Ballet dancers are among the greatest living athletes.

Justin Peck

Categorized in : Dancers Living Greatest Ballet

When I'm in sneakers, it changes my body carriage. I feel more in my own skin.

skin feel my-own body

My grandfather James Peck was a civil rights activist.

civil activist rights grandfather

The future of ballet is really in the hands of the creators, so if it's something that interests them to push the envelope with gender roles, then I think it will change. But if that's not of interest to a dance-maker, if their interest is to sort of preserve the way things have been done for the past 200 years, then nothing is going to change.

gender future change past

I'm trying to create ballets that I would enjoy seeing.

create seeing enjoy trying

To me, dance and ballet are not so accessible.

accessible me ballet dance

It's probably what I'm most interested in as a choreographer: how I can alter and shift and develop the structure of a piece and of the space.

how structure i-can space

It's time for there to be roles in the ballet where two men can fall in love, and a woman can lead a company of 20 dancers that include both men and women.

women time love men

There is a clearing for new creative thought in choreography. I don't feel intimidated; there is a lot I can do that is new or innovative or different.

new feel thought i-can

My choreography is very classically based.

based very choreography

I like graceful and elegant partnering that gives an illusion of ease instead of emphasizing difficulty. I don't want to make something 'contemporary' or 'trendy,' because ballet doesn't progress on one track: it can branch out in many directions, and as Balanchine showed, there's always room for pure classicism and more subtle alterations of it.

always illusion progress want

Chicago is amazing.

amazing chicago

It's nice to have the support and infrastructure to do what I want creatively. That's kind of a rare thing to find.

find support nice want

Pressure feels sort of normal to me.

sort me normal pressure

George Balanchine is my role model because his work is so varied. You can see two ballets of his and not even realize that they are by the same choreographer.

realize see you work

I try and create choreography that's in conversation with the music that the audience is hearing.

create try music conversation

I've always thought of the process of creating ballets as being this kind of team effort. It's not like being a painter, where you have your paint, and you have canvas, and you just go at it. I'm working with these living, breathing, functioning human beings, and they have their own thoughts and ideas about what works well movement-wise.

thoughts you effort team

When I saw 'Hamilton,' there was so much information so fast, I had to keep up with it. I find that quality in art exhilarating.

find information quality art

American ballet... is ultimately an evolutionary art form, requiring many voices to creatively carry forward.

carry american forward art

What's always interested me the most about ballet is it's this great opportunity for many different artistic mediums to come together to create a cohesive experience.

me experience together opportunity

Balanchine was just able to strike the balance between literal narrative and abstract dance.

strike just balance dance