Sarah Steele is a professional dancer with The Washington Ballet. Prior to TWB, she trained under Valentina Kozlova and went on to become a member of Tulsa Ballet II; she also attended Harvard for a semester and intends to return there at some point in the future to obtain her degree.
1. To get off to an unconventional start, please write a haiku about anything that comes to mind at the moment.
When the world is dark Dance distracts, beauty lifts hearts Help where we can help
2. How did you get into dancing?
Dancing has always been a part of my life, as far as I can remember. My mother did ballet recreationally, and as soon as I found out she was doing it, I was all in. I tried all sorts of styles of dance at first… and stuck with ballet since it was the hardest. Ballet continues to challenge me every single day, and that’s what keeps me in it.
3. Did dancing help you through anything difficult in your life?
Definitely! I can also almost guarantee that every ballet dancer would tell you the same. For me, ballet has been sort of my invisible best friend. From the time I was 13 with so much teenage angst, to being 17 and dealing with the pressures of high school, and through today—ballet barre has never changed. It’s like coming home, in your body and mind, all at once. It’s not unlike taking out a meditation app on your phone. People do it to take a few minutes to themselves, to regroup, breathe deeply, or focus. There’s an undeniable spirituality about working in a ballet studio— each dancer is on their own mission to improve the connection between body and mind. I don’t mean to get too “out there” about it. But do you know what I mean? It’s really beautiful.
4. What adversities have you had to overcome to continue pursuing your profession?
I feel very blessed to have had so much support in my life as I pursued professional ballet. There is a huge pre-professional student culture online and off with its own unique pressures and obstacles. Throughout my student life, I never felt alone on my journey to become a professional dancer. My parents are my biggest source of confidence and love, but there are also teachers, dear friends, physical therapists, pilates instructors, and personal trainers who have shaped my career and shaped me as a person. The biggest adversity that I’ve faced is a chronic injury. Chronic injuries are infuriating, because they wear you down emotionally. My best advice for anyone facing chronic pain or injury? Mindset is everything. Once I had done everything I could to physically alleviate the pain, I was still so angry at my body for not cooperating with me! Even if I had months of zero pain and one random day of mild pain, I would be angry with my body. Once I started being kinder to myself, my pain resolved completely.
5. Tell us your funniest story about the dance world.
Nothing better than a good costume malfunction. During Act II of Giselle, my arm puff slowly slipped down my arm all the way to my wrist, and then flung itself off my arm at the most inopportune moment, landing on upstage center… at the very beginning of the act. It stayed there for the rest of the show, and I was so mortified. Not only was it distracting to the principals’ dancing, but I was the only girl in a very stark line-up of the corps de ballet with a bare arm. More often than not, we’re all laughing at each other at The Washington Ballet. We get really slap-happy sometimes during the final hour of rehearsal, and my friends just crack me up. It’s so important not to take yourself too seriously. There’s so much that’s really strange about professional ballet, from eccentric personalities, crazy choreography, and the physical humor of when something goes wrong in rehearsal or on stage. That’s why ballet fails are so popular on Instagram!
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?
Nordic breakdancing, courtesy of Ethan Stiefel! It was insanely fun.
7. What would you say to someone who is hesitant to go see a ballet performance?
See how you can get involved with groups surrounding the ballet, like the Jeté Society at The Washington Ballet, for example. They go to shows to sit together, go to a happy hour to chat, organize events, etc. You’ll be able to ask all the questions you may have to a group of peers, plus meet new people at the same time! Use social media to familiarize yourself with the dancers you’re about to watch! Instagram has completely broken down the barrier between the artist and the audience. Once you feel like you know the artist up on stage, watching them perform is instantly so much more fascinating and exciting. Try to appreciate ballet through the lens of athleticism- for anybody who has played sports or loves fitness, it is evident how difficult ballet really is. Professional dancers must be half athlete and half artist. From the most canonized classical ballets to new choreography, ballet is exceptionally athletic, and dancers’ bodies are beautiful examples of the strength and flexibility it requires.
8. If you had to convince someone of the importance of the arts, what would you say?
Providing a shortened Churchill quote here, “The Prime Minister [Neville Chamberlain]…has reminded us of the old saying that it is by art man gets nearest to the angels and farthest from the animals…Evidently we are in the presence of a mystery which strikes down to the deepest foundations of human genius and of human glory. Ill fares the race which fails to salute the arts with the reverence and delight which are their due.” (Winston Churchill) (https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/the-arts-what-are-we-fighting-for/)
9. If ballet had a slogan, what would it be? Or if you had a slogan what would it be?
For both the life of a professional dancer and for myself: If nothing changes, nothing changes.
Edited by Adelaide Clauss
Dancers Are 