Georgina Pazcoguin is an American ballerina. She is a soloist with the
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...
, and is known for challenging racism in ballet, and for performing on Broadway.
Early life
Pazcoguin was born and raised in
Altoona, Pennsylvania
Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 Census, making it the eighteenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. ...
. She is biracial; her father is a retired surgeon who immigrated from the Philippines after medical school, and her mother is Italian. The third of six siblings, she began training at the Allegheny Ballet Academy when she was four years old in ballet,
African
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Ethn ...
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
. She moved to New York City to train at the
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New ...
, the associate school of New York City Ballet (NYCB) at the age of 16 in 2001 while also studying at the
Professional Children's School
Professional Children's School (PCS) is a not-for-profit, college preparatory school geared toward working and aspiring child actors and dancers in grades six through twelve. The school was founded in New York City in 1914 to provide an academic ed ...
.
Ballet
After one year of studying at SAB, Pazcoguin was invited by Peter Martins to join NYCB as an apprentice. The following year she became a member of the company's
corps de ballet
In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French for "body of the ballet") is the group of dancers who are not principal dancers or soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and often work as a backdrop for the principal dancers.
...
. After 10 years of dancing featured and principal roles, she was promoted to soloist in 2013, making her the first
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
female soloist in NYCB's history.
With NYCB, Pazcoguin performed featured roles in the original productions of ''
Romeo + Juliet
Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pr ...
'' (as the
Nurse
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
, 2007), Douglas Lee's ''
Lifecasting
Lifecasting is the process of creating a three-dimensional copy of a living human body, through the use of molding and casting techniques.Ocean's Kingdom'' (as Scala, 2011),
Alexei Ratmansky
Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (russian: Алексей Осипович Ратманский, born August 27, 1968) is a Russian-American choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Bolshoi Ballet. He left Rus ...
's ''Voices'' and ''Russians Seasons'',
Lauren Lovette
Lauren Lovette (born November 10, 1991) is an American ballet dancer and choreographer who was previously a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet.
Early life and education
Lovette was born in Thousand Oaks, California, and started her ...
's ''The Shaded Line,''
Angelin Preljocaj
Angelin Preljocaj (; born 19 January 1957) is a French dancer and choreographer of contemporary dance.
Early life
Angelin Preljocaj was born in 1957 in Sucy-en-Brie, France. He is of Albanian descent.
Career
His choreographic work is steeped ...
's ''Spectral Evidence,'' and
Kyle Abraham
Kyle Abraham (born August 14, 1977) is an American choreographer and dancer. He founded his own company A.I.M by Kyle Abraham (formerly Abraham.In.Motion) in 2006 in New York City and has produced many original works for A.I.M such as ''The Rad ...
's ''The Runway''. She has also had featured roles in numerous NYCB revivals, including
George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
's ''
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...
'' (as Dewdrop), ''
Scotch Symphony
''Scotch Symphony'' is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, "Scottish". The ballet is inspired by Scotland, and evokes the style of the romantic ballet era, particularly ''La Sylphide'', which is set in Sc ...
'', Balanchine's ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'' (as Hippolyta),
Peter Martins
Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and John Taras as ...
Carabosse
The Wicked Fairy is the antagonist of ''Sleeping Beauty''. In some adaptations she is known as Carabosse, and she is named Maleficent in Walt Disney media.
Role in the tale
In Charles Perrault's ''Sleeping Beauty'', published in 1697 in ''Histo ...
), and
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.
Among his nu ...
' ''
West Side Story Suite
''West Side Story Suite'' is a ballet suite choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Robbins conceived, directed and choreographed the 1957 musical ''West Side Story'', then co-directed its 1961 film adaptation, before including parts of the choreogra ...
'' (as Anita).
She is especially noted for her portrayal of Anita, which she first performed during NYCB's 2008 ''American Songs and Dances'' program. She has also appeared on film in the 2010 film adaptation of another famous Jerome Robbins ballet, '' N.Y. Export: Op. Jazz'', which was directed by
Jody Lee Lipes
Jody Lee Lipes (born January 18, 1982) is an American cinematographer and filmmaker.
A native of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Lipes attended New York University, where he studied film. He worked extensively on short films before serving as cinematogr ...
and
Henry Joost
Henry Joost (born October 30, 1982) is a German-born American filmmaker, whose work includes directing, with Ariel Schulman, the films ''Catfish'', ''Paranormal Activity 3'', ''Paranormal Activity 4'', ''Nerve'' and ''Project Power''. Henry is ...
.
Branding and advocacy
Pazcoguin considers herself the "complete antithesis" of the stereotypical ballet dancer. During her early days at NYCB, she struggled with
body image
Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, ps ...
issues, noting in a 2013 interview with ''
Time Out New York
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'' that she "will never be that super, super thin, skeletal
ancer Ancer may refer to:
*Abraham Ancer
Abraham Ancer (; born 27 February 1991) is a Mexican-American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and is currently playing on the LIV Golf tour. He won the 2018 Emirates Australian Open and the 202 ...
. She has since styled herself as "The Rogue Ballerina" as a means of embracing the qualities that make her stick out as a dancer, such as her body type and ethnicity. Pazcoguin's memoir, ''Swan Dive: The Making of a Rogue Ballerina'', was published in 2021.
Pazcoguin is a proponent of greater diversity and inclusion within the ballet community. With former dancer Phil Chan, she started "Final Bow for Yellowface" in 2017, a campaign to combat Asian stereotypes in ballet productions such as ''The Nutcracker''. The pledge advanced by Pazcoguin and the campaign was signed by more than 100 dancers and industry leaders.
Theater
She joined American Dance Machine for the 21st Century (a reboot of the
American Dance Machine
The American Dance Machine was a theatrical dance company created by Lee Theodore, which played on Broadway at the Century Theatre, opening Jun 14, 1978 and in total running 199 performances. It was duplicated with a second cast for the American D ...
) in 2012. As a soloist with the company, which recreates famous theatre dance numbers from
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
musicals, she performed
Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera (born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson; January 23, 1933), is an American actress, singer and dancer best known for originating roles in Broadway musicals including Anita in ''West Side Story'', Velma Kelly in ''Chic ...
Victoria the White Cat
Victoria is a principal character in the 1981 musical ''Cats'', written by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on T. S. Eliot's 1939 ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. Primarily a dance role with no solo singing parts, the role demands extensive ba ...
's solo from
Cats
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...
, and the female soloist role in Jerome Robbin's ''Mr. Monotony''.
Pazcoguin made her Broadway debut in August 2015 as a temporary replacement for her NYCB colleague Megan Fairchild in the role of Ivy Smith in the revival of '' On the Town''. The following year, she returned to Broadway and to the role of
Victoria the White Cat
Victoria is a principal character in the 1981 musical ''Cats'', written by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on T. S. Eliot's 1939 ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. Primarily a dance role with no solo singing parts, the role demands extensive ba ...
in the 2016 Broadway revival of ''
Cats
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...
''. Pazcoguin noted that playing Victoria pushed her beyond her comfort zone, as the
ingénue
The ''ingénue'' (, , ) is a stock character in literature, film and a role type in the theater, generally a girl or a young woman, who is endearingly innocent. ''Ingénue'' may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in such roles ...
character was a departure from her usual roles. Pazcoguin left the production in March 2017 to return to dancing with NYCB.