Questions? Answers!

I’ve received some questions lately on mail and through the comments here on T’n’T. Together with my computer problems at the moment, they make a fine excuse for a post while waiting for the U2-teaser I promised you on Facebook.

Keep asking questions! I will answer them all, or find the appropriate person to do so where I come too short. After all, my mission is to enlighten you, right?! Well, here comes, first set of questions/answers on Tights and Tiaras!

How do you switch companies as a dancer is it like applying for a normal job?

Well, yes. Dancers usually have short contracts, either for one performance-period (like 3 months of Swan Lake) or one season (usually from August through June). Therefore, the opportunity to change jobs are more frequent than in a “normal” job. Some theaters offers longer contracts, specially after a dancer working there for some seasons with one-year contracs.

Is there a company you really aspire to dancing with?

There are many! I love the Hungarian National ballet, and would love to work there at some point in my career. Also, the Dutch National Ballet and another dutch company, the Nederlands Dance Theatre are two companies with world leading choreographies and great dancers I admire a lot. Overseas there is also a lot of interesting companies. I have to mention the Trey McIntyre Project, which I find very interesting!

Who are the dancers you admire past & present

There are, and were, so many great dancers. I’d mention the great Nurejev for what he did to male dancing. Roberto Bolle for his Don Quixhote. Svetlana Zakharova is a russian ballerina I just can’t seem to take my eyes of. I could go on until tomorrow, but I won’t…

I just looked at your Tights n Tiaras store and noticed a diet book,do you guys have to watch your weight or follow a special diet?

Dancers have to keep slim, and in shape. Diet is a natural part of any athletes life, although not only in the sense of losing weight. As a male dancer, you have to make sure you get enough of all the nutrition your body needs to do your job. For me, that means eating “real” food (let’s just say I’m not a regular at McDonalds..), at set times of the day. I never miss a breakfast, and I have one warm meal every day. Other than that, I try to limit the amount of carbs I consume – to quote a friend: carbs rule the food world. I wrote a post on how to keep (or lose some of) your weight, check it out

How do you feel about the costumes you have to wear, are there any you hated wearing? Do you ever feel overexposed on stage?

Of course, there are some costumes I liked more than others. But it’s really more a question of how the costume make you appear on stage. I have belief in the costume designers, and tend to think that even though I might feel silly, there is a reason why he or she chose that design, and that it present me well as a dancer in the piece.

I don’t really have an issue with showing my body. I am proud of my body, it is my instrument, and I’m not shy to show it. I danced in a flesh colored slip in Youri Vámos’s Carmina Burana, leaving very little to the imagination, but after a couple of dress rehearsals, it didn’t really bother me. When it comes to full nudity, I do believe it should be used with extreme caution. I have seen ballets where dancers were completely naked without it ruining the expression of the ballet (like the shower-scene in Jo Stromgrens “a dance tribute to the art of football” – pure genius)

Me in Youri Vamos’ Carmina Burana, Hungarian Operahouse, 2009 © Jørgen Mathisen

Keep asking questions! Great to see that so many of you are inspired by my blog! Thanks for the support. Any comments? Post them under, or use the “contact me” field in the main menu. I don’t bite.