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42. Living a Legacy: Lars Nelson on 15 years with New York City Ballet
2 Playsin 4 days
In this episode I am joined by Lars Nelson, a professional dancer with New York City Ballet since 2010. Lars shares his captivating journey from singing in the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys to falling in love with ballet during a performance of The Nutcracker. He discusses his rigorous training in Michigan, his transformative experiences at the School of American Ballet, and his transition from student to professional at New York City Ballet.
Lars also reflects on his most cherished and challenging roles, including dancing in George Balanchine's Kammermusik No. 2 and Square Dance. He opens up about the honor of dancing in the corps de ballet, the camaraderie within the company, and how he keeps performances fresh even after 15 years on stage.
Beyond ballet, Lars shares his journey pursuing a Bachelor of Business with a focus on Supply Chain Operations Management at Penn State, offering insight into balancing academics with a demanding dance career.
Connect with Lars:
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/larsikistler
EMAIL: larsnelson1@gmail.com
Links and Resources:
Get your copy of The Intentional Career Handbook
1-1 Career Mentoring: book your complimentary career call
Let’s connect!
My WEBSITE: thebrainyballerina.com
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebrainyballerina
Questions/comments? Email me at caitlin@thebrainyballerina.com
Recommended
Transcript
Legacy and Introduction to Ballet
00:00:00
Speaker
These are such jewels of our rep, these ballets that have a big core presence. It definitely is an honor to think about the legacy of that ballet, who all has danced it before and who's going to dance it after, you know, and I get to basically be a placeholder in it for, you know, from this time to this time in the full history of a ballet.
00:00:23
Speaker
I'm Caitlin, a former professional ballerina turned dance educator and career mentor. And this is the Brand New Ballerina podcast. I am here for the aspiring professional ballerina who wants to learn what it really takes to build a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry.
00:00:39
Speaker
I'm peeling back the curtain of professional dance world with open and honest conversations about the realities of becoming a professional dancer. Come along to gain the knowledge and inspiration you need to succeed in a dance career on your terms.
Lars Nelson's Ballet Journey
00:00:57
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Brainy Ballerina podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Sloan, and I am joined today by Lars Nelson. Lars has danced with New York City Ballet since 2010.
00:01:09
Speaker
During his time with the company, he has originated roles in over a dozen new works and has performed over 60 different ballets from the New York City Ballet Repertoire all over the world.
00:01:20
Speaker
Lars, I am so excited to connect with you today and I want to hear why did you take your very first dance class? Yeah, hi, Caitlin. It's nice to see you. I took my very first dance class because I was singing in the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys when I was 10.
00:01:36
Speaker
And the Grand Rapids Ballet asked the boys choir to sing in Nutcracker that year during the snow scene. I had never seen ballet before and I was just mesmerized.
00:01:47
Speaker
And I said, i want to do that for the rest of my life. Since the snow scene is in Act 1, the boys could leave at intermission basically. And I was the only one who stayed for 2 every single performance just because I was just so enthralled by what was happening on stage.
00:02:05
Speaker
Since I was 10, 10-year-olds say they want to do this and that and all these other things, right? So my parents didn't really think much of it at the time. But that year, my school, I was at in the Rockford Public School System in Michigan.
00:02:19
Speaker
And that year, the Grand Rapids Ballet sent a flyer home at the end of the school year with all the kids saying, If you'd like to sign up for summer dance classes, you don't come to the Grand Rapids Ballet.
00:02:32
Speaker
I brought the flyer to my mom and said, here, here's this flyer. And she was like, oh, yeah, wait, didn't you say you wanted to take some dance classes? i was like, yeah, yeah, I do. And she signed me up for a week that summer. And i was 11 at the time, surrounded by lot of five-year-old girls. And it didn't faze me one bit.
00:02:50
Speaker
and What was your training like? I took the one week in the summer and she said you want to do another week? And I said, sure. So she signed me up for classes in the fall. And i think pretty early on it was, it was classes almost every day during the week and just slowly worked up the levels at the Grand Rapids Ballet. And then i met a teacher.
00:03:09
Speaker
who we have in common, Jefferson Baum in West Michigan. And he really took me to another level of dedicated training. He taught me the definition of hard work, really, how to really put in that work that you're going to see those results you want to see as a dancer.
00:03:28
Speaker
I was taking classes every day, Monday through Saturday, and then he ran a youth ballet on Sundays that I would even take classes and rehearse with the youth ballet on Sundays. So it was it was seven days a week.
