Q&A
When did you start dancing?
I started at the age of 10.
Why did you start dancing?
At first it was because my mom talked me into it.
Which dancer inspired you most as a child?
Baryshnikov.
Which dancer do you most admire?
Now there are so many so it's difficult to choose one out above the rest.
What's your favourite role?
I don't really have one role that I could say was my favourite but I had a lot of fun performing and rehearsing Tybalt in Jean-Christophe Maillot's Romeo and Juliet.
What role have you never played but would like to?
The one that got away was Balanchine's Apollo.
What's your favourite ballet to watch?
These days I love watching anything by either Crystal Pite or Hofesh Shechter.
Who is your favourite choreographer?
William Forsythe.
Who is your favourite writer?
Malcom Gladwell.
Who is your favourite theatre or cinema director?
The Coen brothers.
Who is your favourite actor?
Too many to choose one.
Who is your favourite singer?
Axl Rose back in the day.
What is your favourite book?
Blink by Malcom Gladwell.
What is your favourite film?
Top Gun is a movie that shaped who I have always wanted to be. The Big Lebowski is probably the best movie ever made and SLC Punk explains where I am from. All three are amazing and I couldn't choose one.
Which is your favourite city?
To live, Barcelona but to visit, Siena.
What do you like most about yourself?
My willingness to try anything.
What do you dislike about yourself?
Becoming self-destructive when I get discouraged.
What was your proudest moment?
Getting into ABT.
When and where were you happiest?
Now!
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Adventure.
What is your greatest fear?
That I am normal.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To have greater strength to push through and achieve my goals when things look bleak.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Becoming a principal dancer.
What is your most treasured possession?
My health.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Travel.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Virtues are guideline for living a good life. they are equally important.
On what occasion do you lie?
I lie to myself all the time when I tell myself that important thing [that should be done now] can be done later.
If you hadn't been a dancer what would you have liked to be?
A National Geographic Photographer.
What is your most marked characteristic?
Being a little crazy.
What quality do you most value in a friend?
Not taking yourself too seriously.
What quality do you most value in a colleague?
Patience.
Which historical figure do you most admire?
Nelson Mandela.
Which living person do you most admire?
Malala Yousafzai.
What do you most dislike?
Wilful ignorance.
What talent would you most like to have?
Persuasion.
What's your idea of perfect happiness?
Being happy with who, what and where you are.
How would you like to die?
Knowing I lived a good life and I made a positive difference in the world around me.
What is your motto?
Get busy living or get busy dying.
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Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
