Meet Joshua Binowitz, the Nashville Ballet Dancer Taking to the Sky
The comparisons between dancing and flying are made so often that they become clichéd. Joshua Binowitz, a company artist at Nashville Ballet, can speak on the similarities especially well, considering he does both on a regular basis. Originally from Orange County, California, Binowitz’s mother led his ballet training prior to him joining the San Francisco Ballet School at age 15. His father has his pilot’s license and would take him flying regularly, even letting him sit on his lap and “fly” the plane at age 4.
“Jumping in ballet is my favorite thing. Everyone jokes at me like, ‘You just love being up in the air,’ ” he says. Binowitz thinks his friends might be right. “There’s such a calming nature to flying, especially on a clear day. There’s no feeling else out there like it, besides maybe doing a huge double tour or double saut de basque. You’re up in the air and you’re just enjoying life up there.”
Always mindful that the career of a dancer doesn’t last forever, Binowitz decided to follow his interest in aviation and started studying for his pilot’s license in 2022, while he danced with Tulsa Ballet II. “I flew my first solo flight on October 9, 2022,” he says. “That day will be in my head forever.”
But flying commercial planes, which Binowitz aspires to do, requires more than one certification. He earned his private pilot’s license in May 2023, and shortly thereafter moved to Tennessee to join Nashville Ballet. From there, he studied for and received his instrument rating in April 2024, which allows him to fly in inclement or unclear weather conditions. Now he’s working towards his commercial pilot’s license, which will allow him to be paid to fly. Binowitz will also need a certification to operate a multi-engine plane and hundreds of hours of flight experience before being considered for an airline pilot position. The hours of training to fly reminds him of the hours spent perfecting his ballet technique. “It’s many years, many hours, many tests, and a lot of work,” he says.
And, like dancing, there are no shortcuts to learning to fly planes. It just takes time. Binowitz’s typical schedule has him at Nashville Ballet from 11 am to 6 pm each day, teaching at two local studios from 7 pm to 9 pm most weeknights, and flying or studying with his flight instructors for several hours on weekends. If rehearsals end early, he heads to the airport. “I’ll ask whoever is around me, ‘Hey guys, I’m gonna go flying—does anyone want to come?’ I have a couple friends who love coming while I work on getting my hours.”
Binowitz’s instructors have complimented him on how quickly he learns flight maneuvers. “The goal is to show you have complete control over the airplane,” he says. “So you have to do a bunch of maneuvers that show that you are in control. I find that to be pretty much exactly the same as when a choreographer comes in and shows something, and they point at you and go ‘Let’s see it,’ and you better have learned it.”
During Nashville Ballet performances, like the company’s recent Nutcracker run, Binowitz has to put flying on hold. “Flying is the type of thing where if you take some time off, it’s kind of like two steps forward, one step back. When I’m flying a lot, I’m thinking about what I’m doing, but I’m not totally dissecting it,” he explains.
Now, as Nashville Ballet prepares for its next performances, Binowitz is grateful to be getting back into the cockpit. “I’m happy that I found something that I love just as much as dancing,” he says.
