Thursday, October 27, 2011

Balancing Act


I have been a dancer with Ballet Memphis since 2004. I met the man of my dreams in Memphis, and we got married on July 3, 2010; we just celebrated our one-year anniversary!


It has been hard balancing my professional dance career, teaching Pilates and ballet, choreographing for the Company and the Junior Company, and being a supportive wife.


Matthew, my husband, is in theater, working as a freelance lighting and scenic designer. Some months he works on three or four shows at a time and is rarely home. And now that I am teaching Pilates before and after my own class, I work 12-hour days sometimes, so I’m not home very long at night.The great thing is that he absolutely loves dance and loves to design lights for dance, and we have a mutual respect for one another’s art.


Usually, when I have a Ballet Memphis performance, he is also in the middle of putting on a show, so we are constantly missing each other. But when time permits, he is at every show/rehearsal of ours, and the same goes for me for his productions.


I will admit, performing in a theater all the time, and then on your day off going to the theater to see your husband’s show is difficult, but then I get to sit back and enjoy his talents. We usually make a date night out of it by going to dinner before the show and trying to catch up on each other’s lives.


The best part of having Matthew as my husband is that we are a team. He is my constant support system, my own personal foot masseur, and my very dearest friend to go to with my problems. And to know that there is someone rooting for you in the audience is a wonderful feeling.

-- Julie Niekrasz

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