The new kid on the block

You moved to London to study at the Royal Ballet School. How old were you and how long did you stay?
I was 15. I stayed for three years. I had a great roommate who I was really fortunate to have had—he introduced me to everybody. I’m very independent. Even at that age, I was excited about going somewhere new. I lived in Wolf House; on one side was the guys and on one side was the girls. I had to learn to cook on my own. I lived on a very small budget. I had about £1,000 that I could spend for that entire year, so I would spend £13 a week on food, and at the same time I had a girlfriend so I had to take her out to dinner. And I’d live on pasta. But that was amazing. I find Europeans very different from Americans. There’s no small talk when you first get there. The day you meet, they don’t know you, they don’t really care; but when you do get to know them, it’s so deep. And the fact that a lot of people came from other countries and were in the same position that I was—all starting anew—we all connected and I felt like it was a family and I just had a great time. I learned a lot, and London is beautiful. I liked the teachers, the training was great. I remember the first day: I was doing a combination and I messed up and I cursed out loud in the middle of class and that is unheard of, especially in first year. My teacher stopped class and he said, “Mr. Stearns, we do not use that language in Royal Ballet School. Next time you do that, I’ll send you to the director’s office.” Everybody was looking at me; I was this American kid. That was pretty much the introduction I had to Royal. It was all about port de bras and your extremities, how you work your feet and cleanliness. That gave me a new perspective on dance and on how much work I had to do. I lost a lot of confidence when I went there, but I think it was good for me.

Did you experience a big cultural adjustment?
Everyone was very quiet and behaved in class, and I couldn’t stand that. I can’t stand it when people are too focused—and then, after class, they’d say, “I’m so boring.” In the beginning, I started getting into that focused mode, which was too much. Every day I went to class and I would expect something. I had high standards, and if I didn’t meet them, I’d get upset, and that got worse and worse. Two months into Royal Ballet School, I was doing pirouettes and I was messing up and my teacher said, “Do it again. Do it again.” That’s the way he was. Even if we messed up pliés, first plié, he would stop and we would have to do it again until we did it right. I remember I started tearing up in class and I thought, What am I doing? I can’t believe I’m crying in ballet class. And there were other dancers who would do that in class, but as soon as I did it, I said to myself, This is ridiculous. I cried because of dance. That’s when I changed, right there, and that’s when I started to relax.

Did they invite you to stay the entire three years from the start?
They have assessments every year in character, contemporary, classical and partnering. I passed. And we’d get reports every quarter and my reports all said the same thing: “Cory isn’t working hard enough.” My parents were concerned about that. It was a misunderstanding; I was working really hard. In the beginning, when I was getting all upset, I decided to change so that when I danced I would enjoy it. And sometimes they would purposely yell at you to get under your skin. They tried to annoy you. Some teachers did that and that bothered me. It’s almost disrespectful, and that’s the thing—some of the students would get treated really disrespectfully. I would ask other students, “How could you let them say that to you?” Even though they were adults and we were teenagers, I don’t think that matters. You’re always respectful to people who are respectful to you. I think I rubbed people the wrong way.

Why didn’t you stay in London and join the Royal Ballet?
Because of my girlfriend.

That’s funny. Well yay for her.
I’m glad too, actually. The Royal Ballet was interested in me, and I was really interested in the Royal Ballet, but my girlfriend wanted to leave London and join ABT. We auditioned in Boston and in Pittsburgh. Cynthia Harvey was training my girlfriend, who was one year above me; while she was at home at the time getting trained by Cynthia Harvey in a local studio—they lived very close to each other in Norwich, England—I continued in London. I would see Cynthia a lot, and she was very encouraging about ABT. I was taken into the Studio Company [now ABT II].

Did your girlfriend get into the company?
She did. She got an apprentice contract with the main company. But she didn’t come—she had eating disorders, and she didn’t feel like she was reliable. She quit dance and that really is sad because she was a beautiful dancer. She was in all the lead roles, and the Royal Ballet offered her a contract; she felt she couldn’t do it anymore. She felt like it was too unhealthy. So that was a big, life-changing experience, too. I dated her for three years, and I had never been subject to anything like that. I come from a very strong family and there was nobody in my family who was really ever sick, and actually I grew up Christian Scientist. [Laughs] Dating this girl was an eye-opener for me; it changed me in a good way. And then I came here and that was the end of the relationship, pretty much.