Anastasia Cheplyansky, Dutch National Ballet: “Studying While Dancing Brought a Lot of Balance Into My Life.”

DanceInterviews

Oct 10

Anastasia Cheplyansky, Dutch National Ballet, George Balanchine, *Rubies* (*Jewels)*. Photo by Altin Kaftira

A new school year has begun. If you are close to finishing school, you might feel like you have to decide soon whether to pursue a career in the performing arts, or not. A career as a dancer or musician involves a lot of uncertainties; competition for jobs is unusually high, and especially for dancers, there is always the fear of injuries. There is also the question of long-term financial security. What should you choose – the stage, or further studies?

Take a deep breath - there are ways to do both. Anastasia Cheplyansky, a corps de ballet member of Dutch National Ballet, started dancing in her native California at the age of five, taught by Ms. Lise la Cour. When she was fourteen years old, she joined Bayer Ballet Academy under Inna Bayer’s direction in California. After graduation, she joined Atlanta Ballet 2. Two years later, she was promoted to Atlanta Ballet’s main company. But Anastasia wasn’t just doing well in her budding dance career – she was also studying for a bachelor’s degree in psychology through the online program of the University of Florida and received her BA with honors in 2024. TWoA talked to Anastasia about her dance journey, the importance of serious academic studies in her family, the benefits of combining dance and academics, and much more.

You started ballet when you were five, but starting ballet and falling in love with ballet are two different things. When did you fall in love with ballet?

That’s a little bit complicated. When I was at home, I would dance to the TV. My parents would play Swan Lake, and I would dance with my little brother, but I hated going to classes. I really wanted to quit. In my ballet school, we had leotards on the walls that showed what color leotard you get in which level. I was in the pre-professional division; our leotard was all black, and I thought it was boring. And then there was one level, once you reach the professional division, where you got to wear a light blue leotard. My parents never let me quit ballet at the beginning, because they wanted me to develop discipline and good posture. The moment they gave me the option to leave, I reached the level with the blue leotard, and I fell in love with ballet and started enjoying going to classes. My parents maybe thought: “Oh, shoot, we should have maybe taken her out sooner.” It was never their intention to have me dancing professionally, but from that moment, I really fell in love with ballet and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I fell in love with taking classes. I fell in love with performing more. So, to answer your question, I was maybe eight years old when my real love for it began. It wasn't just fun moments in front of the TV anymore.

At what point did you start thinking about ballet as a potential future profession?

I think since I was eight with my light-blue leotard, I've always had that dream of becoming a professional. I envisioned it for myself, but there were moments where maybe I lost it a little bit or wasn't sure. At sixteen, I took my training more seriously and had to really evaluate what my options could become.

What tipped the scales in favor of ballet as a career path?

That was a big decision. And to be honest, I don't know if I fully made the decision myself. My parents wanted me to go to university. I was kind of passive, in the sense of thinking: “Okay, I'll go to university, and we'll see what happens.” I didn't audition for any companies, but I got my job offer with Atlanta Ballet II through the Youth America Grand Prix Competition. I came to an agreement with my parents that I would take a gap year at university and take the Atlanta Ballet offer for a year and go to university after. Because things were going okay at the ballet company, we found a different solution, thinking that university online could be a good option. But originally, I think what I kind of expected was to go to university first and then dance professionally, though I knew that is a much more difficult path to follow, in a way. This was very much driven by my parents’ preference, and when you're a teenager, you also listen to what they say. I always knew I wanted to dance professionally but thought it would have to be on their timeline. Thankfully, everything fell into place naturally for me.

Since academics were important at your home, how did you balance academics and your dance training while still at school?

Academics were more important for my parents than ballet, but they were supportive of my dreams. I went to school during the day until about three or four o’clock. I would do homework between four o’clock and six o’clock and go to ballet class from six to eight or nine or ten o’clock. Sometimes, I would then do homework in the car ride home or while eating dinner or at night, but it felt pretty manageable for me. At my school, we had free periods, where if you are doing something really physically demanding outside of school, you don't have to take physical education classes. Those would also be a good chunk of time where I could work on my homework assignments and study. I would practice with my Quizlet flash cards in the car, studying for exams and I would try to get ahead on the weekends as well.

My parents helped me learn time management, how to work more efficiently in school, so all the energy I spent towards school was actually quite productive and efficient. Every now and then, things would get a little bit more stressful, and I would have to stay up later to study, but overall, it felt pretty manageable for me.

Since your parents wanted you to get a degree, was the decision to study online driven by you or your parents, or both, since you had internalized the importance they gave to academics?

I think it was both, but the decision came naturally. My first year in Atlanta, I realized that I was really missing school. I really enjoy being in a learning environment and diving deep into topics completely unrelated to ballet as well. I think having that balance helps me be a better dancer. In my first year in Atlanta, my parents and I were discussing that I needed to get a degree at some point. I did my research and discovered the University of Florida's online program. I started taking courses there in 2019, and once Covid hit, I was able to take more during that period. I liked dancing professionally and I was going to stick with it, but I wanted to keep learning, so it just seemed like a natural option at the time.

How did the online degree work in practice?

The lectures were all recorded. We had textbooks, homework assignments due on certain days of the week by a certain deadline, and exams. We had online office hours so we could call our teaching assistants or professors if we had any questions, but you could manage everything more or less on your own time, as long as you submitted everything by the deadline. I took a really difficult neuroscience class, and I used the online office hours pretty regularly for that one. They were with the professor, so I was able to directly ask the professor my questions.

How was the transition to an online degree? Do you feel that you missed out academically in any way?

