Over at the New York Times, there's an article about the life of dancers in the New York City Ballet Corps, and it's fascinating. Here's an inside look at the lives of the women and men who spend their time jumping and twirling for our entertainment.
1. The corps is the lowest rung on the ladder and they work hard. These young dancers can dance seven performances a week, in five different ballets, sometimes changing costumes at intermission to dance two roles in a night.
2. Twelve-hour days are the weekday norm. There's regular morning class, then back-to-back-to-back rehearsals, costume fittings, physical therapy, and then it's on to hair, makeup, and costuming for their daily performances.
3. And weekends are worse. Some dancers will appear in seven ballets in the span of Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.
4. Most star ballet performers start in the corps. The New York Ballet promotes from within, so its future stars are its current background dancers.
5. The corps are competitive but they're also family. “There is an element of competition, and people get different opportunities, but everybody just wants to do their best onstage, and everyone wants each other to just do their best onstage,” Claire Kretzschmar, a 24-year-old corps dancer said. “We have all experienced so many extreme highs and lows that it’s almost that you have to bond with this group of people.”
6. The pay is pretty good. Corps members earn roughly $1,100 to $2,100 a week, depending on seniority, and contracts last one year. Which makes sense since it's a short-lived career.
7. It's a physically demanding, sometimes dangerous, profession. Injuries aren't uncommon, and if not properly treated, can be career-ending. The performers often visit an in-house physical therapist for adjustments and manipulations between classes and performances.
8. You don't get your own dressing room if you're in the corps. They all share a communal space with just enough room for a mirror, a hanging closet shelf, and a theater case.
9. They have a unique way of wishing each other "good luck" before a performance. The French expression "merde" is a common way to say "break a leg." Merde actually means "shit" in French, and some think the expression came from when animals were used in ballet, and dancers would warn each other about the "merde" on stage while performing.
10. They don't necessarily have amazing diets. Kretzschmar dines on a meal of leftover pulled pork and macaroni and cheese after performing two ballets in a night.
11. Ballet isn't their entire world. Kretzschmar is currently earning a degree in communications with a minor in English. She knows her career in ballet won't last forever and it's good to have some other skills to (gracefully) fall back on.
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