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INCE THE 1930S,
George Balanchine’s
dancers have occupied the Upper West
Side, gracing the streets with
their heads up high, shoulders
back and feet elegantly turned
out. Those who studied under the
prolific New York City Ballet choreographer had a very particular
look, too: They tended to be fairskinned and feminine with an innocent, doll-like quality.
But it’s been 30 years since Balanchine’s death, and the New York
City Ballet has certainly changed
since its beloved co-founder
passed. Nowadays, the NYCB
dancers are more concerned with
blending in with the city’s trendy,
contemporary style, as we learned
on a visit to Lincoln Center to
speak with the dancers themselves.
“I definitely don’t feel like I dress
like a ballet dancer,” says Tiler
Peck, a principal dancer at NYCB.
Peck hails from sunny California but has embraced dark colors,
leather jackets and boots as her
city uniform. As much as she loves
“people clothes,” however, Peck
spends the majority of her time
wearing a leotard and tights, like
the rest of the company’s dancers.
Take one peek into the rehears-
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al room, and it’s clear that not
one leotard style fits all, though.
Peck wears a bright purple number with black tights and striped,
thigh-high leg warmers, which
she’ll take on and off throughout
the day as it gets pretty cold in the
studio and pants are too cumbersome. Gretchen Smith, a corps de
ballet dancer, shows up in a geometric printed blue leotard.
“I’m very scissor-happy when
it comes to what I wear at work,”
Smith, an Indiana transplant,
says. “A lot of people are just like,
‘You cut that again?’ I just don’t
like to feel inhibited.”
It’s not uncommon for the
dancers to take matters into their
own hands when it comes to rehearsal style. “A lot of t