Artist Spotlight
 | | | Principal Dancer Nicolas Blanc |
12/1/2004
Nicolas Blanc joined the Company last season as a soloist. Originally from Montauban, France, Blanc delighted audiences with his energy, personality, and precision in Possokhov's Study in Motion, Wheeldon's Rush, Ashton's Symphonic Variations, and Balanchine's The Four Temperaments and Square Dance . Recently, Blanc sat down to discuss his new role as principal dancer and a new life in San Francisco.
What led you to ballet growing up?
I was a child with incredible energy who was always jumping around. When I was eight I started Judo, but a year later I quit because I was very skinny and small and I was losing every competition (laughs). But I kept jumping on my bed while listening to jazz music and at first I wanted to be a jazz dancer. My mother sought a school in my hometown, Montauban, and we found the best teacher, Marie-Odile Maurel, who was actually a classical ballet teacher. She explained that I had to start with classical ballet to get the basic skills before switching to jazz. But then, I was hooked.
What sort of encouragement did you receive from family members?
My parents put so much trust in me from the beginning and were incredibly supportive. I had many moments of doubt and they were always there to refuel me with positive energy. But they were not at all pushy. There are those kinds of parents; they want their kids to be a ballet star and they push for it without listening to what the child really wants. My parents were not like that at all; they were incredible!
When did you realize that you wanted to be a professional dancer?
When I was 11 an instructor asked us to write down what we wanted to be in the future and I wrote "dancer and choreographer." Every year after that I would write down the same thing.
Do you still have aspirations of becoming a choreographer?
That's a big question for me. I have days when I'm listening to music and concepts and ideas come to me. But being a choreographer is very different from being a dancer, and a special talent is required.
The way of finding out if you have talent is tricky. You need to have an opportunity to take a risk and throw yourself into a creation. I did a small work a few years ago but the result was average. It was exciting and challenging to be on the other side of things working with the dancers, but also frustrating at times. But in the end, whatever you create and whatever it will be, you need to believe in yourself if you want to succeed. Choreographing is difficult but I'm open to doing something again.
You joined the Company as a soloist in 2004. Were you surprised to be promoted to principal dancer at the end of that season?
It was very fast — being promoted in only a year. I was certainly working for it, but I was really surprised when Helgi told me that he would promote me to principal. It's a very big honor and a dream come true for me to get to this level.
I was actually in Helgi's office talking to him about something else and at the end of the conversation he announced my promotion. At first I didn't fully realize what he was saying. I was in a fog...a San Franciscan fog! (laughs)
What were your thoughts on dancing for an American company? What were your expectations in coming here?
I had been thinking about working in America for a long time. People with a lot of knowledge in ballet told me that as a European dancer I had to experience working in America at least once. I didn't want to miss that chance. If you wait too long, at some point it's too late to make the move.
It's wonderful to be here, especially at San Francisco Ballet because it is a major company in America. It is a big privilege to dance in a top-ranked company!
What was appealing about dancing with SF Ballet?
The repertory is very diverse, so I knew I would dance a lot of different works. I don't consider myself a purely classical dancer, even though I appreciate big, classical piece, immensely. Those ballets are always a great opportunity to check your shape and condition. So my aim is to develop in the classics, but to also experiment with neoclassical and modern work. I love that aspect of being here. I think that our generation of dancer must be versatile and able to dance whatever is requested.
What career would you pursue if you weren't a dancer?
From a young age, I was so involved in ballet that I couldn't really think about doing anything else. On a lighter note, I think it would be fun to be a racecar driver. I like everything that has to do with cars, and I'm particularly interested in new designs as well as vintage collector cars. I love speed so I think I'd have a lot of fun racing.
Anything else you want people to know about you?
I would just like to say that being promoted to principal is an incredible recognition of many hours of work, sweat, doubt, and also times of happiness. But the title itself does not mean much if I take it easy and think that everything is done. I have to keep working hard, continuing to set and achieve my goals. Just because I'm principal this is not the end; this is actually the beginning of developing my career and my art. I think it's important to keep working and develop your own way of analyzing dance. I think of it as a writer who drafts numerous pages, crumples each one, and tosses it aside, until he finally finds the perfect sentence to convey his thoughts. That is how I approach dancing — working with the choreography until I get it just right. I want to study dance, to understand it as you would understand good food or wine. It is marvelous and fulfilling that way!