’s Disease.

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Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: ballerina, ballet performance, Ballet Rehearsal, barre, colorado ballet, company class, Sharon Wehner

CD Review: Music for Ballet Class Volume Three by Charles Mathews

March 31, 2017 by Rachel Hellwig

Music for Ballet Class Volume Three by Charles Mathews

Charles Mathews

by Rachel Hellwig

If listening to a ballet class CD makes you want to get up and jeté, that’s a good sign (though perhaps inconvenient if you’re sitting in bookstore café.) This album is definitely going on my iPod for home practice. It has the engaging qualities of contrasting moods, many arrangements from ballet scores, and a movement-inspiring pulse throughout.

Selections for barre run for two consecutive tracks so that both sides of an exercise can be completed without restarting the music. As a student, this may or may not be to your taste depending on the steps at hand… It likewise reduces the possibility of a teacher forgetting to do the left side of a particularly tricky combination. But, I digress…

Some of my favorite pieces are “1st Female Variation” from Giselle Peasant Pas de Deux for jeté at barre, “Radetsky March” by Johann Strauss for frappé at barre, “Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker for Pirouettes En Diagonal, and “Greensleeves” and Faure’s “Pavane in F-Sharp Minor” for Adage in center.

Filed Under: 4dancers, 4teachers Tagged With: ballet class music, ballet class music review, cd review, Class Music, Music for Ballet Class Volume Three by Charles Mathews

Review: “Gennadi’s Choice” by Atlanta Ballet

March 18, 2017 by Rachel Hellwig

Atlanta Ballet in Gemma Bond’s
“Denouement.” Photo by Kim Kenney. Courtesy of Atlanta Ballet.

by Rachel Hellwig

Gennadi’s Choice marks a new chapter for Atlanta Ballet as the company is shaped by the new artistic direction of Gennadi Nedvigin. The first mixed bill of his inaugural season, the program  provides a glimpse of his commitment to classical ballet and contemporary works with a strong classical basis. It features excerpts of Paquita, Denouement by Gemma Bond, and Vespertine by Liam Scarlett.

Paquita’s sunny foray into classicism showcases Christian Clark’s calm strength and finesse and Rachel Van Buskirk’s precision, musicality, and creativity. Variations also highlight Ashley Wegmann’s long lines, serenity, and sumptuous phrasing, Monika Haczkiewicz’s elastic jumps and balance, and Jackie Nash’s projection and pointe work.

In Denouement, a premiere by Gemma Bond, the company evinces its continuing strength in one-act, abstract, contemporary works. With themes of time and choice as inspiration, Bond constructs a detailed work that casts a quiet, increasing tight spell. Imagery recalling Swan Lake surfaces at times, including frequent, wing-like motions of the arms and bourrées conveying a struggle for freedom. James Whiteside’s costumes also contribute to these echoes as strips of pale fabric forming skirts sometimes appear to be feathers fluttering in the wind. Predominantly cold, blue lighting by Joseph R. Walls coupled with scrims to suggest doorways and distance adds dimensions to the drama.

Vespertine, the North American premiere of a work Scarlett created on the Norwegian National Ballet in 2013, likewise highlights Atlanta Ballet’s adeptness in one-act, contemporary works. In Vespertine, Scarlett is at his most poignant when melding contrasting movement elements—grounded, historically-inspired and naturalistic steps with the abandon, force, and freedom of contemporary ballet. Adding to this is his gift of charging small gestures with intensity and layers of meaning. As in Denouement, the lighting design—here by Michael Hulls– has a leading role in the drama: clusters of lights hovering above stage, most evocative when dimly glowing, represent both chandeliers and a canopy of magnified stars.


Gennadi’s Choice repeats on March 18 at 8 p.m. and March 19 at 2 p.m.


Disclosure: Atlanta Ballet Dancer Alessa Rogers is a contributing writer at 4dancers.

Filed Under: 4dancers, Reviews Tagged With: atlanta ballet, dance review, Denouement, Gemma Bond, Gennadi Nedvigin, Gennadi’s Choice, Liam Scarlett, Paquita, Vespertine

Sidelined?

March 17, 2017 by Rachel Hellwig

By Samantha Hope Galler

Louise in Kenneth MacMillan’s “Carousel” with Miami City Ballet. Daniel Azoulay.

Understanding Injuries

Since I began my career nearly 10 years ago, I have discovered that professional ballet dancers are among the strongest human beings. When I was 5 years in to my professional career, I met with a sports medicine doctor. During our conversation he said to me, “Well, it’s not like you are playing tackle football.” I could not believe it. His comment opened my eyes to how little people understood the dance world and the risks that come with it. Dancers put their careers on the line every day. We must deal with disappointments, but, most of all, we must deal with injuries. Discovering mental stamina while sidelined is the biggest challenge.

The Worst News

The worst news a dancer can receive is that she or he must hold off on what they live and breathe. Dance injuries come when you least expect them. Performing and rehearsing is going along so well and then all of a sudden things come to a screeching halt. It is a complete shock. Many injuries will take weeks, months, or even years to come back from. Emotional attitudes are compromised and difficulties arise from being sidelined. Fortunately, dancers today have access to advanced dance and sports medicine doctors who will answer any questions they have regarding their path to recovery. Depending on the severity of an injury, movement may be limited. This can force a dancer to be away from the studio for quite some time. Other injuries may allow a dancer to continue some normal activity like watching rehearsals or marking in the back of the studio. It is common to find a young dancer joining a company and sidelined early on from an overuse injury. A professional dancer’s schedule can be drastically different from that of a student and they may not be used to it. I have learned that a dancer’s first injury is a crucial learning experience. It was for me. It is the first time a dancer is forced to sit out, cross train, and build back mental and physical strength. There is a significant amount of time to reflect on yourself and any recent experiences. Reflection can be a positive experience, especially when the person is in their most vulnerable state. Reflecting can build a dancer’s confidence while they discover new ways to approach goals. This is when a dancer finds their deepest strength to pull through.

