The new kid on the block

It’s a huge season for you isn’t it?
Yeah, it’s a big season.

Not to make you nervous, but are you nervous?
Yeah. Well, when I talk about it with you I actually get nervous about Conrad because I’m not ready yet. But when I think about it on my own sometimes, I get really excited. I think everybody at ABT has done lead roles at their schools; I did a lot of lead roles when I was at the Royal. In my second year, I did the lead male role in the final ballet at the opera house—I hated ballet before I went onstage. I was so nervous I couldn’t even believe it. It is such a beautiful theater. Oh man, I was so nervous for that, but I did it and it went okay. That was a big thing for me. I still have time. I think I’ll be okay.

What do you want out of your dancing career?
[Laughs] Satisfaction. I guess what I get out of it right now… [Pauses] Art has so much depth. I guess I’m trying to find that in myself. I’m 22, and I’m in ABT, but I’m not even close to finding it. I want to get to a point where I feel like an artist, not just a dancer who can do steps correctly. I feel when Julie Kent dances, she finds something so deep inside of herself and brings it out. Everything is so coordinated and harmonious, and it’s not just evident in the way she works, it’s also what she gives to her partner. That’s what I want. I guess I don’t really think about what I’m getting out of it; I’m learning about the art itself, and that’s enough.

Do you think you’re in the right company?
I do now. I almost left last year. I almost went to Spain with Angel Corella’s company. I wasn’t upset that I wasn’t being given attention. I was upset because at 21 or 22, I don’t really have that long left as a ballet dancer, and I wondered if I was wasting time. I asked Kevin, “Do you think I should stay, or would I improve more if I left and started working on roles right now?” I didn’t ask, “What are your plans for me?” He said, “When I was in the Joffrey, I was doing principal roles; I came here and couldn’t do a principal role onstage for two years. ABT is different than any other stage. You could be doing principal roles in Spain, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve reached that pinnacle of performing at the Met.” He also told me, “Before you know it, you’re onstage in one of those roles and you look back and you say, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe how fast time has flown.’ So you better enjoy the journey to that point. I know it’s slow—but all this time off you have right now is time you might be wishing you had more of when you’re onstage and you have to do a huge role in front of 3,000 people.” He’s right. I felt like I had a lot of journey to go and that becomes tedious of course, but now I’m at that point where I’m learning these roles—and it’s already almost the Met season. I might have been in Spain. I’m so glad I stayed.

Your bio has all the usual information, but there is something a little extra special that caught my eye: Were you in the Kylie Minogue video for her song “Chocolate”?
[Smiles] Yes.

How?
I was in my third year in London and Kylie’s agent had called the Royal Ballet School, because she needed a partner. I think they called the Royal Ballet first, but Monica Mason wouldn’t let anybody go because they needed the dancer for an entire week. I remember being in class when my teacher came up to me and said, “Kylie Minogue needs a partner for a music video, but you’ll miss a week of rehearsals. Is that okay?” [Laughs] I said, “That’s okay.” I finished class, and he sent me to see them. I already thought I had it, but it was actually an audition, and I was asked to do some pas de bourrée-assemblés and penché and pirouettes, and he said, “You definitely fit the role—we’re not going to pay you very much, just want to let you know,” and I said, “That’s fine, this is icing on the cake for me just to do this video. I don’t care about the pay.” He said, “We’ll call you; the problem is that Kylie doesn’t want someone under 25”—because the pas de deux was supposed to be sensual. I was 18. They called me that night and said, Come to this gym in Kensington the next day and I went to this ridiculously luxurious gym—it was so nice and I walked in and Kylie was so nice and I started rehearsing that day. It was not very difficult; slightly hard, but really fun. We did 23 takes.

American Ballet Theatre performs at the Metropolitan Opera House through Saturday, Jul 12.