pmeja has posted the following in today's Links forum:



The "lure of the land" and the desire to "celebrate pork" apparently led Ms. Blair-Imrie to give up dancing and switch careers.

Any other ballet dancers you know of who left dancing -- either early, as in Blair-Imrie's case or upon retirement -- in order to take up a line of work that was surprising different from what usually we think of as "the dancer's life"?

I guess the obvious well known example would be Toni Bentley, who left a physically demanding job centered on the body for an intellectually demanding, cerebral career, or career on the side (as a writer), at least. Of course after she left the ballet world she tried her hand at another kind of dancing, but, er, still, the contrast stands. Of course Bentley also began writing and was a published author before she ever left NYCB.

And now that I think about it, a Ballet Talk member who is a former dancer mentioned awhile back that he was working on a writing project. If he sees this thread, I hope he'll chime in and perhaps make some connections between his former work and his current project.

I know it's been done before, but I cannot resist: perhaps she will meld her two careers and produce Swine Lake?

Bart, you always come up the most wonderful topics!

Steven Caras, formerly NYCB, photographer,
Linda Hamilton, PhD, psychologist, formerly NYCB
Rosalie O'Connor, photographer, formerly ABT
Then there is the sad case of Rahm Emanuel, who apparently was a serious and talented ballet student, but alas, his dream didn't come true. He is now Obama's chief of staff.

Upon retiring from Alberta Ballet Patrick Canny joined the Calgary Police Service. His wife and fellow dancer Amanda Walsh later became a florist.

As well as a lecturer on figures like Balanchine and Robbins, with whom he worked, and as a former Director of Development for Miami City Ballet and now for Palm Beach Dramaworks.

Ib Andersen was a painter/artist between his last ballet-related work and becoming Artistic Director of Ballet Arizona.

Australian Ballet & NBoC dancer Geon van der Wyst is now a real estate agent.
James Kudelka went from dancer to choreographer to... artisan bread maker!

In addition to those listed above, another dancer turned photographer is NBoC/Royal Ballet's Johan Persson.

I have forgotten the name of the former PNB corps member who has become a real estate agent, and I suspect there is more than one. It's so frustrating because I can visualize her.

NYCB corps dancer Kyle Froman is planning to be a full-time photographer when he retires at the end of the year. Angela Stirling at PNB and Rosalie O'Connor (everywhere!) are former dancers turned photographers.

In addition to dance-related and dance-related health careers that are relatively predictable, NYCB corps member Delia Peters became a lawyer, as did PNB's Charles Newton, and Houston Ballet/Australian Ballet's Li Cunxin famously became a stock broker.

It must really hurt to have to settle for something like that.

Oh no! So soon as that? I'll miss seeing him dance, but I look forward to seeing more of his photography. Froman's elegant and committed dancing has saved more than one performance for me by giving something to watch when the leads were carrying on as if they'd had their hearts set on being shift managers at a midtown Kinkos, but had to settle for being principals at a world-class ballet company instead.

Former NYCB soloist Michael Byars is also a lawyer, and former (and Jenifer Ringer's husband) Principal James Fayette works for the dancer's labor union, I forgot the initials. Deanna McBrearty tried her hand at photography for a while, even while dancing (the temptation must be there for all of them....) and recently made an exercise video, but that is not such a far stretch.

Loudes Lopez is the executive director of Morphoses!

Wasn't that Erin Joseph?

A principal with the California Ballet in San Diego had a side job teaching body builders how to pose. I've always thought that was a very clever use of ballet training!

I had heard that Daniel Levans (of Turning Point fame) became a police officer.

Some of my ex-ballet-dancer friends have become:

*A financial planner (not a fun career now)
*An administrator for the Office of Management and Budget in New York City
*A wholesale accessories salesperson for a name-brand company
*A freelance interior designer
*An agent for jazz musicians
*A professor (now tenured) of environmental science
*An Amway salesperson

Yes! Thank you

The food industry seems to be popular among retired dancers, Jock Soto and Christopher Stowell being examples.

Must have something to do with all those years of starvation.

And wasn't Rachel Moore, Executive Director of ABT, a former dancer?

Jennifer Gelfand, former principal with Boston Ballet, is also a real estate agent.

Jennifer Gelfand -- Realtor

Stephen Wicks and Mark Welford, ex-BRB, opened a very posh (and very attractive) florists in Covent Garden. I think they also do after-dinner talks combining dance and floristry experiences.

Rahm Emmanuel, White House Chief of Staff.

