{"id":68370,"date":"2022-12-09T15:25:10","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T15:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=68370"},"modified":"2022-12-09T15:25:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T15:25:10","slug":"ballerina-tiler-peck-game-changer","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/ballerina-tiler-peck-game-changer\/","title":{"rendered":"Ballerina Tiler Peck Knows a Thing or Two About How to Always Stay on Pointe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tiler Peck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every issue, GRAZIA USA highlights Game Changers, who inspire, educate, and celebrate individuality, beauty, and style. Meet Tiler Peck, the principal dancer of the New York City Ballet who’s performing in<\/strong><\/em> The Nutcracker<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0starring in <\/strong><\/em>The Hip Hop Nutcracker<\/strong><\/a> on Disney+ and has her sights set on directing a ballet company next.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

My mom always said that whenever I could walk, I was just always dancing. She owned a dance studio, and she would put me in my age-appropriate class and, somehow, I would always get into the big kids\u2019 room trying to do what they were doing. I have videos of a solo when I\u2019m 4 years old and I could remember a three-minute dance. At 6, I could keep up with 18-year-old dancers. Since I started dancing at age 2 or 3 it\u2019s always been a part of my life. My mom wanted me to be surrounded by more talented dancers that would really push me, so my grandmother would drive me three hours, four or five days a week, from ages 6 to 11 to the best studio for jazz, which was my favorite dance at that time. I was always trying to get out of ballet class, but my mom was a ballet teacher, so she always said, \u201cIn order for you to be great at any form of dance, you have to have technique and that comes from ballet.\u201d When you\u2019re younger, it takes the most discipline, plus it\u2019s classical music versus dancing to songs you know, so it\u2019s just not as fun. I\u2019m so grateful that she really made me stick with it because I would never have the career that I do at the New York City Ballet had I not had that really great technical foundation.<\/p>\n

When I was 11, I got a part in The Music Man<\/em> on Broadway and moved to New York City for a year. My father took me to see The Nutcracker<\/em> in the New York City Ballet, and I said, \u201cDaddy, I\u2019m going to dance on that stage someday.\u201d There was something so magical about it. Ballet wasn\u2019t the easiest for me. I felt like I was a much stronger in jazz and hip hop, but I said, \u201cI\u2019m going to work hard and I really want to try to become a ballerina.\u201d And that\u2019s what I did. I worked my butt off. I got into the [New York City Ballet] when I was 15 years old, which is young, and within four years, I was a principal dancer at the company.<\/p>\n

Basically, I do all of the forms of dance that I did when I was younger, I just wear pointe shoes now. And that\u2019s what\u2019s great about New York City Ballet \u2014 it\u2019s not super classical. I think if I was in a super classical company, I don\u2019t know if I would have the same outlook, but it\u2019s just the perfect fit for me.<\/p>\n

Being in the company for 18 years, I know more than anyone that the mental aspect is so connected to the physical. I think that if you have a healthy mindset it makes for a healthier physique. I think my longevity, honestly, comes from balance, and I think that from a young age my mom set me up in a very balanced way. I wasn\u2019t home schooled and even if I was in a car going three hours there and three hours back, she really tried to make me feel as normal as possible.<\/p>\n

Another reason for my longevity is that I\u2019m also just really responsible. My nights are not spent partying. My nights are spent taping my body so that I can work as the top athlete that I have to be the next day.
\nThe older I\u2019m getting, the smarter I must be with what I need to do to get through the day. Normally I\u2019d have six hours a day of rehearsal, and I could do every single rehearsal full out and now it\u2019s like, \u201cOkay, which ones am I going to pick to really do full out?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m dancing in The Nutcracker<\/em><\/a> and starring in The Hip Hop Nutcracker<\/em> on Disney+<\/a>. Next, I\u2019m going on tour with a show I created earlier this year. I danced in it, and I directed it and I\u2019m really excited to be producing it again in various places where I bring 10 dancers with me. I\u2019ve also been choreographing for the Boston Ballet and the Vail Dance Festival. Plus, I have a partnership with the clothing line Stateside<\/a> with something exciting coming soon.<\/p>\n

In the future, I would like to direct a company. I would like to hope that I\u2019d be an inspiring director. Some kids set out and they\u2019re like, \u201cI want to be a ballerina.\u201d That just wasn\u2019t me. I found it when I was 11, which is still young, but now I couldn\u2019t think of [life] any other way.<\/p>\n

— As told to Colleen Kratofil<\/em><\/p>\n

Read GRAZIA USA<\/em>\u2019s Winter issue featuring cover star Lizzy Caplan:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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