Interview: Joanna Wozniak, Ballerina

By Scott Smith in Miscellaneous on Oct 19, 2005 4:19PM

As the Joffrey Ballet kicks off its 50th season, Chicagoist is wondering one thing “what’s it like to be a ballerina?”

Onstage, we see the pretty costumes and the extravagant sets and marvel at the artistry that unfolds each night. Of course, we’re also curious about little things like “Doesn’t that hurt your toes?” or “Do they ever get a day off?”

So we decided to go right to the source.

Joanna Wozniak has worked with the Joffrey Ballet since 2001. She began as an apprentice and became a full member of the company in 2003. Since then she’s performed in their productions of The Nutcracker (of course) and Romeo and Juliet and appeared in the movie Save The Last Dance. This month she’ll be in their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which runs until October 30th.

Chicagoist talked to Wozniak about how she prepares for “the job”, what she does on her “layoffs”, and whether Neve Campbell really knows what it’s like to be a dancer.

Chicagoist: Did you always want to be a ballerina when you grew up?
Joanna Wozniak: I was definitely one of those little girls that danced around in my kitchen. It’s something you want to be but never know that you could be. It’s more like a concept, an ideal.

C: What did you think the “ideal” was when you were growing up?
JW: Tutus and pink and pointe shoes and slippers in a merry-Happy-Time world. Like cotton candy or something. But you realize that it’s just another job. You have the same problems and it’s a lot of hard work. It doesn’t last forever so you enjoy it while you have it.

C: What’s the hardest part about dancing?
JW: You put yourself through a lot every day. Many dancers tend to be perfectionists. One of the strange things is you critique yourself, you are your worst critic.

C: When did you begin dancing professionally?
JW: When I was 17.

C: When you were an apprentice with the Joffrey?
JW: Mm hmm. We live our lives at a younger age. It’s a mindset that we’re put into. I ended up dropping out of school when I was 16 and got my diploma on my own. It’s then up to each individual to continue their education by reading books, learning new languages, and learning about life.

C: What goes on when you’re an apprentice with the Joffrey?
JW: You gotta climb the ladder like any company. You have to learn the syllabus of a company, what kinds of dances, what kinds of steps. At first, you work 10 to 6 and at the end of the night, you’re exhausted. So you just end up going home and watching the tube. After that, you realize how to work with your body, how to work with the day.

C: I can’t think of any other art form that’s so physically demanding. How do you train and prepare?
JW: I start my morning at the barre. How many people get to say that? (laughs) I get to have an hour and a half of dancing for my own pleasure and dancing to the music that I like. When you become a professional, you’re no longer dancing for yourself, you’re dancing for what the public wants and what the public will pay for.

As a dancer, we are working 40 hours a week. We always start with an hour a half class in the morning that a lot of people compare to brushing your teeth. You do every little step that warms up a certain part of the body. After that, you rehearse until the dancing is no longer something you think about but becomes muscle memory. There’s a repertoire and a syllabus for all dancing, especially ballet. People can choreograph new moves off of that. It’s like learning chords when you’re playing piano.

C: Is there a line between athleticism and art in the work you do or are they so intertwined that it’s impossible to separate them?
JW: It’s definitely not impossible to separate the two. There is a point where you are working more muscle but there is a very, very, very fine line where you’re working from more artistic ability because you’re dancing to music and expressing something totally different. People say that ballet is the second hardest thing to do next to football.

C: Because of the toll it takes on your body…
JW: We really break ourselves. We’re in physical therapy, we’re breaking ankles, we’re spraining muscles. We need to know everything about our bodies. So it’s definitely athleticism but you have to keep an artistic aspect to it to keep the enjoyment for the audience and yourself. And the prettiness. You have to keep “the look” of a dancer.

C: What are you doing when you’re not working on or performing in a show?
JW: On my layoffs?

C: Is that technically what it’s called?
JW: We call it laid off.

C: And then you’re re-hired?
JW: We’re signed on for 36 to 38 weeks that we’ll definitely be working. Other than that, we have layoffs. We have a union, we are covered by insurance, we have 401(k), we have all that stuff. It’s really like a normal job with really extended vacations. As far as what you do on your layoff time: you go to movies, you go to concerts, I study a lot of yoga, I like to travel. Anything you can do to keep your mind active. I began throwing pottery for a while. And you do still dance. I go out to different clubs.

C: Do you think The Company accurately portrayed what it’s like to be a dancer?
JW: I think in many respects it really did do a great job. The girl breaking her ankle actually happened. Picking up a second job, too. I used to work at a coffee shop at six in the morning. I’d work until 9 o’clock and then I’d go dance from ten o’clock until seven o’clock. And then spend all day Saturday and Sunday working.

Working on a movie is a completely different situation. Especially when you’re filming at three in the morning and you think it’s daylight outside and it’s not. You work 15 or 16 hours a day for 30 days. But they really cater to you. That was delightful.

Neve [Campbell] really kept herself to the grindstone. She would work with us every single morning for eight hours because she really wanted to become a dancer, which was very respectful on her part.

They were really interested in us as human beings. To us, that was really funny. I used to say, “I just want to be a human, I don’t want to care about this.” Sometimes dancing is a 24-hour job. When you come home, you’ll still be practicing your moves. You have to draw lines between enjoying yourself and being at work.

C: What do you think the biggest misconception is that people have about dancers?
JW: That it’s really easy. It’s a lot of tears, a lot of pain. It’s a very serious line of work. It’s intelligent too.

C: What are your long-term plans for the future? Have you thought about what you’d do when you stop dancing?
JW: By 30, I’ll probably be finished dancing. I definitely want to get a college education and use my dancing to get some scholarship funding. I love to travel. Other than that, it’s all on a whim. I’ve very happy with where my life is so far. Very happy. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Images: The Joffrey and the Illinois Ballet Theatre