Meet Wendy Whelan, the glamorous Principal Dancer of The New York City Ballet, who dances with silken elegance and pin-point precision. Her performances are riveting, stunning, luminous. She never fails to deliver.

Wendy has a repertory of more than 50 ballets, choreographed by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon, and others. She began dancing with Virginia Wooton at the age of three in Louisville Kentucky, received her first intense training at the Louisville Ballet Academy, and in 1981 received a scholarship to the summer course at the School of American Ballet. After spending a year as a full-time student, in 1984 Wendy danced as an apprentice with NYCB. In January 1986 she joined the corps de ballet, was promoted to Soloist in 1989, and to Principal Dancer in 1991.

Finis: Wendy, we haven't seen you on stage this season, what's the story?

Wendy: I injured myself back in November, while dancing at The Bolshoi Theater in Moscow with a group of American dancers, but I'm OK now, and I'm preparing to start work for the Spring Season at The State Theater. I'm really looking forward to it, because there are so many great ballets, including some of my favorites, Liebeslieder Walzer, Mozartiana, and La Sonnambula.

Finis: On average, each year, how many weeks are you dancing?

Wendy: Usually in the fall, it's six weeks of rehearsal, and then a fourteen or fifteen week season. The Winter Season is always really tough, because of the schedule, and the cold weather. We usually have a week of two off in the beginning of March, and then back to another six week rehearsal period, followed by a nine week Spring Season, a week off, and then three weeks at The Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Finis: That's almost 40 weeks! Wow, that's a lot of pressure . . . to stay in performing condition for more than 40 weeks a year. Professional athletes don't have to do that. I'm not surprised you were injured - your muscles need to rest. I remember you told me you've recently been sleeping 12 hours a night. Your body is telling you it needed to rest for a while. I think City Ballet dancers must have the heaviest performing schedule of any ballet company in the world. On average, how many ballets do you dance during a performance week?

Wendy: It always varies, because of the schedule. Perhaps four of five ballets a week.

Finis: Of course, now you're a Principal, so you don't have to dance all eight performances each week!

Wendy: (Laughter) When I was younger and in the corps, learning the new ballets kept me in the State Theater for endless hours, beginning with class at 10:30 and then sometimes up to six hours of rehearsal before the performance begins. I did the six hours of rehearsals and then the evening performance, dancing two or three ballets. And this was six days a week.

Finis: My first teacher, Mr. C (Bill Christensen) said "You either get strong, or die." How many ballets do you have in your head?

Wendy: Oooh. I don't know. The ballets that I can generally retain are the Stravinsky Ballets. I could go on and do these without rehearsal, because those were the first ballets I ever did - Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Symphony in Three Movements, Agon. I think because these ballets are so musically complicated and detailed, once you learn them, you don't forget them.

Finis: Did you ever have any nightmare times at City Ballet?

Wendy: Oh, yeah! There were times when, due to injuries of other Principal dancers, I sometimes ended up dancing several Principal roles in a single evening. So, I was not only dancing my own parts, but also replacing other people as well. Sometimes I was prepared, sometimes I wasn't. I had to get to used to being called upon, sometimes at the last moment, to go out and perform, ready or not.

Finis: In general, how much time do you usually have to learn a new role?

Wendy: It's always different. If I'm learning something that I am probably going to be cast for, then I'll usually have a few weeks, or a month to prepare. However, there have been times when I've walked in for morning class, and been told I'm to go on that evening in a role I have never rehearsed.

Finis: Wow! How do you do that?

Wendy: For instance, I had to learn the Waltz girl in Serenade in one day. And I had never danced any role in that ballet, not even corps, as a Company member. I had danced the corps at SAB, but never a Principal role. So I had about six hours to learn the part, which is quite substantial, and pivotal to the piece. I learned the part both by studying a video, and being taught by Sara Leland, one of our ballet mistresses.

Finis: How did you feel while you were doing this? Did you have time to react?

Wendy: I couldn't think of anything else! I was so focused. I was also excited, because I had always wanted to do that part, and it wasn't a typical kind of role for me at the time.

Finis: And how was the performance?

Wendy: I can't even remember! It was all about remembering every detail. I didn't have enough time to relax. It was much more about work than truly performing it.

Finis: Baptism by fire! But another step up for you. Another chance to prove yourself. Any more experiences like that?

Wendy: The worst of all the experiences was when I was rehearsing with Billy Forsythe for Herman Schmerman in the rehearsal room late at night, while the performance was going on, and Merrill Ashley hurt her hip on the first step of Barber Violin Concerto. They had to bring the curtain down. They decided to substitute Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux for Barber. They ran up to get me in the rehearsal room, and said "You have ten minutes! Go put your hair in a bun. You have to do "Tchai Pas."

Finis: Had you done it already?

Wendy: I had done it on a gig twice, long before that evening, and it was one of those ballets where I didn't really remember the partnered part of it. So, Peter Martins came up and taught it to me, and was partnering me in the studio. It was hilarious! I was freaking out!

Finis: How was it that no one else was around to do it? Don't they have understudies standing by?

Wendy: Oh no, not backstage. If you're off that evening, you don't come to the theater.

Finis: Well, that explains what happened last Spring. I was at the theatre to see you do Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #2, and we sat, and waited, and waited, and the curtain never went up, and then finally they made an announcement that something had happened to the Male Principal, and that they were only going to do the first of three movements. I felt so bad when you came out, and I thought, how disappointed you must be, to get all revved up for the show, and then it doesn't happen. Actually, the way you danced the first movement, it looked to me as though they just should have let you go on an do the whole ballet by yourself, just improvising. It would have been wonderful to see! Ok, back to your adventure of Tchai Pas . . .

Wendy: They called in Damien Woetzel (City Ballet Principal) to dance with me. He wasn't even at the theatre; he had been at a restaurant, and had had some wine, but he was all for it. He was totally into it! And, it went pretty well! (laughter) I remember that Damien walked me home afterwards, and thanked me, because he said it was his best performance of that ballet, ever!

Finis: (Laughter)

Wendy: Well, it was so scary for me! Damien was talking me through it, telling me "run to the corner." (laughter) .."here comes the lift" ...

Finis: (Laughter) So, you got used to being kind of [on call] . . . always there in an emergency and able to come out of it alive and well!

Wendy: Yeah! (Laughter) What's interesting, though, is that being somewhat of a "machine" and constantly dancing, I got very comfortable on stage. However, I was really unaware of a lot of my personal needs. I was never in touch with the non-dancing part of myself. I was always happy, but always worn out. I just gave everything I had to the company, and there was not much left for me, as a person. And, I found that having gone through my first couple of injuries in the past few years, I've had to force myself to step back and regain my person. And that was not easy to do.

Finis: Not easy for anyone.

Wendy: So, when I did come back after an injury, I usually came back more humble and grateful, and I found the beauty of vulnerability, which I really hadn't had to deal with before, because prior to that, I was always just going strong and on automatic.

Finis: Yes, sometimes we need an adverse circumstance in order to see things in a different light.

Wendy: I basically found the poetry in the choreography, more than the physicality I had known before.

Finis: I'm so glad you're saying this, because you're describing what I see in your dancing. When I saw you did Opus 19 and Ballade, I was so impressed with "the poetry" of your movement. Can you give us any insight into the process you go through when you are rehearsing or performing a role?

Wendy: Well, it was funny with Ballade. I did not want to do Ballade. I fought to get out of it so badly!

Finis: You're kidding!

Continued on Page Two