Abilene 'Nutcracker' alum earns permanent job with Paris Ballet

Greg Jaklewicz, Abilene Reporter-News
·4 min read
From left, Piper Wright as a toy soldier, and bunnies Hattie McSherry and June Parker, right, take their spots during curtain call practice Wednesday at the Paramount Theatre. The trio are among more than 120 in the casts that four times will present "The Nutcracker" this weekend.
From left, Piper Wright as a toy soldier, and bunnies Hattie McSherry and June Parker, right, take their spots during curtain call practice Wednesday at the Paramount Theatre. The trio are among more than 120 in the casts that four times will present "The Nutcracker" this weekend.

It has been a few years - more than 12, for sure - since Alexander Maryianowski has been in an Abilene Ballet Theatre performance of "The Nutcracker."

He may be long gone from the Paramount Theatre, where the annual holiday production begins Friday, but he certainly is not forgotten.

Maryianowski spent about a year in Abilene during COVID-19, not sure what his future would be with Paris Opera Ballet. He was invited to return to again audition as an independent contractor, with continuing hopes of landing a permanent spot in the company.

He has been back in France for about 18 months.

More:Ballet dancer Alexander Maryianowski taking career, COVID-19 one step at a time

"But this year, they were giving away a lifetime contract with the company," his mother, Sophia, said during a break in "Nutcracker" rehearsal Wednesday evening. She and her husband, Richard, again are in the ballet, appearing in the beginning party scene.

"They come every so often," she said of the open auditions for a lifetime contract, usually when a performer retires.

"He said he was going to audition for that," she said.

He was assigned a solo dance of more than a minute by the artistic staff, not one of his choice.

Alexander practiced for about five weeks "in addition to the time he was working full time," Sophia said.

In early July, he presented his dance at Palais Garnier, the older theater of two for Paris Opera Ballet. It's an international audition, and, Sophia said, 230 men danced before nine to 14 judges who mostly are advanced dancers in the company.

Alexander Maryianowski performs as guest instructor for ballet students at Abilene Christian University in October 2020, when he was home in Abilene from Paris due the pandemic. He spent about a year here, often teaching others including students at Abilene Ballet Theatre, for which he once performed.
Alexander Maryianowski performs as guest instructor for ballet students at Abilene Christian University in October 2020, when he was home in Abilene from Paris due the pandemic. He spent about a year here, often teaching others including students at Abilene Ballet Theatre, for which he once performed.

"He made all the final cuts, and I think the last group was 20 to 30," she said.

Before a panel of judges, including the artistic director, he danced to music. And that was it.

"There's no audience, there's no costume, there's nothing," she said. As for the dance that's required. "They're always hard, And they're always Russian."

Seven judges have to agree that one dancer's performance is the best.

"That is what he was going for," she said, beaming. "And he won.

"Isn't that amazing that he beat all those other people?"

There also was a similar award for a female dancer.

What that means is that Alexander will be on stage in Paris for the remainder of his dance career. For a male, that usually is age 42, his mother, Sophia, said.

According to internet information on Paris Opera Ballet, about 95% of the company is French. So an American joining the team as a full-time performer is quite an accomplishment.

And, she said, many dancers have trained since they were young, determined to be proteges and given the opportunity to hone this skill.

"We didn't think he was interested in doing anything like this until he was 13 or 14," mom said of Alexander. "So why would we? So the fact that he even placed in this international competition in the (final) 30 is amazing."

Alexander was so proud that, well, he didn't tell mom. She was in Europe to visit a sister and traveled to Paris to see him dance "A Mid-Summer's Night Dream." That's when he told her.

"I didn't know until I got there that he received it," she said, laughing. "He was beside himself. I almost fell off my chair. We were in a restaurant. "

Sophia Maryianowski and her husband, Richard, annually perform in "The Nutcracker" as guests at winter party that turns magical. Their son, Alexander, once danced in the holiday ballet and this year earned a lifetime company position with Paris Opera Ballet.
Sophia Maryianowski and her husband, Richard, annually perform in "The Nutcracker" as guests at winter party that turns magical. Their son, Alexander, once danced in the holiday ballet and this year earned a lifetime company position with Paris Opera Ballet.

In one performance, he was on stage with 15-20 other dancers, she said. But in the next performance, due to an injury, he was in a featured role, one of six dancers on stage.

"He was front and center, so you could see him much better," she said.

"It's just opportunities and do you know the routines."

Alexander is the corps de ballet, comprised of the dancers who are not principals or soloists yet permanently part of a ballet company.

The Paris company has three levels, and it's now up to Alexander to move up to a higher level.

"He will be offered many, many different parts," Sophia said. "How advanced they will be will depend."

Roles are being assigned now for "Swan Lake," which is this year's holiday season performance from mid-December through early January. Alexander will learn several roles, mostly in group settings since that is most common in that production.

Nancy Gore and Lisa Gore-Etter , the mother-daughter duo who operates Abilene Ballet Theatre, are thrilled with the news that a teen who left Abilene at 15 to train more seriously, eventually landing a contract with Boston Ballet's second company before Paris, has succeeded at this level.

He started ballet here as a young boy, Nancy Gore noted. And look where he is today.

It may never happen again, they agreed after rehearsal.

"There are probably a very, very small number of ballet schools in America who have ever had one of their former students receive a lifetime contract with the Paris Opera Ballet," Nancy Gore said. "Alexander has worked incredibly hard and never lost sight of his goal to be a dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet. For a small ballet company in Abilene, we all feel so extremely proud of Alexander and his accomplishment.

"He is an inspiration to everyone to follow your dreams."

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene 'Nutcracker' alum earns permanent job with Paris Ballet