Tamás Krizsa, from Hungary, is a professional dancer with The Washington Ballet. Prior to this, he danced professionally with Ballet Theater Hagen, Bay Area Houston Ballet, Columbia Classical Ballet, and Budapest Ballet.
1. To get off to an unconventional start, please write a haiku about anything that comes to mind at the moment. The weirder, funnier, or more random the better!
Day one, not so fun Can I ever overcome Day ten, no problem
editor’s note: (written during the quarantine period of COVID-19)
2. How did you get into dancing?
I was 9 years old, and The Hungarian Dance Academy was going around to schools to pick kids for their audition. They came in and picked my brother from a class a year below me. The next day the group from the academy came back; this time it was for my age group. Our gym teacher picked a few of us that might be good candidates, but since I already knew why they were there due to my brother, I asked not to be picked. I didn’t even know that guys did ballet. Two months later, we had to take my brother for the actual audition, and my parents got the idea on the spot to ask me to give it a try. I didn’t have proper audition clothes with me, so my parents had to quickly go get a Speedo-type swimsuit. Luckily, they made it back in time. There were hundreds of kids in line entering in groups. I ended up having to wait until everyone else finished, and then they called me in (the audition was really for kids a year younger than I was). They had me go through the audition; there was one teacher who pulled my legs in different directions, while a panel was sitting behind a long desk observing. In the end, I remember I had to face away from the panel, while the teacher examining me was facing the panel. I assume a vote was taking place right there. Then I saw the teacher who had examined me lift his hand, and a few seconds after that, it was all over. Congratulations!
3. Did dancing help you through anything difficult in your life?
I am pretty private in life, so it’s hard for me to share some of the difficulties ballet has helped me through. Nevertheless, there were times when it was only in the ballet studios that I managed to be pain-free. Ballet was my therapy, and I believe this is often true for many of us!
4. What adversities have you had to overcome to continue pursuing your profession?
At the Hungarian Dance Academy, we were kind of in a cocoon. Shielded and guided all the way. As I think is normal for many dancers, the biggest roadblocks presented themselves only after the school ended. Ten of us graduated from the school, and four of us were given a contract with The Hungarian National Ballet. Three of us respectfully denied, but out of those, only one of us didn’t have a backup plan. That was me. I had seen dancers who had graduated and had gotten into a comfortable life with the company. That kind of comfort scared me. I was afraid that I would get too comfortable and then when opportunity knocked, I just wouldn’t have the strength anymore. I was the only one without a job for a year. I asked the director of The Hungarian Dance Academy if I could take class for one more year; I managed to finish college with honors and save enough scholarship money to do a few auditions. This was just one roadblock, and while it was definitely a turbulent time, it shaped me.
5. Tell us your funniest story about the dance world.
I think behind-the-scenes bloopers are some of the funniest we can share. I was in Germany, dancing Nutcracker. This show I had to quickly change from Party Scene into the Snow pas de deux. I went to my dressing room, pulled up my white tights, put on the tunic, and ran back. After doing the pas de deux, I got back into the dressing room and noticed in the mirror that I had this bunny tail. I reached in and pulled out my bunched up underwear! As I was quick changing, my underwear must have fallen into my tights as I was pulling them up. I did that entire pas de deux with a bunny tail. I’m so happy I didn’t notice while I was dancing!
6. In your time as a dancer, what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever had to do/craziest thing that has ever happened to you?
Not sure what’s the craziest! Here’s one, though. As we got older in the school, we performed more and more with The Hungarian National Ballet. Normally, it would take somewhere around 40 minutes to get to the theatre using public transportation (the tram, to the metro, to the underground). Spartacus in particular was an incredibly long ballet, and it took forever to get out of the theatre after performing in it, since we were wearing full body makeup. There were multiple times when I missed the last public transportation. Those times I would run all the way home from the theatre, with a backpack bouncing on my back. It took about an hour and a half, and I would get home way past midnight. I didn’t have to do it, but I didn’t really have any other option. Weirdly, though, I used to love the run. I would envision that I was Flash and would try to run as fast as I could… fast enough to make the street lights blur.
7. What would you say to someone who is hesitant to go see a ballet performance?
How do you know you won’t like it if you haven’t seen one? Most of the time, people do change their perspective after they see a show :).
8. If you had only one sentence to convince someone of the importance of the arts, what would you say?
That’s very short. Probably would never use just one sentence!
9. If ballet had a slogan, what would it be?
“Essence of the soul visualized”….or on a funnier note: “Where bunions grow”
Responses edited by Adelaide Clauss
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