If you were not a dancer, Is there an alternate career path you would have chosen? If I wasn’t a dancer, I would have chosen to be a hairdresser! I love to style, cut, and color hair. It’s fun to change someone’s hair and see how much confidence it can give them!
What is one role that holds special significance for you? Performing Myrtha in Giselle at my previous ballet company. I hope that I'll get to do it with PNB one day!
Describe your perfect day off. I’m usually pretty exhausted from the week, so I tend not to go far from home on my rest days. I would consider a perfect off day to be a quiet night in cooking to some tunes over a glass of wine with fellow dancer Ryan Cardea while we get harassed by my beagle, Bob.
Do you have talents or passions outside of dance? Outside the magical artistry of a dancer, I greatly enjoy the benefits of being a musician. The nuance of movement and the construction of music jest one another for the title of my greater passion.
What is the most rewarding part of being a dancer? Seeing all the small pieces from weeks of work come together, and being a part of the finished product is such a great feeling.
With great sadness and on behalf of her family, Pacific Northwest Ballet announces the sudden passing of Deborah Hadley, PNB’s original prima ballerina. Hadley joined PNB in 1979 and reigned as a Principal Dancer for 13 years.
What significance does being part of PNB during the 50th Anniversary have to you? I had the pleasure of growing up in Seattle, so I remember coming to watch dancers at PNB for its 40th anniversary season. It feels so surreal to now dance for this company alongside dancers I looked up to ten years ago.
If you could replay one special performance, what would it be? It would definitely have to be opening night of The Nutcracker last year. I remember waiting patiently in the wings, watching my friends scurry across the stage as the first snow fell at McCaw Hall.
What are your favorite Seattle haunts? It has been amazing discovering all of the great restaurants, bars, and coffee shops that Seattle has to offer, since moving here. Some of my favorites include, Kedai Makan, Momiji, Toulouse Petit, Sal y Limon, Streamline Tavern, Bathtub Gin, and Evoke Espresso.
Do you have talents or passions outside of dance? I have studied music since I was a young girl and I play the piano and the harp. Music is a huge part of who I am and partially why I love dancing so much. George Balanchine famously said “see the music, hear the dance,” and I resonate with this very much, as dance and music are heavily intertwined in my daily life.