I had the pleasure of interviewing 2 of the dancers starring in Richmond Ballet's Swan Lake. Read all about them here and for a chance to attend a performance and win 4 tickets, comment beneath the article. 

We also have a great discount if you want to jump on and just get your tickets, all info beneath the interview.

Shira Lanyi

1. My name is Shira Lanyi. I was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. I went to Rudlin Torah Academy for elementary and middle school, and Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for high school. I began dancing when I was 8 years old because my big sister had began ballet and I was jealous.
2. My big sister was forced to take ballet lessons when she was 12 because my parents thought she had bad posture. I was so jealous that my sister got to wear such pretty shoes and leotards, so I begged my mom and dad to allow me to take lessons as well. I began at the age of 8 at the School of Richmond Ballet. Later when I was a bit older I started taking jazz, modern and character classes.
3. When I was 14 years old, I realized how much I enjoyed the challenge that ballet presented. I could not imagine a day without attending a ballet class. I was very much influenced by a performance of Romeo and Juliet that I saw at The Kennedy Center by ABT. It was then I realized I wanted to pursue ballet as a potential career. 
4. My first performance was as a page in The Nutcracker when I was 9 years old. It was a very magical experience to be on stage with the professional company in front of a huge audience. I was addicted almost immediately to performing; I love the excitement and thrill it presented. My first performance as a professional was in 2003 as a corps member in Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco.
5. I am playing the title role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. This is a tremendously challenging role for a ballerina because it is two characters all in one ballet. As the character of Odette, I am a young maiden who has been evilly transformed into a swan by the sorcerer Rothbart. Only the vow of true love by a young suitor will break the spell. I meet my Prince in Act II who vows he will swear his love for eternity to me and no other. However, Rothbart tricks the Prince into thinking that his daughter Odile is Odette. Odile is very flirtatious and is only pretending to be the gentle Odette so that Prince Siegfried will mistakenly proclaim his love to her so that the spell will not be broken. The trick works and Odette is heartbroken, as is Prince Siegfried. He runs back to the forest to find Odette. They promise eternal love to each other and the power of this love breaks the spell. 
6. I rehearse 6 hours a day 5-6 days a week. Being a ballerina is a full-time job. Just as doctors and lawyers earn their living by going to work to practice medicine or law, I dance to make a living. It is a dream come true! 
7. I actually own my own baking and catering business, so on my days off, I love to bake or cook yummy things. I also love going swimming. 
8. One of my favorite memories of dancing is when I was given the opportunity to perform the title role of Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is my favorite ballet, and Juliet was the role I always wanted to perform. It was really a dream come true!
9. “If I am not for myself who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” Hillel
10. Always believe in your ability to achieve your goals and dreams. With lots of hard work, focus and determination, you can achieve great things. Just be as good as you are! 

Thomas Garrett

1. I am from Jacksonville Beach, FL, and I now live in the beautiful St. John’s District of Church Hill in Richmond, VA, and I have been dancing for 17 years.
2. I originally started dancing at my mother’s small school as a way to stretch and warm up before my baseball practices. I started out with jazz at the age of 11 but didn’t start taking ballet until much later.
3. I decided to pursue dance more seriously when I had to make the decision between playing sports and dancing. My schedule had become too hectic so my parents made me choose. I figured fewer boys were dancing so I had a better chance of making a career of my dancing. 
4. My first performance was my mother’s end of the year recital. My first professional job was The Nutcracker. At least that was the first show I was paid for, but I had not joined a professional company yet. 
5. I have the opportunity to dance Siegfried in the Richmond Ballet production on Swan Lake. Siegfried is a misunderstood character. He is on the eve of his 21^st birthday and he knows he must marry. It is his duty to his country but Siegfried doesn’t want to marry any woman, he wants to marry someone he truly loves.
6. I rehearse 5-6 hours, 5-6 days a week with an hour and a half technique class in the morning.
7. When I’m not dancing or rehearsing, I like to cross train for our ballets or research them. I also enjoy surfing but I don’t get to enjoy that as much as I would like living here in Richmond. 
8. One of my favorite memories of dancing starts with me being very nervous. I was so jittery that my legs felt like they weren’t there. But once I walked out on stage and looked into my partner’s eyes, it felt like we were the only two in the entire theatre. My nerves completely vanished. 
9. One of my favorite quotes would have to be: “Dancers are the athletes of the gods” – Albert Einstein
10. No matter how hard it gets, if you want it bad enough no one is going to make is happen but you. So never give up.

Swan Lake Discount Information

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Swan Lake

Receive 30% off selected* tickets to Swan Lake through February 1^st!

For many, Swan Lake defines the very art of ballet: the lush Tchaikovsky score, the moonlit images of impossible grace, the story of magic, mystery and transformation. In the tradition of ballet passed down from choreographer to dancer, generation to generation, Richmond Ballet’s production of Swan Lake shares lineage with the definitive 1895 staging by the legendary Marius Petipa. This production was set on the company by Nicholas “Papa” Beriozoff, who learned this version directly from a student of Petipa.

Swan Lake, choreographed by Nicholas Beriozoff with music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, will be at the Carpenter Theatre at Richmond CenterStage February 8-10, 2013. 

Receive 30% off selected* tickets to Swan Lake. Enter the promo code SWAN online at ETIX.com or provide the code over the phone when calling 1-800-514-3849 (ETIX).

* Discount applies to price levels 2-5 only for Swan Lake. Expires after February 1, 2013. Discount is not available on previously purchased tickets and cannot be combined with other offers.