The Life He Almost Walked Away From

Reed Henry is 22 years old, and he has already experienced the kind of rejection that almost made him rewrite his future.

Today, he dances with the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago — one of the most respected ballet companies in the world — and appears in Étoile, Amy and Dan Palladino's new Amazon Prime series. Four months of filming meant 5:30 a.m. call times and spending hours perfecting thirty seconds of choreography for the camera.

What is now his life and his passion, is the thing he almost gave up on. 

At fifteen, Reed decided dancing was the only thing he wanted to do, the dream. At some point after that, rejection nearly convinced him otherwise. He almost walked away. A school director pushed him to try one more time, and the Joffrey said yes.

We spoke to Reed about rejection, performing with injuries, what ballet actually looks like behind the curtain, and why a new generation might be falling in love with it again.

Picture by Carolyn McCabe

When did you realise it was your biggest dream to become a ballet dancer?

I think I decided that I really wanted to make ballet my career when I was about 15 years old, when I was doing all of the big ballet competitions, and finally auditioning for bigger ballet schools that would eventually lead into a ballet company. Even though once I got into one of those bigger schools, it was hard for me to decide if that was what I wanted to do with my career, because it was so vigorous — so it was quite difficult navigating that. 

You moved to New York to San Francisco and then to Chicago because you were hired by the Joffrey Ballet. What does the Joffrey mean to you specifically, and why that company?

I think that the universe brought me to the Joffrey Ballet. I was really struggling with not getting a job at the San Francisco Ballet, and not knowing if ballet was going to be my career path because I felt so defeated by that. But I did get a second chance with the Joffrey, and I took my first season there as a trial, to see if I wanted to be a professional dancer. But then the energy, the company, the artistic staff — it became like a big family to me. And that’s where I realised I wanted to dance, and where I wanted to be for my career.

On rejection — you almost didn't try again. What would you say to someone in that pit?

I’d say even if you do hit a “pit” with your career, I say give it another shot, give it one more try. Because I wasn’t going to, but my school director in San Francisco really pushed me to give it one last try, and I wouldn’t have my career that I have right now if I wouldn’t have done that. I was in a headspace where if it didn’t work out with Joffrey Ballet, I was ready to pursue something else. 

The Joffrey is where I want to be, and I know that I was put there for a reason. I really enjoy the work that I do there, but if it wasn’t for the Joffrey, I don’t know if I would be dancing right now. 

So you’re an uprising star in the ballet world and you’re only 22 years old. What do you wish people your age understood about ballet that they currently don't?

As a young professional ballet dancer, you can feel singled out quite a lot, just because there are so many seasoned dancers in every ballet company. Since I joined the Joffrey at 18, I did feel a little out of place. It’s still kind of scary. 

I wish that people understood that ballet dancers are more than “just a ballet dancer”. They are a person, yes ballet is their job but there is so much more than that. 

There's a conversation happening about whether ballet is becoming irrelevant to younger audiences. Do you feel that in the room when you perform, or is that a myth told by people who aren't in the room?

This is a really big topic of conversation in the ballet world right now: “are younger people going to the ballet, and are the audiences just old and cultured?”.

I think that what Joffrey is doing to encourage younger audiences is, we have a donor circle called the “Joffrey Gen J”, which are the younger donors that enjoy more a kind of a party. instead of a fancy gala dinner. It’s creating a younger community surrounding the ballet, and redefining what the average donor looks like for a ballet company.

How would you describe a ballet dancer in 3 words?

Hardworking, hardworking, hardworking. 

Do you experience a lot of injuries as a professional ballet dancer?

Injuries do happen a lot for ballet dancers, definitely more than a lot of people know. Especially because ballet dancers do dance through injuries, and are getting physical therapy on side — but you would never know on stage.

Picture by Cheryl Mann

How does the theatre deal with injuries, to make sure the spectators still get a performance?

When there are a lot of dancers that are injured, it’s very common for a second or third-cast dancer to be put on the spot or moved up a cast. We consistently have 3 dancers learning each role, just in case something happens, something goes wrong or someone gets injured. 

What do all your ballet and team members have in common?

I’d say they’re all very hardworking. They want the best for the Joffrey, and they want the best for themselves and for their career. So I think it makes for a great little company. 

You recently shot for 4 months for the Amazon Prime series “Étoile”. What surprised you most about performing for a camera versus performing for a room?

Dancing on camera for a small “audience”, compared to dancing on a stage, is worlds different. It was crazy how many different angles we had to get, how many takes we had to do. Sometimes we’d be starting at 5:30 in the morning, and we would film a 30 second dance scene until 11:30AM, over and over again.

How do you think Étoile will land with people who have never set foot in a ballet theater?

I hope that Étoile will land very well with the mainstream TV consumer, and I hope it encourages them to go to the ballet because Étoile is a show made by Amy and Dan Paladino, who are very famous directors and producers. So I hope it lands really well.

How many roles do you have in your repertoire at the moment?

I have a lot of roles in my head, all the time, for every show. Last Saturday when I was performing, I did a total of 9 roles throughout the day, in the show. You have to have many personalities as a ballet dancer.

Who are you when you’re not dancing?

When I’m not dancing I'm playing video games, spending time with my friends, and playing with my cats.

Thank you for having me DEPLÜME MAGAZINE.