NEW YORK—Sara Mearns is in constant conversation with her body. She’s intensely aware of her every step, turn, extension, leap, jump, landing, gesture, and expression. Every millisecond of dancing requires every cell of her body to be fully committed.
It’s a rare privilege to see one of the most celebrated ballerinas of our time up close on a day like any other. In mid-November as she rehearsed sections of the very physically demanding roles of Dewdrop and the Sugarplum Fairy in “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker,” she sweated and panted. The sound of her shoes on the studio floor was actually audible. She counted or hummed as she ran through the steps, remembering a sequence she has danced many times before.
In the middle of her solo rehearsal, she walked toward the mirror to take a good look at her reflection. Catching her breath during that brief pause, she seemed to be strengthening her resolve—giving herself a pep talk. Then she continued running through a part of Dewdrop’s dance.
