A Surreal Day at the Office

Cassandra Trenary reflects on her final performance as an American Ballet Theatre principal dancer and her future at Vienna State Ballet.

From the outside, Cassandra Trenary seemed to be living every ballerina’s dream career at American Ballet Theatre. She attended her first ABT summer intensive at age 12 and trained at ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, then joined the company as an apprentice in 2011 and was named principal in 2020. Her ABT repertoire ranges from Giselle, Aurora, and Juliet to creating the roles of Tita in Christopher Wheeldon’s Like Water for Chocolate and Bacchante in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Seasons.

But Trenary’s is a restless spirit, and she has also sought to push the boundaries of her artistry through outside projects like dancing with Twyla Tharp and taking on contemporary works like Molissa Fenley’s State of Darkness, a gritty, 30-minute postmodern solo set to Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, which she performed at 2024’s Fall for Dance festival at New York City Center.

Ultimately, her desire for new opportunities, and for more stage time during the peak years of her career, finally outpaced the opportunities she saw for herself at ABT. In April, the company announced that Trenary, 31, was departing to become a principal dancer at the Vienna State Ballet, newly under the direction of her fellow ABT alumna, the celebrated prima ballerina Alessandra Ferri. (Coincidentally, during her final season with ABT, Trenary debuted in the role Ferri created in Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works.) In Vienna, Trenary hopes to expand her classical repertoire, explore new choreographers and wish-list roles, and find a sense of personal renewal.

On July 5, Trenary gave her farewell performance in Christopher Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale, dancing Hermione opposite her friend and frequent onstage partner Herman Cornejo in front of a full and enthusiastic Metropolitan Opera House audience. After the performance and a weekend of celebrations with family and friends, Trenary went on a getaway to Miami. She took a break from the beach to talk by Zoom about what her final curtain calls felt like and how she envisions her future. Our conversation is edited for length.

Claudia Bauer: Your final performance felt so bittersweet to me. You danced so beautifully, but it was also your last foreseeable time on the Met stage. How did the performance feel to you?

Cassandra Trenary: It’s funny because when I’m onstage, I have only one way of being, and that is totally immersing myself in it. I’m not thinking about me, I’m not thinking, This is my last time. I was very much in it, like I would be in any other performance. But it was the moments before, and the moments after, that were just so full. Full of heart and emotion and gratitude. Like you said, it doesn’t necessarily feel like it’s gonna be the last time; it’s more just acknowledging and honoring what a remarkable chapter of my life and career this has been, and what a beautiful way to honor that time. And it also comes with the sadness of not seeing some of my favorite people every day. I felt numb, and I felt everything, and it’s also just another day that I’m late to company class. It wasn’t until I opened Instagram, and a friend was sharing pictures from our time in the JKO School, that I had my first wave of emotion and a moment to reflect on how precious time is. I took my time getting to the theater, and then I started writing a note to Herman, and that was another massive wave of emotion. And then I walked into the wigs and makeup room, and they had decorated the space with the last ten years.

CB: It was an everyday surreal day at the office.

CT: Surreal, indeed. I was so moved and touched by how supported and loved everybody made me feel.

CB: You’re such a pro, you didn’t give away any emotions other than what was appropriate to what was happening on the stage. I was so curious to know what was going through your head, if there was a conflict between the human and the professional.

CT: You’re hitting the nail on the head. All of that before I stepped foot onstage. The second I’m in the costume, I’m that character. I was very present. I’m Hermione. I wasn’t thinking about me at all. When Skylar [Brandt] entered the stage after the third-act pas de deux—she’s Hermione’s daughter—and I did notice more of an emotional response in that moment than I have had in the past. I wonder to myself now if it’s because there was a bit of—in the story, it’s, Oh my god, I didn’t know you existed and I thought I had lost you, and I’m so happy you’re in front of me. But in that moment, it’s me and Herman and Skylar, and she and I had a little bit of an energetic exchange where I’m holding her hand and thinking to myself, I’m going to miss you. That made me well up a little bit. That moment doesn’t usually have that emotional response. And with Herman, I just adore him so much.

Cassandra Trenary and Herman Cornejo embracing after her farewell performance. Photo by Claudia Bauer.

CB: The final pas de deux between you and Herman was so poignant, having seen the two of you dance together so many times. And when Skylar came on, it was this feeling that here are these three people who know each other so well and have danced together for so long, and they all know what’s happening right now.

CT: It will undoubtedly be there, whether we’re thinking about it or not in the ballet or the characters. I felt such a tenderness from Herman. It felt like just enjoying the trust that exists. It takes years to build. And those two characters are finding a way to trust again. It was a beautiful way to honor our time together. To tell you the truth, I think I felt more intensely in this work with he and I. Because that piece, particularly the third act, is about saying goodbye. So I found myself getting a bit more caught up emotionally onstage because the lines between what’s actually happening and what’s happening to the characters was fuzzier.

