Let's Have a Look at...Sofiane Sylve Principal Dancer at New York City Ballet
When we see New York City Ballet's Sofiane Sylve dance, we must wonder how she feels about the late Melissa Hayden's view of the Balanchine ballerina. In her book, Melissa Hayden - Off Stage and On," the famous baller-ina wrote, "To dance Balanchine ballets successfully we must subordinate our personalities and blend with all other dancers onstage. To do this means that the audience will not see us as individuals."
Sylve's presence on stage, whether in Balanchine, Robbins, or Martins choreography is still Sylve - dazzling and individual. Let's look at her in the much loved "Dewdrop" variation in the holiday classic "The Nutcracker." Who is this dark-haired dancer who blazes her way through the lines of "Flowers" who have formed a tulle-filled corridor for her to run through? Here she is front and center with a confident smile in place, her stallion-like legs immediately putting to rest any anxiety about the demanding choreography that confronts every "Dewdrop." Sylve was and is, indeed, a creature to be reckoned with.
"The variation is like being shot out of a cannon," she said. "No buildup. You must be at top level from the get go. It's like the Olympics. Get the whole machine warm and ready fast. And I am a big girl," she added with a soft laugh, stretching out those great legs. "It's not easy."
Sylve trained in a small neighborhood school in the south of France, but was not at all pushed by a stagestruck mother, as is often the case with ballerinas to be. She was the middle of three daughters, and her mother had no time to attend to the extra needs of one talented daughter. Instead, it was a beloved grandmother who shepherded Sylve to class, and who, to this day, is her guiding light. "My grandmother had been in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and was a very artistic woman," she recalled. "But she was kept from doing what she wanted to do by the circumstances of her life. I guess she did not want her granddaughter to experience the regrets she had had."
Though Sylve had been invited to train at the Paris Opera Ballet School, where most French dancers who become professional train, finances at home did not permit her to come to Paris. "I was too young to come alone," she said. "Someone would have had to stay with me, and that was very expensive. So I was home-schooled, and everything went along fairly uneventfully, until I was invited to come to Karlsruhe, a small town near Strassbourg in Germany where there was a small but efficient company. My grandmother came with me."
There were about fifty performances a year, and Sylve was on stage every other night. A chance meeting with Patricia Neary, former NYCB ballerina who had been setting Balanchine ballets in Europe, put an idea in her head. "What are you doing here?" said Neary, who saw the talent of this young dancer and suggested she come to New York.
"I was a bit fearful of coming to America alone," Sylve remembered. "Instead, I went to Amsterdam to audition for the Dutch National Ballet. Becoming a member of that company, she was introduced to, and performed in, the classical repertory. "I did make a trip to New York and guested for City Ballet. But I still did not want to leave the Dutch company and the safety of Europe. I am European and I miss my roots very much. It was not easy coming here to live though I spoke English reasonably well. It meant a new country, new friends, giving up my house in Amsterdam ,which was a landmark," she said rather wistfully.
When the letter from Peter Martins, director of NYCB arrived offering Sylve a firm contract as a principal dancer, she felt she had done her share of the classics and was now eager for the new challenge of Balanchine choreography. "I could have stayed in Amsterdam as I had a lifetime contract with Dutch National. But what would that give me? Another 'Swan Lake,' whether it be a happy ending or a sad one. It would be just another 'Swan Lake." Many dancers leave NYCB because they long to perform the classics. Sylve had been there and done that. "I don't have Balanchine in my bones," she said, "but I really wanted to sample the leotard ballets."
Now, though she misses Europe and her family, she is making New York her home. "It's funny, when I receive pictures of my young family members, nieces, and nephews, I am not sure to whom they belong." Her voice softened, and with a tinge of sadness, trailed off.
What about partnerships, the romantic duos around which legends are built? There seems to be a deval-uation of such partnerships in American ballet, rather a sad loss for balletomanes that have feasted on the magic of Rudy and Margot, Erik and Carla, Julio and Alessandra. Sylve and Marcelo Gomes, the ABT principal, have danced together and are a splendid pair with natural charisma between them. "Marcelo and I will do a 'Bayadere' together in Europe, but we have a long season in New York, and I must be ready for that. Marcelo has his ABT seasons, so I am not sure how much time we will have to polish our partnership."
Sylve has recently distinguished herself in some memorable roles in the new pieces of the Diamond Project, again a challenge for her. "Peter brings in exciting choreographers for us. They move in a very different way and construct a different language. The rehearsal period is fast. You learn the work then the choreographers leave. It makes you think and retain quickly, because you are on your own."
In November, the New York City Ballet comes home to Lincoln Center for the new season and with them comes Sylve. Casting is announced weekly, so it is worth having a look at the website to catch this dancer in her repertoire, if only during the "Nutcracker" season when she performs the special Christmas treat - her unforgettable "Dewdrop!"