00:03:39
Speaker
I was very ballet focused. I didn't really do a lot of other dance styles, which actually now I wish I would have because they all really help shape you as a dancer differently.
00:03:50
Speaker
being more rounded. It helps you with your ballet if you can have the jazzier movements too, or or we even have some ballets in our repertory with some tap dance. So I kind of have to fake it a little bit.
00:04:01
Speaker
But yeah. How did you end up at the School of
Training and Breakthrough at NYCB
00:04:04
Speaker
American Ballet? Did you go to the summer intensive first? Yeah, so Jefferson had told me, you know, you need to go to a program in the summer, you need to go away to a program where there's going to be 40 other guys and half of them are going to be better than you and you're going to be right there with that other half, you know, and so going be able to look to them and say, I need to get on that their level, right? Well, it's funny, that i was actually going...
00:04:28
Speaker
on a European tour with Jefferson when he was the director of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. And the dates there were going to overlap with the SAB summer program by, I think, one week. so i I wasn't going to go to the summer program course audition because I knew I was going to be in Europe with Jefferson.
00:04:47
Speaker
And when he found that out, he said, oh, no, he told my mother, you need to take Lars to that audition. In fact, I ordered you to take Lars to that audition. And she said, oh, OK, OK. So then I auditioned for the summer program and the director of the school, Kay Mazo, she was teaching that audition.
00:05:02
Speaker
And after the audition, her assistant came up to me and said, the lady in there really wants to see you come to the School American Ballet this summer. And I was like, oh, OK. I thought, well, I'm not going to be able to come because I'm going to be in Europe with Jefferson.
00:05:19
Speaker
So it worked out since Jefferson was at the School of American Ballet, he had some contacts there. And so he kind of messaged them and said, hey, look, my student Lars got into the summer program. He's with me. Is it OK if he comes a week late to the summer program?
00:05:34
Speaker
And of course, they said, yeah, that's fine. No worries. And so then I went to the summer program in 2006 and then came back to Michigan and studied privately with Jefferson for a year and then went back the summer program in 2007. And then they invited me to stay for the winter term.
00:05:51
Speaker
And what was that experience like for you? Was it hard moving away at that young age? It wasn't hard to move away at that young age for me because i was so determined to be a ballet dancer and I knew that that was the next step I needed to take in my journey to become a professional dancer.
00:06:09
Speaker
i was 16 at the time and so I was i was excited and the School American Ballet campus is is at Lincoln Center so it's a very safe area. It's the arts mecca here in the States. Like-minded people pursuing art at the highest level. It was very cohesive, right? So I wasn't I wasn't ever like homesick or anything, you know going away from home.
00:06:30
Speaker
My parents probably were. But they knew, again, that that was the right thing. And if they wanted me to get to where I wanted to go, that that was necessary. How did you find out that you got the contract with New York City Ballet?
00:06:43
Speaker
So my last year in the school, it was in the wake of the financial crisis. So they kind of had to let some people go. And so now they were looking to kind of replenish as many companies around the states were.
00:06:55
Speaker
And so normally other companies will come to to New York and they'll audition. When we at the School of American Value would get offered ah contract with another company, we would go and take that to K-Mazo. And then she would, we we would say, hey, this company offered a contract as an apprenticeship or or whatever. And she would say, okay, and then she would take that to the director of New York City Ballet at the time, Peter Martins, and basically say, oh, this student got a job here. What do you think?
00:07:21
Speaker
And he would either say, i think that would be a great fit for that dancer or... um He would say, I am actually interested in taking that dancer here in new York City Ballet. So tell them to hold off on accepting that job.
00:07:34
Speaker
So this year, it was early 2010 that these companies were starting to say, hey, we need to know now. We need to really know now if you're going to take this job or not. And so you kind of put the pressure on Peter to say, well, okay, I'm seriously considering these dancers. So tell them to just tell that company if they can wait or just turn it down altogether because I'm seriously considering them. So Kay Mazo said to me, to a ah few of us that were getting our apprenticeships that year, he called us into a meeting and said, it's not official 100% yet because obviously there's always things that could come up, but Peter is interested in hiring you.
00:08:09
Speaker
as apprentices um next year. Again, it's not official yet, so don't go, you know, cheering from the rooftops. But if companies are telling you that they need to know, then tell them that you respectfully decline.
