Andrew Bartee

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:26:11 -0700

When did you start dancing?
I started dancing when I was 10 years old.

What was it like growing up in the Pacific
Northwest Ballet School?
Growing up in the school couldn’t have been
more worthwhile and I am thankful that I
found PNBS early on. Having the opportunity
to grow up in such a professional training
environment was definitely to my benefit.
Besides offering first-rate training, the school prepared me for a career as a professional dancer.

Did you train anywhere else?
When I first started ballet, I danced at a small studio near my home in Everett. It was called Reflections School of Dance, and I was the only boy in the school of about a hundred girls.

What is the most exciting part of being a professional dancer?
To me the most exciting thing about being a professional dancer is that now I am able to share my art with others. As a student the majority of my dancing happened in the studio, during class. As a professional dancer my dancing is taken from the studio and put on stage for the audience to enjoy. I love performing and sharing this part of me with others.

Explain what it was like to perform “One Flat Thing, reproduced”. Have you ever learned or performed a piece like that before?
“One Flat Thing, reproduced” is unlike anything I have ever seen or danced. I remember watching a video of Forsythe’s company dance OFTR and just being blown away. I thought it was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. When I ended up being cast to learn and perform the piece I was ecstatic. The rehearsal process was extremely challenging mentally, physically, and emotionally. Performing OFTR was exhilarating, but it wasn’t until I got to dance it onstage that I finally realized how much work it had been. It was definitely one of the most rewarding parts I have ever danced.

What are a few roles you would like to perform in the future?
I would really like the chance to perform Puck from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. I’m also very interested in contemporary and modern dance. I really like the work of Nacho Duato and William Forsythe. There is also a choreographer from the Netherlands, Paul Lightfoot whose work I would love to dance someday.

Do you have a dancer role model? If so, who?
While I was in PNBS I always enjoyed watching Christophe Maraval dance. Whether he was in class or on stage, I found him inspiring. I was excited when he began to teach my level in the school. From my brief experiences with him in the classroom, to one on one coaching in rehearsals, I always admired his honesty, encouragement, and wisdom.

What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
I am an excellent baker.

Louise Nadeau

Wed, 4 Mar 2009 16:13:04 -0800

How did you first decide to dance and how old were you?

I was six years old and I was living in Massachusetts. And we had a local Girls and Boys Club of America. I ended up taking ballet classes there. I ended up holding onto the back of a metal folding chair. I’m not sure I even had ballet slippers…I think I had ballet slippers. My dad tells me it was a dollar a lesson. I liked it. I did lots of things in the Girls Club, swimming and arts and crafts, I really liked it and my parents thought, okay, this is great, so they looked for a real ballet school then. The lady who was teaching the classes at the Girls Club taught for a real ballet school and I was lucky that it was a good one, so I went there.

How did you decide to come to Seattle?

Well, I actually had a really long route before I even got to Seattle. I did my ballet classes in Massachusetts and then my family moved when I was twelve or thirteen to St. Louis, MO and I took ballet classes there. When I was about fifteen I got the itch that I wanted to do a professional summer course, so I auditioned in Kansas City, MO to go to SAB and I was accepted. So then I went to SAB for the summer and ended up staying for four years. I got my first dancing job in Switzerland with a ballet company there; from there I went to another ballet company in Kansas City, MO and was there for five years. After about two years there I kind of got the itch that I wanted a company that was a little bit bigger, had a bigger budget, more resources, and touring. I started sending out audition tapes and Seattle was one of the places I sent a tape. They seemed interested so I went to a cattle call audition in NY and it worked out really well, I ended up getting a job.

If you were a shoe, what kind would you be?

Andrew Bartee

Louise Nadeau