Damian Woetzel
Damian Woetzel
Damian Woetzel is a retired Principal Dancer, formerly with the New York City Ballet where he performed from 1985 until 2008. In addition to his work at NYCB, he frequently performed internationally as a guest star and visiting artist with numerous internationally recognized companies including the Kirov Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, until his retirement from the stage in 2008...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDancer
CountryUnited States of America
along artists create education everybody expression fail full giving great imagination learns schools skills students useful
In schools giving students a full education, not to create great artists but about the right to have full expression and imagination and creativity, along with an acknowledgement that everybody learns differently. You try and you fail and you try again. All those skills are useful in the workplace, too.
sure teenager
I last went to a gym when I was a teenager to make sure I could lift ballerinas.
concerns dancing everyday miss music perhaps somebody
If I see somebody dancing really well, it can make me want to dance. Or it could be the music. But perhaps the thing I miss the most is that when you're dancing, everyday concerns vanish. It's a unique world.
dropped ended hobbies left until
Dancing was one of the hobbies my brother and I had when we were kids, and dance ended up being the one that stuck. I dropped everything else until that was what was left in the end.
It's a false proposition that we have to take the arts away to fund something else.
life spent traveled york
I traveled so much to dance that I feel a part of many places, but New York is where I spent most of my life and where my career has been - it's the place where I exist.
stuck tend whatever
It's all about progression, not getting stuck and about having aspirations, which can lead you to do more and not just be satisfied. I was always that way about my dancing, and that's how I am about whatever it is I tend to pursue.
exit focused good high intended leave timing tough tricky
The retirement timing is always a tricky thing for a dancer. I think it's different for everyone. How you say goodbye to the thing you have really focused on that much is a tough one. I've always intended to leave in good shape, to exit on a high note.
awaken learning science spark
I want to go into science class and awaken that spark that makes learning possible.
chance deliver distinct opposed work
The chance to work on Broadway choreography as opposed to having to deliver Broadway choreography can be two distinct things.
hard interest opposed pushing surprised
The challenge is maintaining your interest over a long career, as opposed to pushing hard with no longevity. I'm surprised that I've been able to dance as long as I have.
ford performance unlike venue
The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail is unlike any other performance venue in the world, set with mountains and trees as a backdrop.
ballet became career exposed genius gone last living national realized time
The last time I had to make a career decision, I was 17. I could have gone to Ballet Theatre or National Ballet of Canada. There were options. But as I became exposed to the Robbins repertoire, I realized that there was a living genius in the house.
areas certainly consulting directly
I'm going to do some consulting for nonprofits and arts agencies. These are areas I'm interested in that didn't come directly out of Harvard, but certainly I started looking at things in a different manner.