00:08:22
Speaker
We were excited, but it was a little delayed, you know, like a little abated, you know, like, well, you know, he could always change his mind or, you know, there could be other things that come up. But yeah, and then in in the end, we were, it was true that we all, there was three girls and two boys that got apprenticeships that year.
00:08:39
Speaker
What was that first year like for you with your transition from student in the school to professional with the company? At the school, the technique class that you take and the variations or the partnering class, that's your day, right? You spend 100% of your energy on those things.
00:08:54
Speaker
Then with whatever energy I've left, you do your homework for school or whatnot. But transitioning to the company, all of a sudden your ballet class in the morning turns into your warmup for your rehearsals from noon until seven or until two hours before the show that night.
00:09:11
Speaker
It was... Definitely a transition of learning how to pace myself throughout the day to get to the show and through the performance that night of using the ballet class to work on my technique. But that all of a sudden wasn't my whole day. I had hours of rehearsals.
00:09:28
Speaker
later and learning how to string the steps together. So instead of like in a ballet class where we have eight counts to this side and eight counts to this side or whatever, all of a sudden you're learning ah minute and a half of repertory and you need to remember, okay, what's the transition step to the next thing? and I'm over on this side of the stage and I'm over here.
00:09:49
Speaker
Or when you're understudying, watching those dancers and knowing, well, I'm not tasked to do this, but at a moment's notice, I need to be able to go in and Rosemary Dunleavy, the head ballet mistress, needs to know, can I trust that person to be able to put them in? So really being a sponge and trying to absorb as much as I could.
00:10:07
Speaker
Yeah, it was a transition for sure, but obviously one that was just so exciting, knowing that I was a part of a rich, legacy and history with York City Ballet was just so exciting. You hear about these ballets for so long and you and you watch them on the stage and then now getting to be in the room, in the back room and learning it and then the opportunity to get to dance some of those was just, it was thrilling.
00:10:28
Speaker
What was the first ballet you performed with new York City Ballet?
Performances and Roles
00:10:32
Speaker
So the first ballet I performed was, i was actually thrown on for a performance. It was Jerome Robbins' Four Seasons.
00:10:40
Speaker
I was understudying the fall section, and one of the dancers for the last show, his back went out. He got hurt. And so I was thrown on. So anytime you get thrown on or understrips to go and you have a rehearsal with the rep director, sometimes alone, sometimes with the rest of the core that's in the ballet.
00:11:00
Speaker
But this one i had ah I had just a rehearsal alone with the rep director. And the very first step that you do in fall in four seasons, you run do a big grand jeté and you land in a crouched fourth position in silence.
00:11:17
Speaker
And I just remember running out and doing a big grand jete in the back of everyone and just looking out and seeing the blackness of the theater with the little jewel lights around the rings, the little glow and just thinking like, wow,
00:11:33
Speaker
This is incredible. Like this is like my first time officially on stage as an apprentice in new York City Ballet. Oh my goodness. And then quickly the music starts and oh, okay, and don't forget what you have to do. you know What are the steps? Where are you going? What's the traffic? It was definitely exhilarating for sure.
00:11:50
Speaker
That's really cool. You've danced so many legendary roles. I'd love to hear what has been your favorite role to dance. My favorite role to dance strictly dance-wise has been camera music number two.
00:12:06
Speaker
And it's a not obscure, but lesser known George Balanchine work. Everyone is familiar with The Four Temperaments, which was music by Hindemith. And this is the only other ballet in the rep to Hindemith music, is camera music. The story goes that Balanchine had just choreographed Ballade de la Regina, which is a core of all ladies.
00:12:28
Speaker
He was very much female focused in ballet. This was a core of all ladies and one principal man. And Rosemary, the ballet mistress was talking about earlier, she said to him, she said, you know, Mr. B, you just did this beautiful ballet.
00:12:44
Speaker
Balladal Regina for for all these ladies. You finally have good guys in the company. Why don't you do something for them? And he said, you know, i have this really difficult piece of music that I just, I don't really, I'm i'm struggling to to figure out what to do with. You know what?
00:12:59
Speaker
I'll think of something. I'll think of something. And so he called the eight core men to rehearsal and did this whole first movement. It's really fast. There's crazy arm movements and the music is really driving.
00:13:13
Speaker
And Rosemary said she had never seen the guys so focused and determined as when he was choreographing camera music. And he did the whole first movement in one rehearsal. And at the end of the rehearsal, he looked at her him and he said, it just might work.
