Why Dance? | Sam Opsal
Why Dance? We asked some of our instructors and dancers with the Ballet 5:8 Professional Company a few questions about they love dance and what they’ve gained from their dance training… and here are the answers!
Sam Opsal
Samuel Opsal (known as Mr. Sam to our students!) is a Company Artist with the Ballet 5:8 and an instructor with Ballet 5:8 of the Arts. He started dancing at the age of 16 in Pullman, WA. In 2014 he received a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts, graduating magna cum laude. While attending Cornish he was granted multiple awards for academic and artistic achievement. After college Samuel worked with Iyun Harrison’s Ashani Dances in Seattle and then moved to Pittsburgh to train in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Graduate Program. His performances include PBT’s Le Corsaire, Sleeping Beauty, and La Bayadere. As a guest artist he has performed principal roles in Giselle, Firebird, and Swan Lake. In 2015 he also had the opportunity to choreograph a duet that was performed by PBT’s ensemble group. Samuel joined Ballet 5:8 in 2016 and has since performed a variety of roles with the company including Dimmesdale in Julianna Rubio Slager’s Scarlet and Frank in Slager’s The Space in Between.
Why did you start ballet?
The short answer would be that I was asked by the director of the dance school where my siblings danced to be part of The Sleeping Beauty production. So at the age of 16 with no dance experience I performed multiple roles in The Sleeping Beauty. In many ways the question then becomes why I said yes. There were several aspects that I already appreciated about ballet including performing, athleticism and conveying a message without words. All of that interested me to start, as well as the family aspect that all my siblings were already dancing, even my dad was playing a character part in the show.
Why did you stay?
For the following production I was again asked to perform, but this time instead of just rehearsals I was offered to take class as well. Since then ballet class has been a key element of why I stayed. Finding joy in the consistent hard work of class kept me pursuing dance as a career. For myself just enjoying performance is not enough, that is just 2 hours every so often, it has to do with liking to work hard in class, finding creativity in the choreographic process and pushing to achieve the best possible work in rehearsals. All those aspects combined kept me motivated to stay with dance even when it was difficult.
On a separate note, while I was starting dance I really enjoyed playing Ultimate frisbee and once I was in ballet class I noticed I could jump higher. In the beginning ballet was a way to be better at Ultimate, though as the years passed Ultimate then became a way to improve my cardio for ballet.
What have you learned?
Throughout over 10 years of dancing, including a college degree, it is fair to say I have learned a lot. From obscure ballet history facts to a detailed knowledge of anatomy the things I have learned while dancing cover a broad range. To boil it down to a couple of concise points I would say that I have learned to control my body while moving in many different ways and maintain discipline and work ethic even when times are tough. These aspects have impacted other areas in my life from my overall fitness to the way I approach work in general, as I have held several jobs before becoming a professional dancer.
What aspects of ballet do you love best?
There are many things that I love about ballet. From watching dance I appreciate the ways that strength is demonstrated in a way that appears graceful and effortless. In terms of the form of ballet I enjoy the structure and logic behind it, with each step flowing from one to the next. And finally, I do enjoy just dancing ballet! From the the feeling of flying in a jump, weightlessness in a turn or the sensation that my limbs are reaching endlessly in a slow arabesque, all of these are elements of dancing that I am drawn to. I do not feel all those sensations on a daily basis but the effort and drive to pursue consistency in those areas is yet one more thing I love about ballet.