By Destinee A. Hughes
Which of your upcoming performances are you most excited about?
All of them, really! We’re performing George Balanchine’s “Swan Lake,” beginning on October 23, which will be magical. We’re re-envisioning Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” beginning on April 9, so I’m also excited about that.
What’s been your favorite role in your career?
I loved playing Princess Gamzatti in “La Bayadère,” one of my favorite roles with American Ballet Theatre. The female character was very intriguing to me, and it was a nice opportunity to blend my technical ability with my acting ability in such a classical manner.
Do you think about the audience when you’re on stage?
One thing that’s great about dance is that it’s live…It will never happen the same way twice. So you hope that the audience that evening realizes how special that time frame was. Watching TV or a movie, the producers do 10 million takes until they’re happy with it. With dance, you see art in its most creative and raw form, and that’s something that’s really important to me.
For more information on the Miami City Ballet, visit miamicityballet.org.
Originally appeared in the Fall 2015 issue.
