Ballet Idaho news & updates
March 2023 | Spring Issue
Artist featured in header photo is principal dancer Jessica Sulikowski. Photo by Quinn Wharton.
NEW
Ballet Term of the Month
Check here every month for a new word!

The March ballet term is:

coryphée- /ˌkôrə fā/
A leading member of the corps de ballet. In classical French and Russian ballet, it is a term used for a minor soloist and stems from the Latin word coryphaeus, which in ancient Greek drama, was the leader of a chorus.




Jessica Sulikowski
reflects on her career and shares a little glimpse of heaven

by Cassie Mrozinski

Photo features principal dancer Jessica Sulikowski and Graham Gobeille, photo by Quinn Wharton.

CM: This is your fifteenth and final season with Ballet Idaho. How did we get so lucky to have you for this long?

JS: I'm not someone to turn down a good opportunity! I was 18 when I moved here, fresh out of high school. I thought I would give it three years- a nice, short time- to just give it a chance. But I just fell in love with it so hard, all of it. I really like routine and the schedule. I like the endorphins that you get from exercising. I like the challenge and then seeing the results of fine tuning your craft every day. 

CM: How do you decide as a dancer that your performance career is over?

JS: Well, I've danced 15 years with no serious injury...

CM: Umm, can we knock on wood?

JS (laughing): At this point it's fine. But I'm so thankful for the amazing physical therapists and doctors and the chance to learn weaknesses or how to heal better or prevent injury. So I can leave with a really healthy body because I like to garden, I like to hike, I like to do yoga. I want to be able to walk when I'm 70. I want to not put too much wear and tear on my body because we're working out, doing crazy things, really pushing our bodies all the time. And respecting myself in that sense is a great bonus, almost like quitting while I'm ahead, haha. But really, after this long, long journey, it really feels like I reached the peak of the mountain, the lookout, and now I'm just taking in these beautiful views and not saying "if only...."
 
CM: Some of your closest friends are or were dancers at Ballet Idaho, and you met your husband through a Ballet Idaho dancer.

JS: Yes! My husband was the neighbor of a former Ballet Idaho dancer. He came to a bunch of performances because he loved the ballet. We later started dating and we got married in June, 2022. I met Adrienne (Kerr), 15 years ago when we both joined the company in 2008. She was my maid of honor at my wedding. Danielle (Troyano) joined the company and we lived together for a couple of years and she was my bridesmaid. So many amazing friends, and times!

CM: Is there anything you would tell a young Jessica, if you could, or even just a younger dancer?
 
JS: I think discovering your learning style is huge. How do you remember choreography? Is it with corrections, musicality, certain patterns, or counting things out? And the same thing with trying to improve your dancing. Do you learn from watching video footage, looking at old photos, or do you remember a sensation or a feeling about things? And I think by learning or discovering how you improve when you do improve, allows you to really take off from there. And just recently, I feel like I've been able to advocate for myself. I've learned how to create healthy boundaries and limits, whether it's with scheduling your side jobs, dealing with injuries in rep, running out of pointe shoes and needing more pointe shoes, and just letting someone know so that they can help. Because everyone's always looking to help, and people can't read your minds.
You have to ask for opportunities. With my retirement, I'm finally learning these things. 

CM: What has been your favorite role?

JS: I have always, always loved Sugar Plum. Because it's so challenging. Graham (Gobeille) and I counted, we've done it for 10 years now. So we've had a lot of really lovely, intimate coaching. When you reach the professional level, it kind of feels a little bit like now it's your responsibility to figure things out, make it fresh, take responsibility for yourself.

I also loved learning one of the leads in Rubies, the part called Tall Girl. It was one of the biggest leads I've performed. There are cues where you have to run a lot while counting the silence. Running out, doing a step, the first note hits. And then you're counting a silent one, two, three, four before the next series of moments. And there are these big, explosive jumps. It was such a huge opportunity to be cast in that. And then I remember I got such a poor review. But I really don't even feel like that took anything away from the experience.  I like anything that has acting or big characters or personality. I like having a story in my head. I think it takes over my body and the feeling of it.
 

CM: That was really evident recently during Anthology's Eyes on You. Every time you and Graham came out, you were telling a story.
  

JS: Thank you. I loved that piece. I love when you just have to totally let loose and be super brave.
 

CM: Your career was celebrated at that show. It was so special to witness and visually stunning because you were in your gorgeous white costume with so many red roses. What was that night like for you?

JS: Well, I was checking in with my husband, Jake, earlier in the day because along with him, my parents and my mother-in-law were all coming to the show that night. And it was a double show day and I was so, so tired. And he said "You know what? I have a feeling it's going to be a really special night, a really great show." He was wonderful and so supportive and I had no idea what was going to happen. But I heard Garrett's curtain speech that night at the top of the show and he started saying really incredible, kind words about me and announced that I was retiring. I started tearing up but was also very amped. Then the show started and suddenly, I felt so serene, so calm. And we got to the last bow and Graham starts pulling me to the side of the stage. And I'm still in character! And he is tugging me and I'm thinking, "Where are we going?"

I look over and Anne (Mueller) is there with a bouquet of red roses. Then Garrett comes up with more roses and hugs me and when I turn around, the entire company is there, dressed in white, with the stage lights glowing on them and they all have red roses. I look back now and think that this is probably what it feels like to enter heaven... where all of your friends are there, and I can see my family in the audience, and everyone is clapping. It was spectacular. I'll never forget that feeling.
Principal dancers (and friends) Adrienne Kerr and Jessica Sulikowski.
Principal dancer Jessica Sulikowski as Dewdrop in The Nutcracker.
Principal dancers Jessica Sulikowski, Adrienne Kerr, and Graham Gobeille in Christopher Stowell’s Eyes on You/ featured bow.
Principal dancer Jessica Sulikowski in Danielle Rowe's The Animals. Still photo by Frontrunner Films.
Opera Idaho's The American Dream

Set during World War II, this eloquent, gripping American opera explores the lives of two women: a Japanese-American facing relocation to an incarceration camp and a German-Jewish immigrant grappling with the unknown fates of those left behind in Germany.

Get your tickets here.
Boise Phil presents Cartee Piano Concert

The incredible 1878 Cartee Weber Grand Piano was the first of its kind to the Idaho Territory. People deemed the Weber piano the top instrument of its day. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear this special piece of Idaho history played by Boise Phil’s Del Parkinson (principal piano). 
Tickets available here!
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Do you have any memories or memorabilia from the early days of our company? We would love to hear the stories! Please share with us by emailing Cassie Mrozinski at cmrozinski@balletidaho.org.