CB: That’s really interesting. That pas really is about reconciliation and hope for the future, and while it was sad because we all knew what was happening in real life, there’s also this positive energy around it. That’s different, now that you mention it, from ending on Romeo & Juliet, or another work where you have to enact grief and loss.

CT: Woolf Works was very cathartic for that because I found myself being able to exist in the experience that I’m in right now. I love what you said about Winter’s Tale, because we don’t know what the future holds, and I will always have such a strong bond to all of these artists and partners. And it is nice to end on a hopeful note and celebrating our partnership [with Herman], and the partnership I have with James [Whiteside], and everybody that was onstage. It was kind of surreal for me to be acknowledged in Winter’s Tale, because it is such a full-company performance, with a big cast and a lot of principal dancers. It was uncomfortable for me because I wondered to myself, If it were Romeo & Juliet or Giselle, would I be able to accept this response from the audience? It was so impactful and felt so generous. So unexpected for me.

CB: The ovations went on for at least fifteen minutes, but you were so composed, taking it in with such poise.

CT: Honestly, it was mostly because I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that so many people came. It wasn’t something that we had advertised, so anyone who came really came because they wanted to see me off. For that, it was very, very moving. I didn’t know how to respond. I felt unworthy and also just so grateful. I didn’t really know what to do with myself [laughs].

CB: You improvised like a pro—you were so composed.

CT: I looked at Herman, and I was like, I don’t know what to do! [laughs] And James was like, Go bow again!

Cassandra Trenary taking her final bows on July 5. Photo by Claudia Bauer.

CB: It was very sweet.

CT: It really was. I’ve been trying to receive it, and receive the love, which is a challenge. But I am so grateful. To have gotten to share that night with good friends was immensely special. I felt like I was watching a movie of someone else’s life. I don’t think a lot of people—maybe no one—has come up through the school, become a principal dancer, and then decided to go somewhere else. Recognizing that the time that I’ve spent here has made some sort of impact has been a really fulfilling thing to experience.

CB: Let’s look to the future. What crossroads did you get to, that made you want to take this new path?

CT: If I’m being honest, I think the desire to explore beyond ABT has always kind of been there, clearly through the fact that I do so many other projects and put myself out there in different ways. Also, I’m curious about Europe. I always thought a project would take me there. But when I fractured my rib last year doing Woolf Works, I ended up losing the rest of my season … Romeo & Juliet, Like Water for Chocolate, and celebrating Herman’s twenty-fifth anniversary. I was so crushed, in a way that I couldn’t quite understand. I found myself thinking about the time I have left. In ABT’s structure at the moment, there are a lot of principals, and there aren’t a lot of performances. I thought to myself, What are the things that I want to accomplish in classical ballet? I imagine I’ll be dancing for a long time, but realistically, these are years that are prime. I felt that desire to be onstage way, way more, and to explore different kinds of rep. I had also gone through a breakup, and I kind of wanted to start over somewhere. There’s all this life and career bubbling. I was feeling a bit stuck. So I thought to myself, What can I do about this? I’ve always admired Alessandra so much as a person and a dancer, and through conversations with mentors inside and outside of ballet, I was like, I feel like I need to try something new. I thought of approaching Alessandra about being a guest in Vienna. I thought maybe I’ll do a bunch of guestings and try to get all the repertoire under my belt that way. I had just done Don Q[uixote] in Urugay and I was feeling really revved up to dance. I think I was really recognizing that it was time for a change. But that comes with so much fear, because ABT is ABT, and New York is New York, and the thought of leaving was so terrifying. Alessandra and I have known each other for a long time, and she’s always been very encouraging of me. It was a few months of healing my rib, and healing my heart, and talking to people who have made moves like this—and people who wished they had made moves like this. At the end of the day, I was just going by what my inner desire was. Getting a sense of what the company will look like and what Alessandra hopes to accomplish with it, it feels like this is an exciting time. I think she’s gonna be an incredible coach and director for me to zero in on what I have to offer this art form. I’m looking forward to experiencing what kind of growth will take place, not just in my time onstage but in life, and experiencing another country and another lifestyle. I feel invigorated by starting fresh. I’m sure it’s gonna be hard, and a little lonely, and maybe there might be some boredom as I’m starting to build a new community. But you know when you make a decision and you feel a sense of release rather than anxiety? That’s where I ended up. There’s not a doubt in my mind that this is the right step, and I’m excited to give it a show.

CB: What kinds of roles do you anticipate in Vienna? They have an interesting mix—including Alexei Ratmansky’s Callirhoe, stuff that’s already familiar to you.

CT: I’m so grateful for that! There’s gonna be so much unfamiliar, that to do at least some familiar things is gonna be very comforting.

CB: Artistically, your wish list is huge. What are you hoping to do over the next, say, five years?

