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“So I asked her, ‘Would you like to take the job? If you would, I will step down this year.’ I was planning for one more year, to give the [board of directors] time to find a new artist director, or maybe give her time to finish in Europe. But she had already finished before we offered, so that was the opportunity for me to be able to run away... or dance away.”
Speaking from his Vancouver home, Wang politely refuses to compare their directorial styles. “I can’t. We’re all different. You don’t want somebody copying me, putting their feet in my shoes. She has her own shoes, right? And if you wear someone else’s shoes, you might trip.”
Wicklund says Wang was always a “great presence” in the dance community, someone all the dancers looked up to. “And the way he has approached leading the company, I think it’s very beautiful to witness. I was very honoured that he would think of me for this position.”
With a career-length average on par with professional athletes, ballet dancers typically see their final curtain calls in
their mid-to-late 30s. Legendary dancer Martha Graham once said that “a dancer dies twice — once when they stop dancing, and this first death is more painful.”
But Wicklund, who dances every day, doesn’t see this as any kind of retirement. And she doesn’t view the stage as sacro- sanct as some might suspect.
“For me, stage time can be very magical and very transformative. The exchange inside of live performance is like nothing else. But those are kind of icing-on-the-cake moments for me. The real root of what I do is in the studio with the dancers around me, and the growth that happens day to day, week to week, process to process.
“That’s what I think of when I think about what I do. And I think if you don’t love that as an artist, it’s gonna be a slow, painful career.”
Even with her extensive experience, the excitement in Wicklund’s voice sounds like she’s just getting started. All that’s left now is to get moving. ED.
40 EDify. OCTOBER.24