Categories: Dancers

Cassandra Lea-Saxton

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Q&A with Soloist Miles Pertl

What are you most looking forward to for the 50th Anniversary Season?

I am most looking forward to being a part of all the new creations that are coming this season. What a great way to honor the legacy of 50 years of creating art for our northwest audience.

What is one role that holds special significance for you?

The role Friar Laurence in Romeo et Juliet is a role that I have cherished exploring. It is a character that demands a full emotional buy-in on top of the ballet technique.

How has your approach to the career changed over time?

My approach to performance has evolved over the thirteen years of dancing professionally. I started out with a focus on the basics: clean lines, high jumps with soft landings, and attentive partnering. With time (and an older body), I’ve been slowly transitioning to dance focused on sensations: the float of a turn, the slice of an arm, or the sinking of a hip. I love exploring sensations to charge the dynamic of any step.

What are your favorite Seattle haunts?

I love spending my free time at local art shows and spring events.  I grew up watching the Mariners during the late ’90s and early 2000s. There is still no replacement for the feeling I get when I walk into the stadium and see all that green grass set to the excited rumble of the audience.

Photos by Angela Sterling & Lindsay Thomas