The new kid on the block

TOO HOT TO HANDLE Stearns is ready for his closeup.

Photograph: Samuel Zakuto

Ballet can be like baseball: As any dancer in the corps de ballet knows, you have to be ready to jump off the bench. At American Ballet Theatre, Cory Stearns, 22, is the latest to find himself in that situation. The Long Island native, gorgeous in a storybook-hero kind of way, makes his debut as the dashing Conrad in Le Corsaire on the afternoon of Saturday 24. “Cory has a lot on his plate,” says Susan Jones, a ballet master with the company. “He has a lot of strength, but he’s still finding out about where it is and when he can call on it. He’s going to be fine with it—more than fine—but I hope that he can just make that steady progression, which he seems to be doing. It’s quite exciting.” Stearns, who trained with Valia Seiskaya before relocating to London’s Royal Ballet School—where he not only perfected his technique but also appeared in a Kylie Minogue video—spoke about his highly anticipated ABT season.

[Ed's note: This story has been expanded with online bonus content.]

Who decided you would be a dancer?
Originally, it was my mother. My family was very athletic, and I think she wanted the kids to be balanced; she didn’t want us to be jocks. She wanted us to have musicality and grace, so she put us into dance when we were very young. I think I was three when I started creative movement at a local church. It wasn’t serious or anything. When I was five, she wanted me to train more seriously, so I went to Seiskaya Ballet. There were a few times when I wanted to quit, and other family members were encouraging me to do sports—soccer and tennis and that kind of thing, and I did want to do that, but she was very strategic in her offers to allow me to quit. She’d say, “Just wait, just wait.” Then, after a performance, she’d say, “Do you want to quit now?” [Laughs] Finally, I was really pushing to stop when she said, “You’ve never tried a summer program.” So that winter, I auditioned for different programs, and I got into a six-week program in Pittsburgh; that was my first serious experience with other male dancers. We had variations classes. It was also the first time I saw the video ABT Now. It was the first time I found a male dancer that I really looked up to because I was pretty much the only one in my school. Also, in Pittsburgh, I had a big crush on this girl—that was just a great summer. But the video showed me how much further I had to go. Whenever I do something, I need to have a goal, a standard to reach. Everyone sees a sport or an art but a lot of them don’t understand why it’s so difficult or what makes it beautiful. I try to find that with whatever I do, and I hadn’t found that until I went to Pittsburgh.

Who was the dancer you saw in ABT Now?
It was José Manuel Carreño doing Black Swan. After that, I would come to New York and take class at Steps and José was there a few times. That was an amazing experience. And now I’m in the company with him; it’s cool. I know him more personally. It’s funny how that works.

Is Carreño dancing the Slave in your performance of Le Corsaire?
No, Angel Corella is. That would have been freaky. But I have a rapport with Angel now, too, so I’m happy. That’s my life story. [Laughs]

Are your brother and sister older? And did they continue with dancing?
They are older. My brother—I’m not sure why he quit. I think he had a hard time. I had a hard time in school with friends. Big time.