Meet the Artist Monday: Harrison Coll

Photo: Troy Schumacher

Harrison Coll is the youngest of all of BalletCollective's dancers. After only a year on stage as an apprentice with NYCB, he is recognized for dancing with musicality and freshness.

Here is my Q and A with Harrison:

Me: What does BalletCollective mean to you?

Harrison: BalletCollective is special to me because it represents the first opportunity I've had as a professional dancer to explore dance without feeling restricted to a pure Balanchine technical vocabulary. It's also a blessing to work with such experienced dancers in the company, all of whom I have so much respect for and look up to.

What do you enjoy about working with Troy?

Troy Schumacher is one of the most musical choreographers I've worked with. His understanding of the composition that has been written for his pieces enables us, the dancers, to make sense of the choreography and how it grows with the music. The clarity of Troy's choreographic ideas are further aided by his ability, as my co workers would agree, to describe an image, setting, emotion, or scenario that inspires our movement.

After a hard day of dancing, what is your favorite meal?

Living at home with my parents certainly has its perks, especially when I get to come home to a hot plate of home cooked ravioli Bolognese!

Your most memorable onstage moment?

This year I was fortunate enough to dance in one of Mr. B's classical masterpieces, Theme and Variations. I consider it to be the first time I really felt like a professional ballet dancer on stage. For those who don't know the ballet, the boys only dance in the final movement but once you get on stage you are shot out of a cannon into a 5 minute non-stop relentless polonaise. After mustering out the last double tour and ending the ballet in a pose on my knee a few counts later, I scrambled to find my partner Jenelle in the darkness before our bows. We were standing in the very back on stage left, I still hadn't caught my breath, and the soles of my feet were cramping. Suddenly the curtain went up, I looked at my partner and presented her forward and as we returned to our spot after we bowed she said to me "Welcome to the company". I will always remember that.

What's your favorite way to pass time?

I'm a pretty active and crazy kid so I'm usually busy dancing, going to the gym, and bicycling everywhere in the city. But I always love hanging out with my girlfriend ordering Chinese and watching Netflix.

What are you reading?

I made an effort to read the Life of Pi before the movie came out, but I started too late so now I'm looking for new recommendations...

What's the most recent song/album you've downloaded?

"Treasure" - Bruno Mars. Such a hot track.

If you could die and come back as an animal, what would you be?

I'd want to be a chimpanzee because they seem so playful, and swinging all over the place looks like a lot of fun. I guess bugs would have to be an acquired taste.

Your greatest influence?

That would be a three way tie between my family, friends, and teachers.

Anything else you'd like people to know about you...

Music is my passion on the side. I dabble in piano but my expertise lies with the guitar.  I also just bought a mandolin and a travel size guitar so I can jam with friends on the go. I think filling one's life with more than one form of art is important because it balances one's soul with a more diverse range of beauty. Furthermore, I find that jamming out with friends and bonding is always a good way to ground oneself within a community especially because as a dancer your profession can often be centered on self-development.

Just last week, while on tour with City Ballet in Saratoga, Harrison received his Corps de Ballet contract! Congrats Harrison!