00:13:28
Speaker
And so that's the only Balanchine ballet in our rep that has an only male core. There's two principal couples, but an only male core. And so we really feel like that's our concerto barocco.
00:13:40
Speaker
We really approach that ballet with a determination to make the audience see that, that, concerto barocco is this jewel of the rep. Well, camera music is as well. It's definitely a ballet that when you finish it, we finish it again with just the male core on stage. We're the last thing that's happening. We rush to the front of the stage.
00:13:57
Speaker
We all do cannon of pirouettes down the jujujujuju all the way down. And we finish with this big kick on the knee. And you really feel like when you see the sweat dripping down as that curtain's coming down, you're like, I just danced a ballet.
00:14:13
Speaker
I let it all out there and left it all on the stage. And it's really one that you feel fulfilled when you finish. Do you have most challenging role that you've danced?
00:14:24
Speaker
Most challenging role is probably the core of square dance. That's another one that you feel like you dance to ballet. The whole thing is like petite allegro.
00:14:34
Speaker
There's six core couples and one principal couple. So the core is very featured in that ballet. That's another one that you just, you're on stage throughout Most of the ballet, again, when that one finishes, ah your legs are definitely screaming and you feel like, okay, that was that was a ballet with a capital B. Do you have a dream role that you haven't gotten to dance yet that you would love to do?
00:14:59
Speaker
Yeah, a dream role for me probably would be Concerto Barocco. It's just a beautiful, you know, ah that's like very lady core heavy, but then there's a one principal man who dances with the first violin principal ballerina. And there's not much dancing. It's more partnering for the man.
00:15:17
Speaker
But you really feel like when I observe it, It looks like you really feel, even though you're not featured as much because you're just partnering, you really feel integral to the work to support the ballerina and all these big lifts around the stage and then being that support for her as she dances around.
00:15:36
Speaker
The music is beautiful. It brings tears to your eyes, even though there's no there's no plot, right? It's just playing ballet on the stage. It's a one that makes you emotional. How do you feel that you've changed a dancer? I mean, I remember you as...
00:15:50
Speaker
A 15, 16-year-old, dual enrolled. Yeah. Well, were you dual enrolled or were you just taking classes at Grand Valley? I was just taking classes there. Okay. Yeah. It would have nice if I could have gotten college credit for it. but But it was kind of my high school was not looking a blind eye, but they said, we'll let you go and do this.
00:16:10
Speaker
if your grades slip, we're going to revoke that right away. And you know my grades never slip. So they they let me just do it kind of as a little side thing. Okay. Yes, I remember you and I was a college freshman and, and you were taking classes at Grand Valley. And, you know, we all kind of knew that you were going to go on to do something really great.
00:16:27
Speaker
I'm curious, you know, how have you changed the dancer since then, or even since you started your professional career 15 ago? I definitely have become a lot more aware myself in the context of the ballets more, as opposed to just being out there and trying to do the steps because you're in the middle of a big core and you know i don't want to get in anyone's way and I don't want to mess up.
00:16:52
Speaker
And now I can give more the artistry and know that I'm not just doing steps, right? I'm dancing ballet. Honestly, I feel like that has been a pretty recent development for me. Having that year, about a year and a half off during COVID was kind of strange. Coming back after then was a little like, okay, wait, we need to sort of re-figure this out.
00:17:17
Speaker
But yeah, i feel like pretty recently i've been able to feel more like I'm dancing rather than just executing the steps in a way that is going to not get in someone's way or detract from what the principals are doing.
00:17:32
Speaker
But it's like really we're all dancing together, even though the core may be doing something different than what the principals are doing. But with this is all one cohesive piece and we all have a part to play in it. Can you talk about your experience dancing in the core?
00:17:45
Speaker
You're doing a lot of the same ballets many times, right? How do you keep it fresh and exciting? Yeah, Dancing the Corps, it's an honor to be entrusted with that and to kind of be that anchor.
00:18:00
Speaker
There's new apprentices coming in every year and new corps members. And so to be that person that I know that they all look to and say, okay, what is he doing? Okay, I'm going to emulate that.
00:18:14
Speaker
Because if you've been doing it for 15 years, obviously, you you're doing something right. Sometimes, I'm not going to lie, sometimes it does get a little... Like, okay, we got to do this one again, you know, but these are such jewels of our rep.
