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Reviewing Sara as Odette in Swan Lake, Alastair Macaulay, chief dance critic of The New York Times, says "Ms. Mearns brings to the role qualities that are all her own: an ardent musicality, a tragic glamour and a lusciously mobile spine. Ms. Mearns' dancing is diamantine, casting light in multiple directions. (She) plunges into her music with such acuity and drive that her dancing seems inevitable. Her beauty isn't textbook: her shoulders are high, and though her maquillage makes her eyes compelling, it seldom allows us to see their whites. But she's as riveting as the heroine of a 1940s film noir; her luster, her urgency and her enigma exert equal force." After her performance in Balanchine's Diamonds, Macaulay says "Sara Mearns has suddenly become the company's most remarkable dancer; I'm inclined to think she is now also New York's finest ballerina, even America's . . ." Finis: I was at that show and felt it was one of the most illuminating dance performances I had ever seen in 50 years of ballet-going. How did you prepare for that performance? Sara: The very first time I learned it, I would watch Wendy (Whelan) and Maria (Korowski) do it and I said to myself "I can't do this—are they serious?" I was intimidated. When Jon (her partner Jonathan Stafford) and I did our first performance, we weren't nervous because we had rehearsed hard and felt we knew it. We were excited and awed by the fact we were actually going to do it. However, we were surprised to find it was so tiring! To make matters worse, my pointe shoe elastic broke. But we didn't care, we enjoyed ourselves. This time around, Jon and I knew there were 5 performances, and we got one show, second to the last of the season. We were so tired because we were finishing up a 14 week season. In a way, it was almost better because we didn't rehearse as much—we just kind of did it, and felt more relaxed than the first time. Finis: Macaulay says you're "as riveting as the heroine of a 1940s film noir." Your maquillage (eye makeup) is very black and contrasts sharply with your pale skin, blonde hair and blood red lips—you look strikingly beautiful and mysterious, which I like very much and wish more dancers would do. Is that your own idea? Sara: It was created by Michael Avedon. Everyone always tells me my eyes look very small when I'm photographed, so I feel I need to make them big and strong. I want to make it glamorous! Finis: How else did you prepare for the role? Sara: Once I put on the costume and head piece, I feel like a queen—there are so many jewels and the diamonds are so big and sparkle and shine—I feel I have to live up to the costume. When you walk onto the stage you can't sink into the costume because it is so magnificent. That alone makes me stand tall—it makes me feel like I am a completely different being! Finis: The best actors say the same thing: when they prepare for a role they need to see what they're going to wear because it will determine how they think and move. What other thoughts do you have? Sara: What affects me most is hearing the music. It tells me what to do. In particular this Tchaikovsky music makes me feel like I'm royalty, coming from a completely different world than I am used to—I am a queen, commanding my partner to come and carry me, or kiss my hand, or to keep his distance. Diamonds fits our personalities very well and I don't think I would want to do it with anyone else other than Jon because we learned it together. It has a very special meaning for us.
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Meet
Sara Mearns, principal dancer with The New York City Ballet, who exemplifies
everything I consider most important about ballet dancing. She moves
from her spine, constantly twisting and stretching, creating movements
and lines which completely fill the stage. She uses her shoulders
and arms like wings which enable her to move her legs and feet with
speed and accuracy so she arrives in crystal-clear positions. She
dances to the entire audience, including those sitting in the last
row of the top balcony. And most of all, as Balanchine said, she makes
you "See the music."
