24 Hours with…The New York City Ballet's Sterling Hyltin
The principal dancer, who takes the stage as the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker through January 3, lets us in on the action
Written by Alisha Prakash
10:30 am “The tutu here is my practice tutu, it’s a retired tutu with no bodice. My partner can’t see my legs when I have my tutu on, so it’s important to rehearse with that. This way, he can feel where my weight is. I have a wonderful partner, Andrew Veyette. We danced for several years together and I actually debuted it with him nine years ago. If you look closely, there’s also a chopstick. For the Sugarplum solo, I have a wand in my hand, so it’s good to practice with.”
That day, I wasn’t only rehearsing The Nutcracker. We’re slowly starting to rehearse for our winter season. Actually only maybe 30 minutes of my day was devoted to The Nutcracker. It’s so in our bodies at this point that it’s more just running it for stamina and seeing where you can improve. In our normal season, I can easily dance five or six ballets a day and dance a seventh one that I hadn’t even rehearsed that day at night. It can be extremely exhausting, but can also be really stimulating because you’re never doing the same thing with your muscles.”
