You are known as an exceptional partner. Has that added to your physical strain as you have gotten older?
The more you partner, the tighter your back gets, especially if you’re a taller guy and you’re with taller women. And you absolutely have to be very careful the older you get because if you’re younger and you’re lifting incorrectly, there’s a high chance that you might have disc issues as you grow older.
How did Kevin McKenzie influence you as a dancer and how you think about ballet?
Kevin was a master partner. And when he danced, there was a flow to his movement. His focus was on the way you hold yourself as a dancer — noble, conveying the correct character, whatever role you were embodying, whether it was Solor who’s a warrior in “La Bayadère,” or Siegfried, a prince in “Swan Lake.” Even the way you stand: how you hold your head and your chest, how that speaks to the character, the personality.
Basically, he strongly believed that ballet as an art is a form of communication. Our duty is not just to impress athletically. The whole thing is that we are trying to resonate emotionally with our audiences. And so with our movement, it’s not just about the jumps and the turns — it’s about every action conveying what we’re saying. What are we saying about this character or about ourselves?
Have you thought about what you might want to do next?
I don’t have any plans yet. I’ve had some offers, but I have not committed to anything.
What has this year been like at A.B.T., knowing your career was coming to an end?
It was recognizing that it’s pointless to expect that I can control what happens in my life. It’s been like a battle, from when I got the news to now, of letting go. Like, ‘This is what I have had, it’s been so amazing.’” I still have a lot to look forward to but I don’t know what it’s going to be.
And I know that the tools that I have learned from going through this process, they’ve really helped me be able to not only understand others who have been through this, which is many other people, but I think it’s going to help with the uncertainty of starting over, this renewal. It’s been a good lesson for me.
