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 Cara Doyle!

If ballet chose you, as many dancers say it did, what is it that has made you stick with it? 

Ballet didn’t choose me actually. I had so much energy as a child, that my Mom needed to find an outlet for me. I wanted to be a gymnast or a cheerleader, but my Mom told me she’d rather deal with me potentially “breaking a leg dancing” vs. breaking my neck tumbling. I guess this is why I have always been a bouncy dancer! I stuck with ballet because CCB became my family from the day I walked in the door as a teenager.  I love that I am part of a special legacy at CCB that allows me the opportunity to perform onstage next to my children.

Who would you most like to dance with & what would you dance? 

I would love to dance with my former teacher, Fernando Schaffenburg, in his adaptation of Balanchine’s “Tarantella.”  I would also love to be the Madame in MacMillan’s “Manon.”What are you looking forward to dancing in 2020/21? Our Spring storybook ballet performances always bring some of my favorite roles, so I look forward to dancing in that show. I am also looking forward to helping the costuming dept. more with hair and makeup for the 2020/21 season.   

Who inspired you to dance?

Paloma Herrera has always been an inspiration to me as a strong dancer and Alessandra Ferri inspires me to keep on dancing. 

Which role has tested you the most & how?  

Randy Wray’s “Passing Fancies,” Modern Couple. It wasn’t hard choreography per say, but it challenged me by opening my eyes to a whole new world of dance that wasn’t ballet. It pushed me out of my box and made me a much stronger and more well rounded dancer. 

 Describe yourself in just three words. 

Effervescent, Creative, Sassy 

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 Cassie Quinn!

If ballet chose you, as many dancers say it did, what is it that has made you stick with it?

I think that the challenge of ballet is what has made me stick with it. There is something addicting about striving to achieve something that is essentially unachievable. I think every dancer has those moments that feel like flying, and the feeling I get in those moments is indescribable. 

Who would you most like to dance with & what would you dance?

I would love to dance Aurora in “Sleeping Beauty” or “Giselle,” but those are of course big dreams. 🙂 Probably with David Hallberg or James Whiteside.

What are you looking forward to dancing in 2020/21?

I’m not sure what our 2020/21 season will look like, but I always look forward to “The Nutcracker” because of the sense of tradition. I feel that no matter how many times you do it, there is always something new to discover, and there is always a sense of magic to be found in this ballet. 

Who inspired you to dance?

My mom was the one who first inspired me to dance, and she was the one who put me in ballet when I was 11. In addition, my teachers and friends inspire me each and every day to push myself and are a constant reminder to find passion in all of the hard work. 

Which role has tested you the most & how?

The role of Clara in “The Nutcracker” tested me a lot in terms of the emotional/acting side of ballet. However, last year I was an eel in “The Little Mermaid,” and that was also challenging because I had to tap into a very animalistic side of myself that is quite different from my usual personality. 

Describe yourself in just three words.

Quiet, passionate, and joyful.

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. <———