Silas Farley Talks city.ballet.
Can’t get enough of
city.ballet.? Every Monday, we’ll be posting a new interview with a different cast member from the AOL On docu-series about New York City Ballet. This week, we talk to corps member Silas Farley, who found out on-camera that he’d be joining NYCB .
Most dancers have no trouble expressing themselves with their bodies, but aren’t nearly as comfortable doing so with their mouths. Silas Farley is one of the few who seems to be equally adept with words and movement—which is why he’s a breakout star of city.ballet. In Episode 2: Apprentices, and Episode 3: Corps de Ballet, we watch him eloquently describe his feelings as he waits to hear whether he’ll be making the jump from apprentice to full company member. (Non-spoiler alert: He does.)
Episode 3 shows Farley’s reaction immediately after receiving his corps contract (“Glory, hallelujah!”) and a joyful phone conversation discussing the news with his father. None of that, he says, was staged. “You know, at first I was like, whoa, these are very personal moments to share with a lot of people,” he says. “But in hindsight, to have that captured on film—that’s priceless. It’s an unadulterated, absolutely real documentation of a huge milestone.”
Why does he think dancers will benefit from a series primarily targeted at non-dancers? “One, because they’ve been there,” he says. “Two, because they know who these people are already! You get to see Ashley Bouder’s apartment and find out what kind of seltzer Sara Mearns drinks! In all seriousness, I think dancers will find particular joy in seeing what it’s really like to be part of this company—to see that it’s both an exalted artistic endeavor and a job.”
Watch the full city.ballet. series at dancemagazine.com.
