The leading dancer of the Washington Brooklyn Mack has an athlete momentum, perhaps because he is fascinated with American football since childhood and something of the player that he boasts of being the best in his neighborhood in Elgin, South Carolina, sprouts on stage. However, the lyricism of Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake stole his heart. Interestingly, his children’s desire to become a footballer led the ballet, despite the prejudices of the social environment.
“When you grow up in South Carolina you always hear say that ballet is for girls or gays, but once I heard commenting that many professional football players were taking classes and then I saw a gala of amazing dancers worldwide, that changed my perception. Seeing them do so many wonderful things, I thought a strong appeal would have for football professionals to decide to practice ballet, and then I saw an opportunity in my mind, I went home and I offered my mother a deal, “said the artist proclaimed by the American Dance Magazine in 2012 as one of the 25 dancers in the world worth admiring.
“If she took me to the football tryouts I was going to take ballet classes, and then mom realized how serious I was taking football because in our neighborhood children do not say I want to take ballet classes,” he said.
Luckily, the mother took the deal, she began to take him to some lessons and art did its trick and now the son loves dancing so much he does not know if he will have enough time to dance all his dreams.
“The ballet became more and more a part of my life and suddenly I was trapped and could not escape, because it has a way to make you fall in love with it and made me happy,” he says convinced.
The leading dancer from Washington would love to dance choreography by Jiri Kylian, pieces by William Forshythe and Kenneth Macmillan, especially the latter Manon and above all, the version of Romeo and Juliet is a longing in the present.
According to Mack, last week he fulfilled one of his dreams by dancing Petit Mort by Kilian, and danced for the first time in Puerto Rico at an international gala where he shared the stage with two Cubans. Together with the independent dancer Adiarys Almeida he played the pas de deux from Don Quixote and along the prima ballerina of the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) Viengsay Valdes he did the pas de deux from the third act of Swan Lake, known as the Black Swan .
“That was a great experience and my first time on stage with Viengsay who taught me a different version of the play that worked great, the audience loved it¨ he said
According to Mack, Alicia Alonso last year saw him dance at a gala in South Africa to honor her and after the show she invited him to the 24th International Ballet Festival of Havana. Here he will perform on two pieces of technical bravura as Don Quixote pas de deux; this October 31 at the Karl Marx Theater, and Diana and Actaeon on November 2 at the Covarrubias hall of the National Theater, both with Valdes.
However, the young man explained that he loves all styles of dance, including break dance, and he likes the dramatic roles in the classics.
From Cuba he first met Carlos Acosta through a video, when he had just one year of study.
“Cuban dancers are very talented and famous, I’ve seen them in many international galas, but my great personal idol is Carlos Acosta, since I saw him dance I thought, I have to go to Cuba to see him live, and I never had the opportunity to come till now, “he said.
Unfortunately, Acosta is not participating in the 24th edition of the Festival, during which Mack enjoys not only classes and rehearsals in a new environment but the tropical climate of the Caribbean archipelago, with a temperature these days he described as ideal.
“With this weather, I feel a lightness in the body, the breeze reaches me like angels to blow my neck also enjoy traveling the world because I get to see the different styles and methods of the companies, it is always an experience wonderful, “he said.
Currently, the young American barely has time to take care of the football, watching the games on TV, but devotes his heart to dance since he sees in it an integrative profession.
“The dance requires such a strong discipline that involves every part of the body, from the toes to the mind, you have to be smart when you want to express a feeling and for all you must use your soul, body and mind, with an all-inclusive to create something beautiful, “said the winner of the silver medal at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi (2006) in the United States, the same medal in the Helsinki (2009), Finland, and bronze along the Maris Liepa Prize in the international competition in Korea in 2011, among other prizes.
“From what I could do in life, dancing is the most rewarding activity,” he said after the conclusion of the first rehearsal in Cuba.
