Sarasota Ballet principal dancer Danielle Brown retiring after 15 years with company

As she took a graceful bow after performing Gemma Bond’s “The Last Solo” at The Sarasota Ballet’s Royal Gala on April 30, longtime principal dancer Danielle Brown was greeted by cheers from the audience and rarely heard applause from her fellow dancers backstage.

For many in the audience, it seemed like a clear but unspoken sign that after 15 years, Brown was retiring from the company. Nothing was said at the time, but nearly three months later Brown and The Sarasota Ballet have announced that she is indeed stepping away from the stage.

“It’s kind of always on a dancer’s mind their whole career because we know how short the career is,” Brown said in an interview. “I knew I was going to have to do it at some point.”

She had a wake-up call last year when Victoria Hulland, one of her best friends, retired after the previous season. “I felt I still have years left. My body felt good. I felt secure in my dancing.”

But when the company performed at the Joyce Theater last summer, her body began telling her other things.

“That was very hard. I was in every show. 10 shows back to back. I thought the last time we were in New York on tour, I was not this tired, not in this much pain,” she said. “I was usually pretty good with stamina, being determined that nothing will stop me. But I felt this shift in what I was able to do. All season, my bounce back from things wasn’t as fast.”

Brown said she worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep up to her own standards or those of Director Iain Webb and Assistant Director Margaret Barbieri, who she said encouraged her to keep going.

“Maggie and Ian were saying, ‘What are you talking about? You’re crazy.’ They made me feel good that they weren’t noticing any difference. I didn’t want to fall off from what I was able to deliver.”

Joining The Sarasota Ballet

Brown was one of four dancers Webb and Barbieri found on their first audition in New York after they took over leadership of the company in 2007. She eventually became a principal along with the other three – Hulland, Amy Wood (who retired in 2019) and Ricardo Rhodes.

“Since that first moment when we first spotted Danielle’s talent, it has been an amazing journey for these last 15 years,” Webb said in a statement. “It is remarkable to look back and think of all the roles she has danced in her career with us.”

He said while her retirement “leaves a hole in our hearts, she also leaves a legacy for so many of the young dancers in the company to aspire to as an artist and as a person.”

She was initially a member of the corps de ballet in the 2007-08 season and was promoted to principal in 2010 as she worked her way through the company’s wide-ranging repertoire of classic works by Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan, Twyla Tharp and Christopher Wheeldon. She also originated roles in the world premieres of David Bintley’s “A Comedy of Errors,” Will Tuckett’s “Lux Aeterna,” and resident choreographer Ricardo Graziano’s “Amorosa” and “In a State of Weightlessness.”

Herald-Tribune dance critic Carrie Seidman said Brown “never had a classical ballerina look, but she excelled in dramatic roles and had an amazingly fluid upper body. I will truly miss watching her. She was one of the highlights of the company.” Over the years, Seidman has described Brown as “eternally alluring” and “remarkably versatile.”

Barbieri described Brown as an “exceptionally intuitive dancer with an innate sense of style and musicality and the unique ability to infuse her essence into every role.” Barbieri added that “waking up every day and pouring your body and heart into this career isn’t easy, so it is important for the young dancers to see true professionals like Danielle approach the work, day in and day out.”

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Career highlights

Brown said there have been many highlights in her career in Sarasota, such as dancing her dream role of “Giselle.” She also felt that her one performance in the second cast of “Marguerite and Armand” was a rare evening when “I felt I nailed every moment. It was one of the few times I thought this is what a real dancer feels like, like at the Royal Ballet or at ABT at the Met.”

Getting to dance with former American Ballet Theatre star Marcelo Gomes, an occasional guest artist in Sarasota, was another high point. “I grew up watching him. He was this huge star I never thought I would get to meet let alone get to dance with him,” she said. “He was an incredible partner and he taught me so much about myself and my dancing.”

She still glows talking about her performance of Balanchine’s “Diamonds” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

“I had just been promoted to principal, I was very inexperienced, very young, and getting to dance at the Kennedy Center of all places. There were so many big moments in one weekend. I remember right before stepping out on stage I thought I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my life. But I could see everything in my mind. I will take that experience to my grave.”

Brown said she is exploring other interests for the moment, but hopes to stay connected to dance.

“I love ballet. I can’t imagine my life without it at all. It will be really hard without going on teaching or coaching. I would be sad if I couldn’t do that. I wouldn’t feel myself or complete without it.” She has temporarily stayed away from classes since making her decision because “I need a little time to just accept the new reality and heal from being so sad about it.”

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Danielle Brown is retiring after 15 years with The Sarasota Ballet