I can tell you
from hanging around the studio and theatre, that dancers are most definitely
athletes. The beauty and grace you see on stage has a lot of blood, sweat and
tears behind it. No pain, no gain? You bet! I have seen more bloody bruised
toenails on these dancers’ feet than I ever did when I was running marathons –
note the past tense. Not to worry, Julia Basone is part of the Sleeping Beauty cast and she brings with
her some very special skills learned during her time as a trainer for the St.
Louis Catholic High School athletic teams.
Most everything
Julia has learned as an athletic trainer has been useful in treating herself as
a dancer-athlete. “I have learned how to tape wrists and ankles, how to use ice
packs, the correct heating pad temperature, when to use heat and when to use
cold. It has also been great because I want to go into physical therapy for my
profession.” While Julia mostly works with the football teams, she spends the
entire school year in athletic PE where she treats any athlete who may need
assistance, basketball players, soccer players, you name the sport. I asked her
if she could see a connection between ballet and football, “Yes. In ballet,
your technique has to be perfect and we learn patterns in choreography. That is
sort of like their plays on the field.”
Julia and I talked about her roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Fairy of the
Songbirds in the prologue, and Cinderella with Adrian Durham in the finale.
“There has been a big transition from the summer. This
has been a year of growth because of the amount of work that has gone into the
parts I wanted. It’s the biggest year yet!
I initially wanted Annabelle’s (Bang) part and Annabelle wanted
mine. We had a bet that she would get the part I wanted and I would get hers –
and that is exactly what happened.” I asked her about the difficulty of her
fairy role, also called Canary Fairy, because it is so quick and bird-like. “If
I miss one step, I could be done. I have to hear every single note and stay
with it. The jump is awkward, but it has become natural to me. My pointe work
is so much better now.”
Julia’s
partnership with Adrian Durham, Prince Charming to her Cinderella is very
comfortable. Although they learned the choreography later than their other
parts in the ballet, it has been easy and they are having a lot of fun working
together. They are frequent partners in the studio and shared the stage in the
Russian dance during Rudolph this
past December.
So what does it
feel like now that opening night of The
Sleeping Beauty is almost here? “I am happy because as a ballet company we
are stronger. Everything has come together so nicely. I feel like I am coming
out of my shell because this is my first solo and I’m glad I have the
opportunity to do it. I am excited to work with the Symphony, and if they
happen to slow down Canary, well, don’t tell Lady Holly, but I won’t complain.”
Funny, Julia – we know you can handle the tempo beautifully and we can’t wait
to see it on Saturday night!
Julia is the 15 year old daughter of Robin
and Sigmund Basone of Lake Charles. She is a sophomore at St. Louis Catholic High
School. Julia has trained for 11 years with Lady Leah Lafargue School of the
Dance and Lake Charles Civic Ballet. She has participated in many LCCB
productions, but especially remembers being harnessed and flying away as the
Balloon Girl in Carnival in Venice 2010.
Most recently Julia played the Kari Doll and Russian Dancer in Rudolph 2011.
Profile photo by Cameron Durham / Dance photo by Romero & Romero Photography
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