What They're up to Now?

Spring is such a wonderful and often bittersweet time of year.  Young dancers, whom we’ve watched grow from young children to accomplished young adults, leave us to graduate and move on to exciting futures. Some of them take all the poise and dedication they’ve learned from dance and parlay that into wonderful careers. Others choose to continue their practice. Two NADA and NADT Alumni Emily Patterson and Bridget West have been cast in some pretty incredible ballets as they extend their education at the University of South Carolina. We had a moment recently to catch up with Emily who tells us all about What They’re Up to Now!

Emily Patterson:

On April 15th, Bridget and I had the chance to perform in the University of South Carolina’s annual Ballet Stars of New York performance. Every year, our teacher, Stacey Calvert (former New York City Ballet soloist) invites several current Principal dancers from NYCB to perform iconic Balanchine ballets with us. The fact that we even get to perform these ballets at all is special, because the Balanchine Trust has so many rules about who can perform them, who can set them, and how the production runs as a whole. This year, we performed “Allegro Brillante” and “Stars and Stripes,” two incredibly difficult but well known Balanchine works. I was honored to dance in Allegro Brillante, a fifteen-minute ballet danced by four corps couples and a principal couple, which was danced by Ashley Bouder and Jared Angle. Though it was one of the most challenging ballets I’ve ever danced, it was absolutely a dream to perform. The second work in the show was commissioned by Sara Mearns for NYCB, titled “The Bright Motion” and choreographed by the renowned Justin Peck. This one was a phenomenal duet between Sara and Robbie Fairchild, and it was thrilling to watch. Finally, the showstopper was the famous “Stars and Stripes” Ballet, set to the famous Sousa music, arranged by Hershey Kay. It was especially thrilling to hear it played by our live orchestra! The ballet is split into five sections, or “Regiments,” as Balanchine named them, and Bridget and I both danced in the opening section— usually called the Short Girl Regiment. Of the thirteen girls in that section, we actually danced right next to each other (just like old days!). Following our regiment were the Tall Girls and the Men, with the men’s regiment leader role danced by NYCB’s Anthony Huxley, an incredibly exciting and beautifully technical dancer to watch. Then, Sara Mearns and Robbie Fairchild took the stage again for an exhilarating pas de deux as the Liberty Bell and El Capitan. The ballet culminated with all 41 dancers on stage together. We enjoyed every moment of this performance!

taken by Jason Ayer, and features the USC Dance Company with Sara Mearns, Robbie Fairchild, Anthony Huxley and the men of Columbia City Ballet

So what’s next?

Emily will graduate from USC on May 12^th. She’s been auditioning and sending her performance reel to a lot of different companies. While in undergrad, she also completed the prerequisites for a Physical Therapy graduate school, because she’s always been interested in helping dancers recover from injuries and the science behind physical activity. “So somewhere down the road, I’d like to pursue that as well... but not until I’ve had my fill of performing,” says Emily.

Bridget is a rising junior at USC, and, along with dance, she is interested in learning more about Athletic Training—whether that is through a PT program or becoming a personal trainer!