Dancer becomes art on stage

Sam DerGregorian rehearses for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre with Joseph Parr, left, and Josiah Kauffman, right. • Photos by Kelly Perkovich courtesy of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

By Tom Victoria

Sam DerGregorian creates art with graceful and bounding movements.

The 21-year-old ballet dancer said that is the main appeal to performing on stage.

“You are the art,” Sam said. “There’s such beauty - even more because you’re making art with yourself and your body.”

He said that beauty in dancers’ performances is what attracted him to ballet in the first place.

But even before that realization, Sam had the desire to put on a show.

“I was always performing growing up,” he said.

Sam DerGregorian

Sam even sent out invitations to put on a performance when he was 5, but he did not have the confidence to follow through yet.

“My nerves got the best of me and nothing happened,” Sam said.

But his mother kept pushing him to dance.

“I was always reluctant,” Sam said.

When his family was living in New Mexico, he finally relented and agreed to audition for a local show under one condition: mom had to audition, too.

Although neither mother nor son landed a role, Sam later tried out for a production of The Nutcracker when he was 9. Despite his lack of experience, he secured two parts: a party boy and a mouse.

“They were always looking for guys,” Sam said about the lack of male dancers.

He was advised to take a ballet class to prepare for his roles. After doing so for that production, Sam never stopped training. At 14, he participated in his first summer intensives, which cover ballet technique.

Years later, he was living in Seattle when a representative from the Pittsburgh Ballet theater said there would be a spot for him if a performer opted to retire.

That dancer did decide to hang up the ballet shoes, so Sam was hired as an Apprentice dancer in March 2019 and started work that July. He now is one of the New Dancers in the theater troupe.

Sam rehearses a dance step.

After years of training and performing, Sam still gets butterflies in his stomach.

“I still get nervous” he said.

Sam takes various steps, including stretching, taking deep breaths and going on stage while the curtain is down, to calm those nerves.

Then comes the time to perform with the audience playing a role.

“You feed off that energy,” Sam said. “It helps calm the nerves.”

He said another attraction for ballet is that theaters no longer just perform traditional classics - there are new genres being choreographed.

“They’re pushing boundaries,” Sam said.

He cited the examples of not being restricted to just male and female partners, a certain ethnicity or limited body types as positive changes.

“One of the harsh realities in the past is it has been very exclusive,” Sam said about ballet.

He said performance art being more inclusive makes it more relatable to the diverse audience.

“I think it’s long overdue,” Sam said.

He credited the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, particularly Artistic Director Susan Jaffe, for ensuring all of the dancers receive opportunities to showcase their abilities.

Training is pivotal in ballet. In addition to practice sessions that last up to six hours, dancers must commit to rigorous conditioning, albeit different from some athletic endeavors.

“I don’t have to go deadlift 500 pounds in the gym,” Sam said.

However, he still has to work on strength.

“You want to work your upper body,” Sam said.

He explained dancers require the strength to not only lift their partners, but be capable of lowering them safely. But they can’t focus solely on strength.

“You have to balance strength and flexibility,” Sam said.

Different dancers tend to require more work in one or the other. Some dancers are more naturally strong while others are more apt to be flexible.

Sam and Tommie Lin Kesten perform with other PBT dancers in "Sleeping Beauty" at Hartwood Acres.

“It really depends on the person,” Sam said. “I would say that I’m a little more flexible, but definitely not as flexible as some other dancers are.”

Along with yoga, Sam and his colleagues do Pilates, an exercising method consisting of flexibility, strength and endurance named after creator Joseph Pilates. Gryotonics - a system utilizing principles of yoga, dance, gymnastics, swimming and t’ai chi - and Gyrokinesis - an exercise based on spinal movements - are other ways for dancers to hone their bodies.

With all of the hard work involved in staying fit and sharp on stage, Sam always has looked to other dancers for motivation.

“It’s just so inspiring to me,” he said.

Sam said it’s easy to get down on himself, but he then reminds himself the effort is not going to waste.

“Even on a bad day, you’re making progress. You have to make mistakes to grow. You’re not going to be perfect all of the time.”

“Even on a bad day, you’re making progress,” he said. “You have to make mistakes to grow. You’re not going to be perfect all of the time.”

Although the impact of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, gutted live performances across the world. Pittsburgh Ballet Theater put on a virtual performance of “The Nutcracker” and is working on the use of a mobile stage for outdoor shows. Sam is eager to perform in front of a live audience again.

Since dancers can only be active for their younger years, 20s up to 40s, Sam already is mulling over what he may do after retiring from performing.

“You almost have two careers in your lifetime,” he said.

A possible second career would keep Sam involved in ballet. He already has choreographed friends performing a duet.

Sam also is interested in activism after seeing such issues as racism and sexual misconduct come even more to the forefront in society.

He said if a youth has any doubts about becoming a dancer, that should not stop he or she from trying.

“They should go for it,” Sam said. “You can never go back in time.”