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Lauren Fadeley and Francis Veyette, of the 700 block of South Marvine Street, were paired years ago as dancers for the Pennsylvania Ballet. They met, fell in love and were engaged a year ago.
“It was my first year in the company and he’d been in the company for awhile,” Fadeley, 25, said. “It was a three-minute piece and they put me with Francis. We were rehearsing together all day and fell in love and it’s been fun pretty much ever since. Then we haven’t gotten to dance together again.”
Instead, the two are dancing the principals in Tchaikovsky’s classical “Swan Lake,” separately.
“My fiancé is doing it with one of the soloist. We are going through the experience together, just not dancing together,” Fadeley, who is dancing Odette/Odile in the evening performances, while Veyette will do his best Prince interpretation for the matinee crowds, said. “It’s fun because we are in rehearsal all day long together.”
Opening at the Academy of Music today, this is the third time the Pennsylvania Ballet has put on “Swan Lake,” and Fadeley will be taking the stage with the original dancer it was choreographed for by Christopher Wheeldon. For Veyette, an 11-year vet of the troupe, this is his second time in the Philadelphia version of the piece.
“Yes, absolutely, this is a very demanding role, in a rather interesting way. This is a full-length classical ballet. These are the steps we’ve been taught to do since we’ve been taking dance, and as a partner since the time you start learning partnering,” Veyette, 30, said. “It’s very straightforward, but on the other hand there is a huge difference between doing it and doing it well.”
The production comes on the heels of this year’s wildly popular “Black Swan,” whose leading actress, Natalie Portman, nabbed a Best Actress win at Sunday’s Oscars. While the movie has drummed up excitement about the PA Ballet’s performances, it was put on the company’s schedule before the film began production. Interestingly, the performers are connected to the film in a much deeper way.
“I find I like it better than most of the full-length classical ballets … it’s always fascinated me and then I was in ‘Black Swan’ the movie as one of the extras in it,” Fadeley, who spent three weeks in January 2010 shooting the film at SUNY-Purchase in New York with other members of the company, said. “I’ve been on a ‘Swan Lake’ kick for a while now. It’s fun to be actually playing that part.”
In a case of life imitating art Fadeley is a core dancer who was plucked — due to several pregnant principals — for the chance to dance the lead.
“I am definitely nervous for the whole scale of it, the stamina. It’s not just going out and doing your one part, it’s four acts of different parts and different characters,” Fadeley said. “It’s just funny because when I first found out I was doing this, I was the living ‘Black Swan’ — a young core dancers planning to be this part. They call me Nina and stuff.”
The real “Nina,” or at least the actress who portrayed her, Portman, was a dedicated participant in filming, attending warm-up classes with Fadeley and all the extras every morning. Now that rehearsal for the live version is in full-swing Veyette and Fadeley are gearing up for their debut.
“I mean, we help each other as best we can. We give each other notes and moral support. It’s nice when either one of us gets frustrated to have the other one there to calm us down,” Veyette, whose brother is a principal in the New York City Ballet, said.
The couple is a transplant to the area, having lived in their Hawthorne home for two years. Fadeley, a Florida native, found her way to Philadelphia four years ago after studying ballet and kinesiology at Indiana University. Veyette, who joined the PA Ballet at age 17, left in ’05 to dance in Kansas before returning in ’07 to his original company.
“We love our home. We are so close to the grocery store and Whole Foods. Everybody on our block knows each other,” Veyette, who is originally from California, said. “We are close to parks and stuff like that. We have a 160-pound mastiff and we get to walk him all over the place. We are close to the Italian Market. We love the neighborhood.”
One drawback of their new city is the distance from family, with Veyette’s kin unable to attend “Swan Lake,” due to two planned trips for Veyette and Fadeley’s wedding along with his brother Andrew Veyette and Megan Fairchild’s nuptials in the same year. Fadeley’s family, however, will be jetting in from Florida for their daughter’s debut.
“My mom said, ‘This is what you’ve been dreaming of since you were a little girl.’ I am really excited they are going to be there,” Fadeley, who had trouble reserving tickets for her family due to high demand, said. “No mater what happens, they will be proud and happy for me. Even if I fall on my face, my parents will still love it.”
In addition to mom, dad and brother, there will be another fan at each performance.
“I won’t miss a show of hers and she won’t miss mine either,” Veyette said.
Long rehearsals and encouraging words are all the couple is thinking of leading up to opening night. Later this year, NYC Ballet and “Black Swan” choreographer Benjamin Millepied — also Portman’s fiancé — will be coming to town to put together a piece for the company. Perhaps the couple will get lucky again.
“She and I love dancing together. Any chance we ever get in the future would be more than welcome,” Veyette said. “When we are in rehearsals together on a break, if we have questions, we ask each other. Then, we’ll dance together. I would definitely like to do more in the future.” SPR
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