00:18:28
Speaker
These ballets that have a big core presence. It definitely is an honor to think about the legacy of that ballet, who all has danced it before and who's going to dance it after, you know, and I get to basically be a placeholder in it for, you know, from this time to this time in the full history of a ballet, there's a lot of camaraderie and togetherness that we feel in the core. And I know that sometimes when people get promoted to solo as a principal, they often will, that's one thing that they lament is the camaraderie that they now feel like they're kind of
00:19:01
Speaker
having to let go of a little bit um because now that they're suddenly rehearsals by themselves a lot and they say that they really miss it. Yeah, it's definitely something that I'll also be able to take when I retire from dancing is I worked on the ultimate team for a long time, you know, and knowing how to work with others, you know, and not letting an ego get in the way or whatnot.
00:19:29
Speaker
Yeah. There is so much dancers need to learn as they pursue a professional dance career. It can be completely overwhelming. Where do you even start? With your intention.
00:19:41
Speaker
To me, this is the first step in defining success on your terms. Once you have an intention for your career based on your core values, you can begin to hone in on a strategy to make your goals a reality.
00:19:54
Speaker
But without it, you will always feel out of alignment, out of control, and ultimately unfulfilled in your career. So how do you figure out what success means to you? With the Brainy Ballerina Intentional Career Handbook.
00:20:07
Speaker
This is not just your ordinary book. The intentional career handbook walks you through it everything you need to think about as you embark on your dance career. With over 50 guided question prompts, you will dive deep into determining what really matters to you in a dance career based on your individual core values.
00:20:25
Speaker
By the end of this handbook, you will not only be crystal clear on your goals, but in the mindset you need to make it happen. Tap the link in the show notes to download your copy today and start pursuing your dance career with intention.
Balancing Dance and Education
00:20:40
Speaker
That's a good segue into my next question because I know you're pursuing your Bachelor of Business in specifically Supply Chain and Operations Management at Penn State. So can you talk about your sort of unconventional path to a college degree, how you make this work?
00:20:58
Speaker
Yeah. So when i first graduated high school, I took some online college courses through Grand Rapids Community College because they had them fully online.
00:21:09
Speaker
This was back in 2010 and 11. So really before a lot of places were doing online school. And then I was dancing a lot. And so I just said, I need to really focus on the ballet. So I'm going to put college courses kind of on a back burner for now.
00:21:27
Speaker
And then a few years later, i transferred my credits then to Penn State because they had a, they were really one of the first to offer entire programs completely online. Whereas at Grand Rapids Community College, sometimes they're going say, oh, this one you have to be sort of in person for or whatnot. So but Penn State offered them fully online.
00:21:47
Speaker
So I enrolled there and started taking classes like a little sporadically. Took another little break because I was dancing a lot again. was a festival we were doing called the Here Now Festival, which was crazy. We did something like 44 ballets four weeks. Wow.
00:22:04
Speaker
four weeks Yeah, there's no way I could do school classes at the same time. So I kind of put that again away for a little bit. And then it was during the pandemic that I kind of had this 30,000 foot view of my career. And i was like, you know,
00:22:22
Speaker
I love ballet and I really love being a dancer, but maybe I need to think about something that's going to come next. Maybe I don't want to do this for the rest of my life, like in some capacity as being a repertory director or a teacher.
00:22:37
Speaker
So I re-enrolled during the pandemic and really That was the first time i was able to full-time to college. And then so basically for the whole pandemic, I was going full-time in the summers, in the winter and spring. And then when we came back to work, since I had a good role going, ah took two online classes each semester until I finished. I technically have six credits left where I have to do it's an internship for six credits.
00:23:03
Speaker
So I've done with all my coursework. But when I was going hitting it a little harder. i was at a point in my career where I wasn't dancing as much as I was in the past, so I was really able to balance the coursework for school as well as my professional career in a way that I wouldn't have been able to when I was younger, even from a maturity standpoint, just not being able to give each the attention and focus that it deserved to do them at the level that I wanted to do them at.
00:23:29
Speaker
There are a number of dancers who in the company who now are getting college degrees, and now I'm at a point where I can encourage them and say, keep going. Even if you just take one class ah semester, just don't let yourself stop.
00:23:41
Speaker
Take one now, and then if you can find an opportunity to take two, do that. But because once you stop, it's just so much harder to build up the motivation to get going again. Yeah, so I just have to do one internship left, then I'll have my my degree. Amazing.
00:23:57
Speaker
What do you see yourself doing post your dance career?
