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Feeling caught? Dance your way out of the corner.

Article Excerpt
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The day she got a call from American Ballet Theatre offering a corps contract, 18 year-old Stephanie Walz screamed ecstatically and ran to call her mother. Wide-eyed and eager, she set out for New York City, where she danced alongside the stars she had idolized. That first honeymoon year was sweet, filled with exciting opportunities to understudy soloists and upper corps members. With her passion, focus, and talent, Walz's ABT future looked promising. Choreographers Glen Tetley and Ulysses Dove both recognized her potential and cast her in their pieces.

Walz threw herself into intense rehearsals wholeheartedly. Not listening to her body's warning signs, she sustained a serious neck injury that benched her for three months. Once she healed, Walz wanted to pick up where she left off. But she discovered that her momentum in the company had stalled. While she danced some featured roles, no promotion seemed in the offing. Eight years after that life-changing phone call, Walz realized she was stuck.

Nearly all dancers hit a wall at some point. Sometimes it's created by external factors: an injury that sets back a dancer's progress, a new company director who has a different aesthetic, resources that limit the number of promotions and opportunities a company can offer. Other times, the wall has been built from within by the dancer's own approach to her work. Realizing what's contributing to feeling stuck can be the first step to going from a discouraged dancer to a fulfilled artist.

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

Getting into a company can make a dancer complacent about her technique. It may take a while before she realizes where she needs to improve. After joining the Joffrey Ballet, April...

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