Growing up, I didn’t know much about “the ballet world”.  Sure, I had heard of New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and the Bolshoi, but I couldn’t tell any of them apart and the name Balanchine didn’t mean a whole lot to me.  In my mind, the ultimate principals were Cooper Nielson and the Kathleen Donahue, but no one was cooler than underdog Jody Sawyer.  Fast forward 10 years and the baby bunhead in me is making up for lost time with some borderline obsessive fan-girling tendencies, re: hours of youtube-ing on a lonely snow day (I didn’t say I was proud of it!).

Yesterday I dove in hard to the New York City Ballet’s online presence, which is rather extensive, I might add.  I thought I would share some of the beautiful content I uncovered during the NYCB-themed cyber stalk sesh…

Some gorgeous photos from the impossibly chic, talented and well-spoken Garance Doré, taking us along on her visit behind the scenes with the New York City Ballet.  (part II here)

Ever wonder how NYCB principal Sara Mearns creates that just-tossed-it-up-real-quick twist/bun hybrid thing she’s always sporting?  Ponder no more, here’s a tutorial from the master herself.  And ps, she just replaced Jody as ballet’s resident “cool girl”.  Sorry, Sawyer…

I never considered that a person actually holds the job title of “official shoe sprayer to the New York City Ballet”, but it’s pretty rad.

Take a peak inside the NYCB costume shop and follow the recreation of the Theme & Variations tutus.

The euphoric purgatory of being promoted to Soloist in the New York City Ballet.

photo by Garance Doré