Lucy Nevin, from Westport, Connecticut, is a professional ballet dancer with The Washington Ballet. From the age of ten onwards, she trained at the official school of New York City Ballet: the well-renowned School of American Ballet. In 2016, Lucy became a trainee at The Washington Ballet and has since ascended to her current position as a full company member. For the past four years, Lucy has managed to juggle her ballet career all while taking college courses in her free time at Georgetown University.
1. How did you get into dancing? How did you become a professional dancer?
I started dancing in this one room studio with wooden floors in Westport, CT. My teacher taught all the children traditional ballet and character. When a choreographer came in from New York City and told my parents that I had real potential, my mom looked up better ballet schools in the area and I auditioned for a few. However, I’d always wanted to be in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker as I went every year of my childhood, so when I found out I was accepted into The School of American Ballet, I’d made up my mind and wouldn’t choose any other school. I began commuting to New York City to train at The School of American Ballet at ten years old, and eventually graduated from the school at 19 and began my journey with The Washington Ballet as a trainee in 2016. I never doubted my decision to pursue a professional ballet career. I always knew I wanted to be a ballerina.
2. Did dancing help you through anything difficult in your life?
I’ve experienced a lot of anxiety in my life, and that’s just how I’m wired. But dancing has helped me in so many ways: to focus on ballet and not on things that make me anxious, to learn how to manage dealing with what I can and can’t control. Ballet has been my emotional outlet all through my life and changing self-image. Ballet has made me brave and has provided me with a true passion that doesn’t feel like work, but rather a natural daily necessity. If I don’t dance, I don’t feel like myself… and that has really come to light during this time of COVID-19. Though I don’t have to dance everyday, I emotionally have to. My grandma always tells me of the time I told her “I am happiest when I’m dancing.” I was about four years old when I said that and it is still true to this day.
3. What obstacles have you had to overcome to continue pursuing your profession?
Well for starters, COVID-19. Though there have been obstacles like missing out on a normal school life with parties and football games and even the stereotypical college experience, those were all sacrifices I wanted to make to be able to pursue my dream. Another big obstacle for me was missing my littlest sister grow up. I moved away from home when she was only five years old and prior to moving away, I began commuting to NYC when she was two. I really didn’t have the most rewarding relationship with her.
This global pandemic we are all dealing with is something no dancer ever imagined. We have always had the safe space of a studio to dance in or a stage to perform on, and now we have none of that. I’ve overcome the fear of being alone, not seeing my friends all the time, learning to be okay with “me time,” and knowing that no matter what the circumstances are, I will always have ballet. And now I have time to get to know my little sister and see how she’s grown as a person while I’ve been away. Relationships have become so much stronger for me with my family and friends during this time away from ballet. I think this has boosted my self-confidence a lot and given me strength to keep pursuing my passion because I have so much support and love in my life, and I feel much more gratitude.
4. What would you say to someone who is hesitant to go see a ballet performance?
What have you got to lose? Why not? It’s important to expose yourself to things you might not feel the most comfortable experiencing, but if you never try, you’ll never learn and will never grow. So much of what I’ve learned about myself has come from trying new things and surrounding myself in a different environment.
5. If you had only one sentence to convince someone of the importance of the arts, what would you say?
I believe every emotion we feel can be triggered by the arts, and to be human is to feel, and that is beautiful, and that is living.
6. If ballet had a slogan, what would it be? Or if you had a slogan, what would it be?
I love how George Balanchine used to say, “All you have is now.”
Responses edited by Adelaide Clauss
Dancers Are 