Future Aspirations and Personal Life
00:24:00
Speaker
Oh, see, good question. My internship has to be focused in the in likex supply chain slash operations management, but I don't know if I'm totally married to having a career in that.
00:24:12
Speaker
So we'll see. I mean, I am a very organized person, so that's what that's why supply chain really spoke to me when I was picking my major, or my focus, rather, within my major. So I don't know.
00:24:24
Speaker
It's something I'm still trying to figure out. Yeah. Still thinking about weighing options. And we have an excellent resource at New York City Ballet, which kind of just came about after our 75th anniversary, where the company was reaching out to a lot of alumni from the company, as well as current and former board members.
00:24:42
Speaker
And the company created ah basically a database of all these people that they were able to to get in touch with and what is their career and area of expertise. And if they're willing and available to get connected with dancers who are looking to maybe transition for their next career. So i'm I'm in the process of kind of going through that list of seeing who do I want to get in touch with or pick their brain a little bit and see what they think, where my skill set would be beneficial for that transition, which which is coming up in a little bit here.
00:25:15
Speaker
Have you kind of started thinking about that transition happening sooner what are your thoughts? Sometimes I'm like sooner, sometimes I'm like later, i don't know. yeah I have been thinking about it for sure. I'm grateful during the pandemic that I was able to go to school full time because the company was able to support us financially during most of the pandemic, which was an enormous blessing. So I was able to really focus on school without having to find other ways to support myself and my wife. Once I finished school, that's not kind of where I'm weighing with the internship. When do I do that?
00:25:50
Speaker
Do I wait until I'm like, okay, I'm ready to retire from dancing, so do the internship and springboard, or do I do the internship sort of it like during the summertime when we're kind of off during the summer? It's definitely something I'm thinking about and thinking about more, but there's still not a definite date of of when to hang up the boots.
00:26:09
Speaker
It's hard. It's hard to know. Yeah. Because it's something that we, you know, we've trained ever since we were itty bitty. I mean, for me when I was 11, you know, but for most people much earlier, you know, and like, it's all we know. And since we have to devote our childhoods to this, it's definitely ah an unknown, right? And I know that, you know there's life after ballet, but, you know, it's like once you hang them up, you know, you can't go back in the way that, you or the capacity that It was before. Once a dancer, always a dancer. you know it's like You can always go take class and whatnot, but once you make that decision, it's tough or scary.
00:26:42
Speaker
Yeah, and it's actually interesting hearing you talk about dancing in the core and the camaraderie. That is the thing that I found that I miss the most. I mean, I miss the dancing. I miss the performing a lot, but I haven't found anything quite like that yeah outside of dance. Yeah, and same for you. It's like you were in school with a lot of, young know, people that you then danced with professionally. It's like, same for me. You're in school with a lot of these, your kids, and then you grew up together. And so you really see a lot of life with these people. That's what's really special is you've seen these people in the lowest of lows and then at the highest of highs and everywhere in between. Do you really feel like it's not just coworkers, right? They sometimes turn into like bonafide siblings.
00:27:25
Speaker
It's family, yeah, it is. Looking back at your career, do you have ah moment that you feel like you'll really remember ah stands out to you? A moment that really stands out? Probably probably the first time that I got to do bottom in a Midsummer Night's Dream.
00:27:44
Speaker
That was a role that I got to dance in the school. we would do lecture demonstrations where we'd go around to area schools and bring a small little program to basically increase interest in in the you know the local kids about like here's this thing called ballet and look what you get to do and look at what you get to do with friends and stuff and so I got to do bottom for those lecture demonstrations and then now at New York City Ballet I get to dance bottom it was a really cool experience the first time getting to do it now being like I know the steps I know the music and it's some of the most beautiful music in all of Midsummer Night's Dream is the Pas de Rue with Titania
00:28:20
Speaker
And the first time doing it on stage, hearing the orchestra and knowing I was on New York City Ballet stage doing it was like, wow. And it's a good thing i have you have a big donkey head on. is I was definitely getting a little emotional yeah knowing that where I came from to now getting to do it here is like really, really special. And getting to dance with a prima ballerina wearing a donkey head was definitely a pinch me moment.
00:28:43
Speaker
Who was the first ballerina you danced it with? I got to dance it with Teresa Reichlin, who was a principal ballerina the company for many years. And she was stunning. It was Titania. Absolutely stunning.
