Dancer takes to the stage

Ballet dancer Aiden James Yeargin leaps through the air. Photos submitted

By Tom Victoria

Aiden James Yeargin was born to dance. At 17, he’s already a trainee with the Joffrey Ballet in New York.

The artist danced at the ballet’s summer program for dancers.

“I did a short stay at their summer intensive where there were hundreds of dancers,” he said. “But they treated that as my audition, basically, and they offered me a position on the spot.”

Aiden, who only started ballet roughly two years ago, said determination helps a dancer learn relatively quickly.

“It really depends on the person,” he said. “You could start at any age if you're dedicated enough and just focused in on that idea that you want to become professional, then I feel like anything's possible.”

Despite a relatively recent start, Aiden has developed a dancer's physique.

"It's just so physical," he said.

Aiden has to do more than practice ballet.

“We have dance like ballet and then after that we usually have contemporary jazz, Pilates, flamenco, just everything to sort of make us more of an artist,” he said.

Aiden found one ballet move in particular daunting at the onset.

"It was a double tour — jumping, spinning twice and landing — without wobbling at first," he said. "It was hard, but now I feel very comfortable and not scared of them anymore."

The performer became so enamored with the double tour that it's now his favorite move. Conversely, another move was easier to learn than Aiden anticipated.

"I struggled on pirouettes — spinning and balancing on one foot — when I started learning them," he said. "But after a lot of corrections from my teacher, I felt something snap and then I just loved turning."

Aiden hopes to perform a classic role in ballet someday.

"It's a dream of mine to get to perform Romeo from Romeo and Juliet," he said. "The Romeo and Juliet ballet has such a good story and beautiful music."

Aiden's favorite production is another classic ballet.

"My favorite production would be Gisele," he said. "I just love everything about it such as music, choreography, story along with how entertaining it is to watch." 

Aiden explained why dance is the art form he pursues.

“Dancing is special because you can express your emotions and say words that you couldn't normally say with dance and movement,” he said.

Aiden recalled the first famous dancer who made an impact on him.

“That was (Mikhail) Baryshnikov,” he said. “I watched his movie White Nights, and he did Le Jeune Homme Et La Mort at the beginning of the movie. And I feel like that really just set me off like that.”

Aiden stressed ballet is art.

“I like to consider myself an artist more than anything,” he said. “I see so many dancers all over the world, and I see almost copycats. What makes a good dancer great, like Baryshnikov or just any other dancer, is sticking to the fact that it's an art form and you're not just trying to copy someone.”

Aiden seeks art in everything.

“I'm very open to different artistic endeavors,” he said. “I like experimenting with things and people like movement or photography or just art in general.”

Aiden also was influenced by someone very close to him.

“I got inspired from my mom, who is a dancer,” he said. “She's in ballet. She still dances.”

Aiden savors the inclusive environment in ballet.

“It's a lot less judgmental that way,” he said.

Aiden enjoys the atmosphere and challenge of performing live even when things go wrong such as a missed dance move.

“That's the fun of it,” he said about improvising to cover for an error. “I've had to do that a couple times and it's an added adrenaline boost. It feels very good.”

Aiden is able to remember entire routines.

“At first when you're learning it, for some people, it's pretty hard and some people, it's pretty easy,” he said. “But after a while of doing the same thing over and over, it's sort of in your muscle memory. When I go on stage, I usually remember everything but I've had friends who just blink out on stage.”

Aiden said dancers have cues from what other performers are doing.

“I feel like you have to read the room and just understand what everyone else is doing to sort of get on their level,” he said. “But when you're the only one on stage, it's sort of hard to do that unless there's people in the wings cheering you on. But the audience definitely helps.”

Aiden said dancers typically have no issue avoiding falls off the stage.

“But when you're on a small stage and the stage light is on you, sometimes it's hard,” he said. “But I've never had or seen that happen.”

Aiden can feel the other dancers moving through the air by him on stage.

"For sure, especially the jumps, i.e., almost getting kicked in the face from another person doing a 540," he said.

Aiden hopes to be a top ballet performer someday.

“That's a dream for most people,” he said. “There's so many people wanting that, that it's just so hard.”

Aiden enjoys being part of the ballet community.

“One of the aspects of ballet is how small the ballet world is and you really get to see a lot of friends and just people from around the world, just everywhere,” he said. “Everyone just spreads out and sometimes they get to see them again.”

Aiden stressed how physically demanding ballet is, even compared to sports.

“I've tried a lot of different sports before, very briefly, and ballet is the hardest,” he said. “Ballet is the hardest physical activity that you can do. The hardest part is not giving up, but physically it's sometimes two hours of nonstop physical work. I wore an Apple watch to class. My heart rate was up to 215. It's more physical than anything.”

Aiden said it’s crucial for dancers to make use of their free time.

“It's also important to have a life outside of ballet to also allow your body time for recovery,” he said. 

Aiden dispensed advice to aspiring ballet dancers.

“One is allowing yourself the freedom to make mistakes,” he said. “The second is to not compare yourself to others because I feel like that really puts down people's motivation a lot. And then the third one being trying to focus on artistry rather than technique, especially if you're starting late because that sets you apart as a dancer because you can work on technique till you die. But what's that? Understanding."

Aiden cited comments made by Allison DeBona at a question and answer session following a performance of Paquita at the University of Utah to emphasize the point.

"'You can work on technique till the day you die,'" he quoted DeBona as saying in response to his question. "'What makes you successful is sticking to the art form.'"

Aiden said dancers should look like they’re enjoying what they’re doing, including smiling.

“When I watch people dance even outside of performances, it's a massive difference,” he said. “When they actually care about what they're doing and enjoying themselves rather than just a straight face, very robotic.”

Aiden added dancers also need quality instruction.

“It's also very important to have a good mentor because without it, it's just useless,” he said. “A good relationship with your teacher, it's crucial. It's what makes the dancer.”

Aiden recalled working with his mentor.

“The right teacher/mentor can really shape you as a person,” he said. “My first teacher, Kyudong Kwak, believed in me since the beginning and actively encouraged me to push myself further than what I thought was possible. A decent amount of positive feedback and negative is crucial for ballet training and he had just the right amount of both.”

Aiden also was impacted by seeing Kwak years later.

“Last year, I went to Youth America Grand Prix and saw him after a long time,” he said. “After the competition, we talked for a good hour-and-a-half and I ended up breaking out in tears because the things he said to me were so sincere and I will never forget that.”

Aiden has no problem finding motivation to hone his craft.

“I stay motivated just by me being me because I love to dance,” he said. “It's everything to me. But I see a lot of people lose motivation. I think that's because they're just dancing to get a product or they're not dancing with their emotions or just having fun. Enjoying what you're doing is so important. If you love it, then I feel like you won't ever lose motivation.”

Aiden’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiden.james__/