Dancer fits the slipper in ‘Cinderella’

Like the pirouettes she performs on stage, IU ballet major Lauren Fadeley’s life is an endless swirl of movement. Devoting over six hours a day, five days a week to her craft, Fadeley is all-too-familiar with squeezing in classes from morning to night. As a senior, she now spends weekends auditioning for professional companies as well, all while preparing to play the lead and the autumn fairy in IU Ballet Theater’s production of “Cinderella” later this month.\n“You’re very tired all the time. Your body hurts,” Fadeley said. “But in the end, it’s all worth it.”\nFadeley’s life became busy long before college. Dancing since she was 4 years old, she moved to New York City at age 15 to attend the School of American Ballet. One year later, the New York City Ballet selected her for membership.\nJuggling high school and a professional job was difficult for Fadeley. She said the experience was wonderful, but suffering a broken foot made her realize a dancing career does not last forever. She decided to come to IU, where she could get a college degree while dancing in the nation’s top collegiate ballet program. \n “I moved to New York, so I really didn’t have a normal high school experience. I had a full-time job,” Fadeley said. “That’s why it was kind of nice to come to college and be able to do both at the same time … and be a little bit normal for once.”\nFadeley also said she likes that the university atmosphere provides opportunities to perform lead parts in ballets, roles she would not get in a professional dance company. In a company, preparation time for a show is much shorter as well. Professional dancers have to perform a role after two weeks of preparation. For “Cinderella,” Fadeley has practiced two months. \nDespite the longer preparation time, Fadeley said rehearsing for “Cinderella” is not always easy. Accustomed to taking powerful roles, she has had to pace herself and dance in a more classical, subdued manner for the show. Learning to act has also presented its challenges. \n“Normally when you dance, you just go out and dance, whereas this is to tell a story,” said Fadeley. “With me a lot of times, with the stepsisters, I was acting more upset whereas (the choreographers) were telling me, you’re just supposed to kind of be ‘oh well,’ very complacent.”\nDavid Levy, a senior ballet major, will play the Prince in “Cinderella.” Having worked with her almost a year now, he said Fadeley is a sharp, energetic person. \n“It’s really rare to find someone that you click with physically, where you can communicate physically with them,” said Levy. “It’s really nice to find someone where you don’t have to communicate verbally.”\nAfter finishing “Cinderella” and graduating from IU, Fadeley plans to feed her love of performing by re-entering the professional dance world. She said she would also like to be a physical therapist for dancers and is considering teaching as well. \n“I definitely want to stay affiliated with ballet,” Fadeley said. “I’ve done it my whole life. It’s the one thing I know.”