In Conversation with Tessa Barbour
What are you looking forward to the most this season?
I am really excited to be in a different environment and working alongside a new group of dancers that I have never danced with before. I have also never performed any works by Trey McIntyre, so I am very excited to learn his piece Blue Until June and to work with him in the studio. I adore Etta James, so to be able to dance to her music will be so fulfilling.
An entire pile of presents caught on fire…!
What would you be if you weren’t a professional dancer?
I have always loved to paint! Watercolor painting is my favorite way to relax and unwind, it’s almost meditative in a way. I have also always been very interested in photography, both digital and film! Capturing moments that are easily forgotten is very important to me.
What would you say was your biggest onstage “blooper”?
I was performing the role of Clara in The Nutcracker. In Act I, when Drosselmeyer makes the Christmas tree grow really tall as he and Clara are both shrinking, there were a lot of pyrotechnics on stage with us. An entire pile of presents caught on fire, and the fire alarms started going off! The man playing Drosselmeyer started to fan the fire with his cloak to try to get it to go out, but it didn’t help very much. Not until he decided to just throw his cloak on the fire!