CT: That’s a big question. I think the good thing about being in Europe is there are a lot of galas. I’ve already had the offer to do Black Swan pas de deux somewhere—I’ve never danced it. Simple things—ways to gather the repertoire. Within the company, their rep is really vast, and I’m looking forward to getting to dance [John] Neumeier’s work, Rolant Petit, and more MacMillan, and Cranko. We’re doing Giselle next year, she’s bringing Alexei, and there’s a desire to create new repertoire. I’m curious about working with new choreographers on that side of the globe. Manon is a bucket-list role for me, so I’m really excited about that. And there’s gonna be an American evening—Justin Peck’s going to be there, and I haven’t really worked with him at all, and Pam Tanowitz, I haven’t danced Pam’s work at all. I have a dream to take on Swan Lake one day. The big narrative works have always been something I’ve wanted to take on—and not just once every three years, but many times over the course of my career.

CB: I see Alessandra as such a role model—I’m not a professional dancer, so not in that way, but as a person, as a woman. I think working with her will be good for you in a lot of ways.

CT: I think so, too. She’s been very caring, very honest, very human in our communications, and she’s not interested in hiding the fact that she, too, is gonna be learning on the job. But she is already exhibiting herself as a strong leader in the way that she has fought for more resources to be going to the ballet in the opera house and created a really beautiful inaugural program, with a lot of new stuff for the audience and for the dancers. She really doesn’t have an ego in the studio when you’re working with here; she’s very interested in just passing knowledge that was given to her and bringing ballet forward through the ways we perform the classics. We got in the studio for Woolf Works and Giselle, and it was so nice to feel like I could bring my ideas into the space. Giselle is the first thing I’m performing in Vienna, on September 19. I did the entrance, and she was so lovely and so encouraging of what I was doing with it. She said, “It’s all there and so honest and natural, and all I would say is just remember that … the only way to keep these ballets relevant is to infuse a truth into the approach to them. I might come with a more naturalistic quality, but we can still build into that a classical vocabulary and the way you hold yourself onstage so that it doesn’t look like 2025.” The way that we communicate with our bodies is so different today. I didn’t feel like I had to change the way I was, it was simply adding another layer. In the classics there’s a little bit of an internal battle there for me. I’m so excited to keep building the roles that I already have in my repertoire with her, but also taking new things on.

CB: One of the things I admire most about her is the way that she has found longevity in her career. The more maturity you have, the more you bring to your art, and I just love that she—maybe it’s a woman thing, and a woman of a certain age, who feel like they just have to step aside.

CT: Yeah, like, “I’m not valuable anymore.”

CB: Yeah. And she’s like, “No, actually, I am. And I’m going to continue to do this.” I love that about her.

CT: And people continue to ask her to show up in the way that she is. Woolf Works is a perfect example. Wayne [McGregor] tapped her and said, I really need you specifically, a grounded presence, a woman in her fifties at the time, to excavate who this woman is. She was the same age as Virginia Woolf at the time. To your point, only somebody with the experience of being an artist of that age, having lived a whole life—only someone like that could create the work in the way that it was. Even when I approached the role, we were constantly talking about how I can’t put on wisdom and experience that I don’t have, so we’re not even going to try to appear a caricature of a 53-year-old woman. But what can we drop in and layer and pull from the little wisdom that I have as a woman in her thirties? In this art form, more often than not, it’s like if you can’t do all the rep, you shouldn’t be doing it at all. When, in fact, there should be more rep built for women specifically of different ages, to bring their gift. It’s so much more compelling to see that onstage and, in turn, to allow women to see themselves onstage and feel that they have value. I know that a lot of people appreciate her for it.

CB: When you look back at your 15-year-old self, is there any advice or wisdom you would want that you to know?

CT: Be okay with not knowing anything. Be okay with approaching every day like you’re a beginner at it. Because there’s so much pressure put on being perfect at this technique, and this feeling that the stakes are so high, that I could often get very discouraged. Like, why can’t I do that? Or why aren’t I better? But when I’m really doing my best, it’s when I am able to take my ego out of it completely and approach every day like I am trying it for the first time, and I am exploring something rather than judging myself. To tell you the truth, I feel like at 15 I had a lot more of that already. I felt like I had a sense of play, and trying everything without feeling like it was impossible. And to keep a sense of wonder. I would tell myself that time goes by very fast—I’m talking to myself right now. And remember that it really is a gift to get to do this.

CB: That does sound like wisdom for yourself right now. And it sounds like what led you to this was wanting to recapture that, as you are now. We all go through the pathways of our lives, and we can lose sight of things that are authentic for us. It feels to me like you’re seeking to feel something that’s new, but also authentic to you.

CT: It’s true. We’ll see where it takes me!

Follow @cassandratrenary on Instagram. And to learn more about Cassandra Trenary, read Marina Harss’s 2022 cover story for Dance Magazine and their recent conversation on Harss’s Dancing Around Substack.