00:28:54
Speaker
One thing that I talk a lot with my guests about is just the idea of balance, the importance of having... those passions outside of the dance world. And so I'd love to hear what do you like to do outside of dance?
00:29:07
Speaker
My wife and I love to cook. I really, really love cooking. We love to do it together. You know, she calls herself my sous chef, even in a tiny little New York city apartment kitchen. We love doing that together and it's cool how she's also a dancer, not in New york City Ballet, but she's classically trained and also a jazz dancer and tapper and all this. It's funny how we like are in these tiny little kitchen. We kind of have a little like a little dance of like, you know, I'm over here chopping something and while she's stirring and then we kind of I'm over here staring while she's chopping or getting something out of the refrigerator or whatnot. So it's a lot of fun to do that together. We also have a dog, which we love to take her out.
00:29:42
Speaker
It walks around the city. We live down in the financial district of New York. So we're kind of at the bottom tip of Manhattan. So we have water very close to us on either side. it's just a really beautiful area down here. We love to explore. And now we're also close to Brooklyn. So it's easier to get out there. And yeah, we just love to explore different parts of the city and yeah How did you meet your wife? So I met my wife through mutual friend. It was a a friend at our church.
00:30:07
Speaker
We were going to Redeemer Presbyterian Church. and There was a group of guys in New York City Valley who went to this church and we met this other guy. His name was Bjorn. and He was someone who we'd say, hey, Bjorn, like, we're going to go to this place after church. You're invited. like, cool, i'm going to go to coffee hours. I had to send people, I'll meet you there.
00:30:25
Speaker
And he would never show up. Then there'd be times where, let's say you're in town and we're all hanging out, like it's your birthday or something. And Ian would walk Bjorn and order like a drink. And we'd be like, hey, Bjorn. And he'd say, oh, I saw that so-and-so said that so-and-so said you were going to be here.
00:30:39
Speaker
So there one time when we were like, hey, Bjorn, we're going to go to Shake Shack after church. You're invited. he' said, cool to go to a coffee hour. Say hi to some people. I'll meet you there. I nudged my best friend at this point because it was it was an inside joke. like he's not coming, right? He's going to show up.
00:30:52
Speaker
So we get to Shake Shack, and closed for their annual staff party. So we're like, OK. I said, someone text Bjorn and tell him we're going to to Chipotle instead. So a week before this, my wife and her roommate at the time, they were like, let's go to coffee hour and say hi to one new person every week.
00:31:06
Speaker
The week before this, they saw Bjorn. And so they went up to him and just started chatting and basically, Oh, you're, you're a dancer. Oh, well, Tanya is a dancer. So that's how they kind of connected that way.
00:31:17
Speaker
So then the next week he sees Tanya at coffee hour and says, Tanya, there are these New york city Valley dancers at Shake Shack. You must come. And she was like, I'm not hungry. You know, like, I don't know you really.
00:31:28
Speaker
And he's like, no, no, no, you must come. You must come. He finally convinces her. So they get to Shake Shack. Oh, it's closed. And she was like, uh, what's going on here? And then he goes oh, they're Chipotle instead. So we're at Chipotle for about 30 minutes. And in walks Bjorn with this girl.
00:31:42
Speaker
And my jaw hit the table. I was like, what is Bjorn doing that I'm not doing? But it quickly became apparent that they weren't dating. And then just got to talking and saw her at church again. and then ah invited her to the ballet. we were doing Midsummer Night's Dream. And then took her out with a couple other guys after the show that night. And then got to talking more. And we started dating that summer and never looked back.
00:32:07
Speaker
Oh, I love that. Okay, last question.
Advice for Aspiring Dancers
00:32:10
Speaker
What advice would you give to an aspiring dancer who's pursuing their professional career? I would say work as hard as you possibly can. Never give up.
00:32:21
Speaker
Remember that you're so privileged to be able to dance ballet and to be able to move your body in a way where you can express yourself through dance and to never lose the joy of dance.
00:32:35
Speaker
Yeah. This was really wonderful, Lars. I loved hearing all of your stories and the new York City of Valley lore. If anyone wants to connect with you or learn more about you, how can they find you? You can find me on Instagram, Larsi Kistler, or i'm happy to be reached by email if you would like to put that in the description. Yeah.
00:32:54
Speaker
Okay. Amazing. Thank you so much, Lars. Thank you, Caitlin. Thanks for having me.
00:33:01
Speaker
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00:33:14
Speaker
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00:33:27
Speaker
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