Sara Mearns is one of my favorite faces of New York City Ballet. She has this sassy, eye-rolling way about her, and for some reason I like that she has a deeper voice than I expect from a ballerina. She just seems like a cool, down-to-earth woman: strong body, strong convictions, beautiful dancer.
In episode 4, she speaks about a back injury that sidelined her for eight months in 2012. She says the experience helped her grow. “Injuries change everything about you, mentally and physically. I became an adult, I guess. It gave me a new life. I actually, in a way, feel stronger now and more confident in my dancing. And I feel freer.”
Bergasse (left) rehearsing Mearns for the Fire Island Dance Festival
But the real fun of this episode is hearing about Mearns’ new relationship. She is head over heels for Broadway choreographer Joshua Bergasse, whose revival of On the Town is currently making headlines. And we get to see her flipping literally head over heels in a clip of the jazzy dance theater piece Bergasse choreographed on her for the Fire Island Dance Festival last summer. Mearns thrives on the challenge to perform a new style of dance during the off-season, she says, and she only felt self-conscious once about rehearsing with her boyfriend.
Bergasse and Mearns at home
Their connection seems to hinge on the fact that Bergasse understands her hectic schedule and, in fact, has one of his own. “He’s in the dance world, but he’s not in my dance world,” she says. At the same time, she mentions the difficulty of dating someone outside the company, especially once the performance season starts. “We’ll be in the same city, but we won’t see each other,” says Bergasse. Still, Mearns speaks candidly about wanting to plan their future together and start a family one day. “I’ve never been so happy in my life,” she says. Seems like a match made in heaven.
