by Caitlin Valentine as told to Katie Slattery | May 21, 2024 | Career, Pointe+, Profiles
Caitlin Valentine has experienced nearly everything the ballet world can offer. After being handpicked by Fernando Bujones to join Orlando Ballet at age 16, she performed the leading role in nearly every classical ballet, had multiple works created on her, medaled in...
by Kirsten Evans | Apr 2, 2024 | Career, Pointe+, Profiles
Former American Ballet Theatre corps de ballet dancers and married couple Emily Hayes and Jonathan Klein are making a big leap into business. After launching their French-made botanical skin-care company, Murmure, last October, the pair officially resigned from ABT in...
by Marcie Sillman | Mar 20, 2024 | Career, Pointe+, Profiles
Seth Orza grew up in a family of ballet dancers, and he followed them into the business. He studied at the San Francisco Ballet School, then enrolled in New York’s School of American Ballet, leading to a job in the corps at New York City Ballet. He was living his...
by Kirsten Evans | Jul 21, 2023 | Career, Pointe+
A trusted physical therapist can be one of the most essential relationships in a dancer’s life, so who’s more fit for the job than a former dancer? Given the intertwined nature of dance and physical therapy, it’s no surprise that many artists pursue becoming a PT...
by Claudia Bauer | Jun 2, 2021 | Profiles
Last spring Ben Youngstone was in the midst of his first season with Sacramento Ballet, spending his days taking 9:30 am company class, rehearsing and performing. Now his days start with the sunrise and entail everything from building tomato trellises to setting up...
by Zoe Phillips | Oct 26, 2020 | Career, Training
Olivia Duran started ballet when she was 3 years old, and it was love at first plié. From there, “I just kept going,” she recently recalled over the phone, “and that was that!” Soon, she found herself at Elmhurst Ballet School, the prestigious...
by Abi Stafford | Jun 12, 2019 | Career, Profiles
Some ballet dancers, the lucky ones at least, get to enjoy long, successful careers. Yet their dancing schedule usually allows little time for anything else. At New York City Ballet, for instance, most dancers don’t have secondary jobs on the side, although...
by Emma Love Suddarth | Jun 1, 2017 | Company Life
Company class is a little more exciting these days at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Look over in the corner of the studio and it’s obvious why—Wendy Whelan is here. Dressed in a vest, with her pants tucked into her socks, one might almost forget that her name...