Last summer, one of our regular contributors Heather Hayes approached us with a bold idea. She had discovered that love was in the air within the ranks of Ballet West, one of Utah’s most beloved cultural institutions. As a strange side effect of the lockdown and, generally, how closely the dancers in the company work together, several loving partnerships had bloomed. Why not, she suggested, learn more about this phenomenon and share their love stories? And along the way why not take the opportunity to deck these dancing couples out in beautiful clothes and jewelry and photograph them at the Capitol Theater? Well, it was, as you can see, a great idea. Ballet West gave us exclusive access to their stage and eight of their dancers to produce our cover story and main feature “Romancing the Stage”.
Inside you’ll find the origin stories of four Ballet West couples and, while there is plenty of romance in each tale, it also gave us a chance to go behind the scenes and learn more about the unique lives of professional dancers. It’s a strange world, right? Dancing at this level is less of a job and more of a lifestyle choice, or actually, a life. Their days are filled with a grueling schedule of rehearsals. Their office is the warren of dressing rooms beneath the Capitol Theater and the worn floors of the practice spaces. Each day is an attempt to reach the perfection demanded by the ballet form. No wonder they find camaraderie, friendship and, in these cases, love among each other.
We hope you’ll enjoy this glimpse into the lives of our four couples as well as the gorgeous photography (by Adam Finkle), beautiful styling and fashion choices (by Vanessa Di Palma Wright) and fabulous layout by our art director (Jeanine Miller). And, this year, when you’re sitting with your family in the Capitol Theatre, enjoying Ballet West’s rendition of The Nutcracker be sure to check the playbill for our eight dancers.