It was an adjustment, for sure. I was used to learning in a classroom where you can raise your hand and ask a question and get direct help. I do think I missed out in the sense that I didn't have teammates in person to work on projects with. If we had some group assignments, it was mostly through Gmail or whatever portal we used. In terms of the actual education and the learning, I don't know, because I've never been to university in person, but it feels quite equivalent. I was still able to find research opportunities, and I connected with some professors and attended the office hours virtually, so I was able to ask questions. At first, it was also an adjustment of, how do I manage my time? Sometimes I would completely forget that I had something due. I also had to get used to the whole portal system, but afterwards, it felt quite good. It took a year of adjusting, I would say.

I also had my general education classes, but I was able to pass some of those requirements from university because of the classes I had taken in high school. I took science courses, a government course and a law course. It took me five years to get my degree instead of four since I was a part time student. If I didn't have Advanced Placement credits from high school, it would have taken me a little bit longer. In the summers, I would take more courses, and during busier periods, I would take fewer.

Why did you decide to study psychology?

I took a psychology course in my junior year and senior year of high school and I developed a passion for the area. My mom was also always interested in psychology. She's not a psychologist, but I think those topics just felt really interesting to me, and they can be quite relevant to ballet as well. I just wanted to learn more about why we are the way we are, and how we come to believe certain things about ourselves or about our lives.

What were the highs and lows of studying while starting your professional dance career?

High points: it brought a lot of balance into my life. Ballet never felt like it was the “be all, end all, and my life is over if it doesn't work out.” A low point would be: sometimes I would have to do schoolwork in between double show days. I would feel really tired sometimes, or I would come home late at night from a performance and then have to quickly submit an essay or work on a group project. Sometimes that was a little bit difficult.

What advice would you give to dance or music students who are contemplating to study while pursuing a career in the arts?

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend pursuing a higher education. It could open up many doors for your future, and the knowledge and perspective you gain from it could also help benefit you in your arts career. I think online university can be great for anyone, as long as you remain curious and you're actually studying something that you're interested in. If you are being dragged into studying online for a degree you don't care about, you're going to have a lot less motivation to put in the effort, especially when you're tired. You have to care about what you're doing. You have to have a purpose with what you're doing and push through the low points, because then it'll feel very rewarding afterwards.

Do you feel that studying psychology actually benefited your life as a performer?

Good question. I think for me, it helped bring a lot of perspective into my job and decreased stage fright. I felt freer. I learned techniques to not feel as nervous before performances. It's normal to have a little bit of nerves, but I got really interested in the question: how can I not crumble under that pressure anymore? I believe having my degree in psychology helped with that. I think just having that perspective in general, and also knowing ballet is not my “be all, end all” helped me with pressure. It was more: I'm doing this because I love it.” It also helps me understand better why other people may behave in a certain way, and to not take things so personally.

Anastasia Cheplyansky in Alexei Ratmansky’s *Trio Kagel*. Dutch National Ballet. Photo by Altin Kaftira

You just finished your first season with Dutch National Ballet. Every company has its own culture, but are there some general differences between American and European ballet companies?

The biggest difference I experienced was that we have a lot more performances here in Amsterdam than I had in Atlanta. For each program, we have eight to sixteen performances, and we perform almost every month, whereas in Atlanta, we performed four or five performances per program besides Nutcracker, and not as often. Adjusting to this new routine was the biggest shock for me, and it took me some time to get adjusted to this new schedule. Sometimes, we basically live at the theater. Another surprising aspect is that our studios are connected to the actual theater house and the stage. We just go from one floor to the next floor to perform. That is really special.

I think here, because we have more performances, we have more casts, so it gives more opportunities to people as well. I think that's why I was able to try some new types of roles in my season here in Amsterdam. I feel very supported by the ballet masters in the company here, they will coach you and guide you. I feel safe asking questions and asking for guidance. It's been a really positive experience.

One similarity I noticed is that we have dancers from all over the world, both here in Amsterdam and also in Atlanta. I am really grateful for my experiences both in Atlanta and in Amsterdam.

What was the highlight of your first season?

Oh, this is a difficult one. Cupid in Don Quixote felt really special to me just because that was the first production I was a part of at Dutch National Ballet, and I actually never really envisioned myself doing Cupid before. But they saw it for me, and it felt so magical. I've never had a soloist role like that before in a company, and in the first rehearsal, we had live piano. This is another difference: we have live pianists in the company for rehearsals. I remember tearing up at the first rehearsal, when we had the live pianist starting the music, and I thought: “I just can't believe my life right now. I can't believe I'm here. I can't believe I'm learning this role.” It felt so special to me, just so magical. Maybe that was my most memorable moment. But I also enjoyed my principal role of Rubies in George Balanchine’s Jewels a lot, and The Nutcracker was special too.

Do you have a dream role you would love to dance one day?

My dream role, someday, would be Juliet from Romeo and Juliet. The music brings so many chills to my body, and the choreography is so beautiful. The story is dramatic. I love drama, so I do hope that someday I'll get to dance it. Growing up, when I had periods of wondering if I would continue with ballet, I would just put on Prokofiev’s music in the car, and I would just start tearing up to his music in such a positive way. It gave me so much hope. It would really feel special to dance Juliet someday.

You are at the start of your career, but any plans to do something professionally with psychology at some point in the future?

Definitely. I'm not sure yet specifically what I want to do with psychology. I'm debating between sports psychology or industrial organizational psychology. I want to get my master’s in psychology at some point. I'm still figuring out if I will do that completely after my ballet career, or if I will find an online program as well, just because if I dance until I'm thirty-seven, which would be great, then I want to already get my second career started and going. If that is the case, then I'll find an online program.

Anastasia Cheplyansky, Dutch National Ballet, "Don Quixote," Alexei Ratmansky after Marius Petipa, Alexander Gorsky, 2024.