Svetlana Zakharova has not retired but she has embarked on a new career in Russian politics, as a member of the Duma (United Russia party). Link to article in the Times of London's Sunday edition:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...amp;attr=797093

I did not post another link -- to the UK tabloid, The Sun -- because of racy topless pics of some female athletes who also joined the Duma along with Zakharova. The photo of Zakharova is G-rated (a lovely Kitri) and accompanies the following quotable quotes from the ballerina:

SVETLANA ZAKHAROVA

The 28-year-old principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet said: “Everything about the Kremlin excites me.

“There is some mighty energy concentrated there.

“Even the air is different.”

....

Finally, a link to a USA newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor, which does NOT contain racy photos.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0805/p07s01-woeu.html

Ron Reagan -- former Joffrey dancer and son of President Ronald Reagan -- now works as a political correspondent for MSNBC and covers dog shows for Animal Planet.

Ron Reagan

Audrey Hepburn was originally a ballerina but quit due to her height (which was unusually tall at the time). But she carried the ballerina grace with her for the rest of her life.

Vicky Powell a dancer with Sadler's Wells (now Birmingham) Royal Ballet studied law, qualified as a solicitor and is now prominent in London local politics. She was made DBE for services to the community and is now Dame Sally (her real name) Powell.
And I seem to remember Arthur Mitchell saying that one of his dancers had become a surgeon, but I don't think he mentioned a name.

I don't know about the starving part, but I know lots of dancers who are very thoughtful cooks. Kari Brunson, from the Pacific Northwest Ballet, blogs for a local paper on food and cooking.

anticiplate

New Mexico's snow survey program director for the Natural Resources Conservation Service is named Wayne Sleep.

I think it may be safe to assume there is more than one Wayne Sleep on the planet.

Lourdes, of course, was ED of the Balanchine Foundation before she went to work for Morphoses, but before the Foundation, she had a brief stint as an arts beat reporter for NBC's flagship station here in New York!

That was both surprising and, in a way, not. After seeing Lourdes lead a lecture-demo on the NYST stage when she was still a fairly new principal dancer, I had the feeling that she wanted her next career to be acting.

I've seen this piece of information several places, but no one has said anything about his training -- where was he studying?

I think Karen Kain did some broadcast journalism with the CBC when she first retired.

I don't know about Karen, but your post made me think of Veronica Tennant, an award-winning screenwriter, director, and producer as well as an author of children’s books, a narrator and TV host, since her retirement.

Veronica Tennant

He graduated from Evanston School of Ballet. He won a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet but turned it down to attend Sarah Lawrence College. That college has a strong dance program. In 1981 he received his B.A., then earned a master's degree in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985. While he was an undergrad, he got his start in politics by joining the congressional campaign of David Robinson of Chicago.

Oops, you've got part of that wrong: Christopher Stowell is the Artistic Dir. of Oregon Ballet Theatre. His brother is a chef and owner of several restaurants in Seattle.

His brother's name is Ethan and, in one of the articles about him, he ties ballet in with cooking:



Another article begins:

Here's a link to an article about him, for those interested:
Ethan Stowell, Christopher's brother

It's funny how he is called a German-born (which he is) chef, because one tends to think of him, then, as a German or a European who happens to be working in America, given that info.

Thanks, Marga. Reading and thinking about the posts on this thread, it seems to me that the "discipline and technique" that Ethan Stowell mentions are something all ballet dancers share -- and something that carries over quite marvellously into other creative endeavors.

Former PNB co-AD Kent Stowell has been host at his son Ethan's restaurant on Upper Queen Anne, How to Cook A Wolf.

Kent still travels to various companies staging his original ballets and Francia stages a lot of Balanchine

Afshin Mofid, a former NYCB soloist (you can see his "Afternoon of a Faun" by googling him) is a podiatrist in Boise Idaho.

Just added: I followed one of those links, and got this story of his life. Very, very interesting.

Paul Frame (Peter's identical twin brother) is or at least was becoming a nurse/midwife. He was a soloist at NYCB while Peter (who is a trainer at SAB) was a Principal.

I have seen Geon dance many times and noted your comment about his current career as a Realtor. My sig other and I needed to discuss some real estate business and we contacted Geon. Such as is the art of ballet, a real estate transaction is not that dissimilar to a dance as the deal is done. It was a pleasure working with him in the selling of our home. There is life after dance.

Paul Frame is a chiropractor in Arizona

I believe that Paul was a corps dancer during his whole NYCB career.

you're right. My bad.

Now there's a pair of eyes I could stare into while having my toenail ripped out!

Sorry everyone, another mistake. Afshin Mofid (and I agree with Ray) is a CHIROPRACTOR.

As a character in "HELP!" said, "It's the Brain Drain. My brain is draining."

Podiatrist/chiropractor: both are very useful to dancers. So the mistake is understandable -- and, on Ballet Talk, quite forgiveable.

Alas, there goes my kinky fantasy!