Behind the Scenes with Lily

Monday, September 1st, 2008 | All Posts by Lily Rogers, Perpetual Motion: SFB on Tour

Welcome to San Francisco Ballet’s brand new blog. My name is Lily Rogers and I’m a dancer with San Francisco Ballet. I am honored to be one of the first company members to contribute, and I look forward to sharing my experiences, both past and present. My intention is to be a window into what goes on behind the scenes at San Francisco Ballet.

I joined the ballet company in 2004 as an Apprentice and was promoted to the Corps de Ballet one year later, a position I hold today. As with any job there are good days and bad days, but I am always happy to be a part of one of the strongest and most internationally recognized companies around. I realize how lucky I am to wake up every morning and go to a job I can be proud of and work for a company that is growing every year.

I was born and raised in Pacific Heights in San Francisco. After graduating high school and getting a job with the company I lived in a few different neighborhoods, but last year finally settled on a flat in Russian Hill.

My mother placed me in ballet class at the very young age of three. My guess is she had no intention I would one day end up dancing professionally. I think she just wanted me out of the house for an hour a week, expending energy so there would be some hope of me actually taking a nap that day. I grew to love it and was told I showed promise at a young age. I looked forward to going to class every week, but my enthusiasm for dance sometimes got me in trouble: during my very first year end performance I actually stopped onstage, peered into the audience, and waved to my parents. Needless to say, I have come a long way.

I auditioned for the San Francisco Ballet School when I was seven because I expressed an interest to study in a more serious and professional atmosphere. Before the audition I was able to tour the building and see the older dancers warming up, taking class, and rehearsing in the studio. I couldn’t have pressed my face any closer to the glass as I watched quietly in awe. More than anything, I wanted to be a part of what went on behind the doors of 455 Franklin Street.

When I turned 15 I started going to an independent study high school in Marin County. I went to school two times a week and met privately with a teacher for an hour. I was given a week’s worth of homework each time, and was expected to do the majority of the learning on my own. It certainly was not the traditional high school experience, but I never saw this as a sacrifice. It was just what I did, what was expected of me, and what I wanted to do.

My high school was an interesting place to be, I was surrounded by young tennis players, swimmers, gymnasts and ice skaters. All of us were on such time-consuming, and specific paths that we hoped would take us to the next level of professionalism we so desired. That when everybody came together for graduation I didn’t even recognize half of the faces. The summer after I graduated from high school, Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson offered me a job. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I started working for the Company one week later.

* * * *

Last May we closed our very challenging and successful 75th Anniversary season at the War Memorial Opera House. We then went on a seven-week hiatus and when we returned to work in July, we got right into the swing of things preparing for The American Tour. This fall, we will be touring to Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and Costa Mesa (California).

Chicago is up first, where we will be performing at The Harris Theater with two mixed repertory programs and a Gala. We are taking four of the works premiered last season during the New Works Festival (Double Evil, Joyride, Fusion, and Within the Golden Hour) and two of Helgi’s ballets (On A Theme of Paganini and The Fifth Season). We open September 16, flying out barely two days in advance. I will be performing Double Evil, Within the Golden Hour, and On a Theme of Paganini.

The entire company will meet at the ballet building the morning of Sept. 14 and board two buses bound for SFO. We are shepherded through the airport and take two planes to Chicago, that will arrive later that evening. The next day is an optional work day, and class will be offered at the Joffrey Studios (where Ashley Wheater, former principal dancer and Ballet Master with SFB now resides as Artistic Director).

So, for the next week and a half we are vigorously preparing for Chicago, rehearsing six or more ballets a day. There is still a lot to do and I am particularly stressed about rehearsing Double Evil due to its huge vocabulary of movement, combining classical technique with ultra-contemporary style. The ultimate result is a profoundly creative ballet, especially with Elo’s use of the upper body and port de bras.

I was chosen to learn the ballet last year and did have the opportunity to perform it, and found it to be one of the most technically challenging roles of my career to date. It has been much easier to rehearse this time around because I have already performed the role. I am also lucky to be working with Ruben Martin, a very experienced partner and talented dancer. He has been helping me develop my partnering skills.

Over the past few years I have been discovering that dancing on your own is one thing, but learning to dance with a partner is an entirely different story. When learning a ballet there is a lot of stop and go, and twice as many decisions to be made. We have to talk out what will work best for the both of us. I may need his hand a little lower on my back in a lift, and he might want me to take off for a partnered jump in a different way. I’m getting better and now have a better idea of what I want to feel from a partner but am finding experience is really the only way to improve.

Not only are more than six ballets being put together right now, the dancers are preparing for the tour in other ways as well. We had to turn in our tour cases the other day, which will be shipped to Chicago over the next two weeks. Tour cases are large black trunks that are vital for every dancer’s dressing room, no matter where we are. I usually fill mine with as much as I can, so I don’t have to stuff my regular suitcase with ballet necessities.

When in the theater, I can’t live without:

-Stage Makeup, consisting of base, eyeliner, false eyelashes, lipstick, eye shadow, brow pencil
-Bobby pins
-Hairspray
-Hair Elastics
-Handheld Mirror
-Face wash
-Hand and Face Lotion
-Contact Solution
-Heating pack (so I can stay warm while doing makeup and hair)
-Tennis ball and foot roller (to work out tight muscles in preparation for a warm up barre later)
-Extra sewing supplies for pointe shoes
-Leotards
-Tights
-Warm ups (sweats, leg warmers, sweater)
-Yoga mat
-Books
-iPod

Though it can be frustrating not having these things for two weeks, they are absolutely imperative in the theater.

Tags: Lily Rogers, The American Tour

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