When I mention the rave reviews to Megan, she says modestly, \u201cYes, it\u2019s been crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linda Egenes: What made you take a year off from your successful career with the New York City Ballet (NYCB)?<\/strong><\/p>\n Megan Fairchild:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s no coincidence that my little opportunity happened after I learned Transcendental Meditation almost a year ago. Just five months after starting TM, I got a text from the casting director of On the Town, wondering if I\u2019d be interested in auditioning. <\/p>\n And I\u2019m like, \u201cI am not a Broadway performer. This is crazy.\u201d I laughed about it for a day, and then something happened. The next morning I woke up and I thought, \u201cWhy not?\u201d <\/p>\n That was a really important moment for me. Normally I would have been too shy, or would have thought no, that is not me and stayed in my little bubble. Instead, I was thinking that I am at a point in my career where I am ready to try new and different things, and this could be an exercise in jumping out of my comfort zone. I honestly believe that TM had something to do with that decision.<\/p>\n LE: How is performing on Broadway different from ballet?<\/strong><\/p>\n MF:<\/strong> It\u2019s more fun than I expected. Not that there isn\u2019t pressure on Broadway, but there is a little bit more of an \u201cit\u2019s just entertainment\u201d kind of attitude, as opposed to ballet where everything has an ideal or perfect line that you are trying to create. There\u2019s a lot more freedom when dancing on Broadway.<\/p>\n LE: Would you say it\u2019s less stressful? I mean, there\u2019s a popular perception that ballet is a stressful profession.<\/strong><\/p>\n MF:<\/strong> I love my job at the NYCB because I love the people I go to work with. […] But now that I\u2019m stepping away from ballet for a year, I see how much pressure we are all under. We are never done working on being perfect. It\u2019s never, \u201cOh, that\u2019s great.\u201d It\u2019s always, \u201cOh, you need to get your leg higher; I need you to turn around one more time in that pirouette; or, wouldn\u2019t it be better if your feet were pointed more?\u201d It\u2019s endless. <\/p>\n MF:<\/strong> I would have panic attacks where I would pass out and be rushed to the emergency room. They were so intense that, literally, when I was regaining consciousness, I heard someone screaming, and it was me.<\/p>\n This happened every two years since I was eighteen. Life would get stressful, and one little thing like going to get a shot at the doctor\u2019s office would trigger my whole system to shut down. Then it started happening more often, just six months apart. I had to miss some performances. So I thought, \u201cOK, this isn\u2019t cool. This is affecting my job. I need to figure out how to manage my life in a way that is going to be a little more relaxing.\u201d<\/p>\n One of my ballet masters at NYCB, who did TM, suggested that I try it. She was the consummate professional and always in the moment and ready to get her job done. I felt like, well, if she does it, and she swears by it, then I\u2019m going to try it. <\/p>\n LE: So these episodes have subsided?<\/strong><\/p>\n MF:<\/strong> Yes. The last one was before I started TM. There have been moments that, in the past, would have caused me to get light-headed and possibly go into an episode, but now I watch the moment pass by without any big event. My level of pushing my body was up so high that, basically, a fuse would blow. With TM I turn my stress dial back a little bit every day instead of letting it constantly turn up and build on itself.<\/p>\n LE: Does transcending in your daily TM practice help with balancing artistry with technique?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think what makes a great performance is when you are free to dance to the music in a way that feels fresh and spontaneous and isn\u2019t contrived. You are in the moment and reacting to the music as the orchestra plays it.<\/p>\n In general, I have more patience with myself.<\/p>\n LE: In what ways?<\/strong><\/p>\n MF:<\/strong> Say I do a bad turn or I don\u2019t feel my best that day, or maybe I don\u2019t feel like always being in a leotard or something. TM helps me to let the little stresses that come with being a ballet dancer just roll off a little easier. I am a lot more resilient. I am not getting obsessed over the difficulties of working with this partner or that. It\u2019s just a little easier.<\/p>\n I used to feel that things would stick to me like Velcro, and now, things just roll off. I still recognize moments happening that would normally frustrate me, but they just don\u2019t irritate me as much as they used to. I am more able to deal with the stresses that come with my job.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Acclaimed ballet dancer turned Broadway star reflects on the differences of the two professions, the stress involved, and how the Transcendental Meditation technique has helped her to cope, grow, and enjoy. Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":12518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[242,243,295,241,32],"class_list":["post-12513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-ballet","tag-broadway","tag-meditation","tag-megan-fairchild","tag-stress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12513"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12534,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12513\/revisions\/12534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"photo_leap02\"](\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/photo_leap02.png\")
<\/a>LE: I understand that it was stress that brought you to TM in the first place.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Megan](\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/photo_leap01.png\")
MF:<\/strong> I think it helps you be a little more fearless. Before, I would hold on to trying to be really perfect and also was kind of obsessed with certain technical steps. Now, it\u2019s more of a bigger picture, being completely in the moment of each step as it\u2019s happening instead of worrying about that technical step coming up. I am enjoying my own performance more and taking every step and every movement to its fullest. <\/p>\n