Learning to Cope

Mental stamina and mental clarity are two crucial elements dancers require to tackle their careers. Interestingly enough, our training prepares us for injuries in more ways than one. It is a matter of finding the patience we need to keep our head in the game. Most professional dancers are accustomed to spending 7-8 hours a day rehearsing. It can be quite a shock when all of a sudden you do not have that schedule anymore. Time seems to go by more slowly because the schedule is quieter. It is important to fill that schedule with activities that keep the mind and body alert.  A portion of time can be spent working with a sports psychologist to learn how to compartmentalize, gain focus, and grasp the situation. Feeding the mind with positive thoughts and meditating has helped me find trust and confidence. I really have to believe there is a master plan behind it all.

Back to Work

Photo by Samantha Hope Galler.

Visualization plays a key role in my return. As I approach the weeks before returning to the studio, I begin to visualize my pirouettes and jumps. Sometimes I watch rehearsals just to become accustomed to the sounds of the pointe shoe hitting the floor. In addition, I find time to research and study ballet videos.  Even though injuries stop us from being able to physically practice, we can still keep our minds going. Watching these videos reminds the mind what the movements feel like without actually doing them. All of these practices guide us in the right direction. When the chance comes to finally step back into the studio, it is important to feel ready. I find comfort in knowing what muscles I can and cannot move. This helps me narrow down a productive workout routine to stay into shape.  Although it is not easy to work out equivalently to a daily rehearsal schedule, two or three hours in the gym can make a huge difference. The more I do while recovering the more I can focus on the main issue once I am given the ok to move on. My workouts typically include reformer sessions, gyrotonics, biking, and swimming as permitted. My advice for those coming back from an injury is to try all different forms of cross training. If you do Pilates all the time, make sure to throw in a few sessions of swimming to build stamina in a different way. This career is first and foremost visual so it is important to understand how to make an appropriate comeback so that you can feel confident with your progress once you are in the studio or on stage. Be ready to face anything that comes your way.

Filed Under: 4dancers, Injuries Tagged With: ballet injuries, dance injuries, dancer life, injuries, Miami City Ballet, Smantha Hope Galler

3 Lessons From A Liam Scarlett Rehearsal

March 9, 2017 by Rachel Hellwig

by Rachel Hellwig

Alessa Rogers and Christian Clark in Liam Scarlett's rehearsal of "Vesperine." Photo courtesy of Atlanta Ballet.
Liam Scarlett (right) rehearses Alessa Rogers and Christian Clark’s pas de deux in “Vesperine.” Photo by Charlie McCullers. Courtesy of Atlanta Ballet.

A popular meme in the dance community online depicts the diagram of an iceberg—the 20% above the water labeled “The Show,” the 80% below marked “The Rehearsal.” Humor aside, the rehearsal process yields depths of learning and insight.

Liam Scarlett, Artist in Residence at The Royal Ballet, was at Atlanta Ballet last October setting his work Vespertine on the company. The piece, originally created on the Norwegian National Ballet in 2013, will appear on the program Gennadi’s Choice from March 17-19.

Scarlett is articulate, thoughtful, and detailed in his discussion of dance and choreography, smoothly navigating the always stormy waters of translating the language of movement into the language of words.

Here are some ideas gleaned from his rehearsal that can be applied to any dance rehearsal…

Create Safety to Experiment

Scarlett says that a rehearsal should be a place to make mistakes, not be afraid of looking silly, and that when laughter arises in the process, the artists are “laughing with each other, not at one another.”

Filter Movement Through Emotion

Though Scarlett’s Vespertine is abstract, it’s all about feelings, specifically those reflecting the definition of “vespertine”– an “active, flowering, or flourishing in the evening.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Scarlett believes that, in dance, a glance can be more powerful than a virtuosic display like 32 fouettés.

That said, he doesn’t get unrealistically carried away with this idea. After giving a correction that emphasized the importance of a particular glance between two dancers, he added–with good humor–“Don’t get so lost in each others’ eyes that you get behind the music.”

Remember That Choreography Lives Through Performers

As a choreographer, Scarlett admits that he is sad when the creation process is over. Yet, he points out that finishing a dance work is “not like finishing a painting.” Choreography goes on living. Performers bring it to life again and again. He says, “It’s different every night, different for every interpreter.”

Beyond Rehearsal…

Scarlett sees dance as a magnification of the universal language of body language; the age-old reflex of expressing feelings in movement.

As he told The New York Times in March, “The body has automatic reactions […] We cry, laugh, our heart quickens, we hold our breath. Everyone speaks with their hands. Dance is just an amplified version of this.”


“Gennadi’s Choice” will be presented from March 17-19, 2017 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. The program will feature Scarlett’s “Vespertine,” selections from “Paquita,” and a world premiere by Gemma Bond. $25. Purchase here.


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Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: atlanta ballet, Ballet Rehearsal, Dance Rehearsal, Gennadi’s Choice, Liam Scarlett, Rehearsal, Rehearsal Advice, Rehearsal Tips, The New York Times, the royal ballet, Vespertine

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