Welcome to Barre None, my new video blog exclusively on Huffington Post. I'm Sara Mearns and I hope to be your tour guide into the world of classical ballet. You might ask yourself, "Why a video blog that goes behind the scenes of a classical ballet dancer's daily life?" Because what you see on the stage does not begin to capture what ballet or our lives are all about. You see the performance, but what you don't see -- the rehearsals, the costume designs, the frazzled nerves, the learning of a new ballet, the constant travels around the world, the injuries and the oftentimes long, painful road to recovery that lead us to wonder if this is the injury that can end a career -- it's all a part of what we do and who we are.
I'm only one dancer, but I hope that by giving you a window into my life as a principal ballerina at New York City Ballet, a door will be opened to more interest, curiosity, and enthusiasm for this artform that I, and so many others, love and work so hard for. So come on in, pull up a seat, and join me every Friday. You'll have a great time. I promise. Barre None.
Dancing In Denmark... A Dream Realized
It is sort of fitting that Disney picked Denmark to be the inspiration behind the setting of the "The Little Mermaid". This country is one the most charming places you could visit and the people are gorgeous! Everywhere you turn, you are just surrounded by beauty, the buildings, the food, the people, the artistry. The arts, and particularly ballet, is so well respected in Denmark that you almost feel like royalty walking around, and ironically, the queen of Denmark attended one of our performances! You really did feel like the audiences had the utmost respect for your artform and hold it a very high level. At least that's what I got from the six curtain calls they would give us after the final ballet every night.
In case you were wondering, New York City Ballet toured to Copenhagen, Denmark for 10 days, arriving back in the states two days ago. Our director, Peter Martins, is from there and came from the Royal Danish Ballet. We are very welcomed in the country and are treated at the highest level by all who come across us. I find myself not wanting to write too much about this trip but just wanting you to watch the video which can show you more then I can explain here. But I will say that this is the first trip, where not for one minute did I feel homesick and actually on the last morning, did not want to leave.
It's not Paris, London, or Madrid, but it is the first place in my travels that I would consider moving to, which for me is saying a lot. I thought there was no better place than New York but I was wrong. Copenhagen makes you feel at home away from home, and who wouldn't want to ride their bike instead of their car everyday to work? You stay fit, save money, and get there faster, and don't have to worry about parking in a large city!
This was a international dream come true for me. Being able to perform with New York City Ballet in their iconic ballets such as Serenade and Symphony in C in a brand new opera house built on the water, which we had to commute by ferry everyday, in one of the most beautiful cities and countries in the world? Yes, that is home away from home for me. I hope one day you will be able to visit this beautiful place and see what I'm trying to talk about. Hope you enjoy the video! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram to see all the cool pictures from my travels and more. See you next week!
Check out last week's video blog here.
You can find Sara Mearns on twitter here: @nycbstar2b.