As part of our 40th Anniversary Celebration, we are doing #FlashbackFriday in May, a 5-part series where we release a spring ballet from our past every Friday in May at 7pm mountain time on our YouTube Channel! We are also featuring a company dancer profile in celebration. This week, meet Jenna Smith!

If ballet chose you, as many dancers say it did, what is it that has made you stick with it?
I describe my relationship to dance like my relationship to air—It gives me life. I dance because I simply have to.

Who would you most like to dance with & what would you dance?
I would love to dance with ANY current or past NDT members, and I would love to perform “The Statement” by Crystal Pite.

What are you looking forward to dancing in 2020/21? I am actually really looking forward to “The Nutcracker” again this year. Dancing “Arabian Princess” was extra special because it was always one of my dream roles!

Who inspired you to dance?
Although I was and am inspired by MANY dancers, I saw the ballet, “Swan Lake” when I was 4 years old. I told my mom, “I am going to do that someday” and I never once looked back!

Which role has tested you the most & how?
Most definitely the “Little Mermaid”! I don’t think I have ever thrown myself so fully into a character. It was such a complex and heartbreaking story, and dancing in such a diverse way as well as vocalizing on stage, was a unique and fun challenge! It is definitely what I am most proud of 🙂

Describe yourself in just three words.
Passionate, Driven, Goofy. <———