Interview with Ballet Dancer Sascha Paar - Part III

Q: Which aims are there for the future, for your personal career?

A: This year I wanted to find a company where I feel they need me and want me. I am now dancer at the Oper Chemnitz (s. photo above). I am learning a lot and I feel very good here. I am young, some day I want to pass the knowledge I have got to help to create something new. To be dancer is part of my life but I want to become director of a ballet company or choreograph. I love teaching. To be a good teacher it needs much experience. When I am in Graz I often teach in the ballet school where I try to impart my knowledge. There is nothing better than to work with people who want to improve. It is not easy to find good teachers in our profession. It seems that nowadays nobody knows what kind of support the student needs to become dancer. I only had two excellent teachers, one is Karl Reinisch. He made me understand that there is an idea behind every exercise and that one has to build on this base. You cannot start with the roof when you are building a house.

Q: And now a very important question: to be able to put all your plans into action one has to be healthy and fit. Do you eat healthy food?

A: When I am training I try to eat balanced. That means: proteins, fruits and good acids in the morning. To get power and energy for the day. For lunch I am always taking carbohydrates as it is a good time that they become metabolised during the rest of the day. In the evening I like to have fish or meat with vegetables. I am cooking myself, I love this process. My family have a garden with lots of vegetables and fruits. They have always cooked for us. – I love drinking smoothies. My favourites are the green with spinach and celery.

Q: What is the biggest challenge in the life of a dancer? To stay healthy and fit? What do you miss most?

A: I miss so many things from my family and friends. I have a younger brother I miss very often. I am thinking of him every day. And yes, it is a very hard job with your body. To force yourself every morning to go to the training even if every part of the body is hurting … It happened very often that I was insured and was even though dancing a performance as it was important for my career. Usually you get used to the body work. But it is very difficult for me to stand the pressure, to always be perfect and to perform as perfect as possible. I am a perfectionist with all the advantage and disadvantage there is.

Q: What are your aims for the future?

A: I want to be able to inspire the people as my teachers did to me – to be a person reliable as a dancer and as a person on whom one can model herself/himself.