Let's Have a Look at.... American Ballet Theater's Craig Salstein
One doesn't see Craig Salstein come on stage in Jerome Robbins' ballet "Fancy Free." He is just two of the six legs in a cartwheel entrance that propels the three sailors out from behind Oliver Smith's bar scene set piece. "This ballet has stayed in the rep since 1944 for a reason," Salstein began. "It's about what is new to these guys. New York is new, and the guys respond to the excitement of the big city. Twenty-four hours...Wow!" Salstein's exuberance in telling the familiar story of the three sailors on leave in New York is decidedly compatible with the fresh, risk-taking, infusion of energy that characterized his performance in the piece. His split-leaps off the bar drew gasps and applause from the packed audience.
Miami-born Salstein is a triplet. His two brothers are nowhere near any dance activities, but the whole family travels to see the performer member as often as they can. "My mother will come to see me dance until I drop over," he said. "My father only wants to know if my name is in the paper." His father and brothers are in Miami, but mom lives in New York now.
It is usually a parent or older sibling who lights the dance flame in a child, but with Salstein, it seemed to be his own doing. At age five he placed himself in front of the TV (he is not sure of the program he was watching -"might have been 'Soul Train'') and he started to dance. He remembers his mom saying, "Hey, that looks pretty good to me. I think he is really enjoying himself." All three precocious five-year olds were quite a handful for mom to manage, so she trotted Salstein off to Joe Michaels for some dance classes, hoping to use up some energy. "Once I started," he declared, "I never stopped."
Entering the Miami City Ballet school at age 11 he caught the eye of Director Edward Villella, perhaps because both were smaller in stature and both possessed natural stage vitality. Villella, in turn, inspired Salstein to work hard and not be frustrated with the many hours of holding his arms in a proper first position. "I just wanted to dance," he recalled. He entered the company at age 16, but as it turned out, he was learning things faster than he had anticipated. "In Miami, I felt I wasn't completely ready to perform some of the works I was learning," he said. "A singer can't sing 'Die Walkure' right off the bat. If you climb up too fast, the chances of falling down are greater. I wanted a nice steady climb, so I thought it was best to leave Miami City Ballet."
A step back in a ballet career, that is short at best, is a big decision for a dancer to make, but Salstein was willing to make that change. He had been to New York as a student in the Joffrey, SAB. and ABT summer intensive programs. At 17 he was invited to join the ABT studio company, and he took it though he knew it was, indeed, a step back for him. "The studio company was not on the performance level of Miami, but it was a better situation for me."
In 2002, Salstein joined ABT'S main company, where he has already performed the peasant pas de deux in "Giselle," the Bronze idol in "La Bayadere," the Joker in "Jeu de Cartes," the Champion Roper in "Rodeo," and Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet." He is traveling up a path again, but this time he is comfortable, and most importantly, still joyous about dancing.
Recently he performed in Stanton Welch's abstract ballet "Clear," a modern piece with classic choreography, costumed in flesh-colored tights with music by Johann Sebastian Bach. He acquitted himself well in the classical technique that once frustrated him in ballet school days. "It's a great ballet to show off what men can do, and besides it is easy to take on tour...all you need are shoes, the company brings the tights." Still, if he had his druthers, he would love a role like Hilarion, the jealous suitor of Giselle who meets with an uncommon end at the hands of the Wilis. "I like to submerge myself into someone else," he mused. "Abstract choreography is a learning experience, but to be someone else - that's a real let-go experience. Those roles have heart. I like that." Salstein shakes his head and lets his infectious smile become full blown. Then he tackles the subject of the princely roles, Seigfried among them. "Can you imagine going out there in white tights and new white shoes that squeak, with only the violin or cello as music. Your biggest worry is putting this Swan lady squarely on her leg. And believe me, your A--is on the line if she's not there. No, I'm not flocking to those roles in a hurry."
How does his free and easy personality jell with the intense atmosphere of a major ballet company, the endless competition, and the paranoia induced by it? Often a member of a major com-pany is enveloped by the pervasive atmosphere, and Salstein believes you begin to blow things out of proportion, He tries to keep a clear head and steady himself through the rough parts of his development. "I am willing to look at the problems...go down and up the hill, experience everything, the good, bad, and ugly," he mused. "That is part of the process of making me a dancer. Living in a ballet company is tough. You notice people talking in the hallway and are convinced it's you they're talking about. If that attitude takes hold, you can lose it, for sure. You have to look at yourself and say, how far am I going to take this? You make your choice. If you are a sturdy person you can put up with it."
"When I was 11 in Miami, I was the grand champion of Ed McMahon's 'Star Search.'" He laughs as if he was telling a huge joke rather than relating quite an accomplishment. "My father answered an ad in the paper, and I danced by myself and won, over all those kids. Now THAT was competition!"