Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Herman
Stephanie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was brought up in a lovely NYC apartment on a gentrified avenue just a block away from a hotel filled with drug addicts and prostitutes. My public junior high school was filled with frustrated, angry teens whose only communication was to fight.. I hid my fears by pretending I was strong. Standing tall as if it didn’t have a care in the world.
It was at my JHS Gym period in the midst of hormonal crunch sweating teens when Mrs. Roberts, the gym teacher walked over to my mid crunch to invite me to her after school ballet group? With my stomach stuck in a tight crunch I responded, “ok.”
At 3:30pm, as I walked into the ballet group my eyes widened watching Erica twirl on her tippy points. Amazed I had to ask her where she learned to dance. Her response was “School of American Ballet.” I ran home that day excited to ask my mother to sign me up to that school.
Little did I know that was the best ballet school in the world. It was part of George Balanchine’s NYC Ballet Company.
I had to audition and the second I walked through those doors I was mesmerized into a new world. A ballet world where they taught you how to be strong, graceful, and beautiful.
For the next 7 years I was a scholarship student there while auditioning for High School of Performing Arts. I was destined to become a ballerina.
Every year I grew an extra inch in height till my 5’10” was too tall to join in the corps de ballet – where you need to be the same height as everyone – my world was broken. I was not getting into any other ballet company. What to do if weren’t a ballerina? But luck came my way when I was accepted into Balanchine’s 2nd company in Geneva Switzerland. It was there that I became a principal Ballerina
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As you know my height played a role getting me into a ballet company. But once in the company I soared till I fell and injured my knee. I went back to NYC.to recuperate I felt positive that I would heal and get back to dancing but my mother’s fears of my destiny was overbearing. She kept insisting I go to college instead, think of. building a new career, but I had the dancing bug in my soul- I had to dance
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I was a Principal Ballerina, even after my injury I was able to get back to my illustrious career., dancing the world with luminaries such as Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov.. but like a football player , ballerina’s are bound to get injured- so once again I found myself wearing sneakers instead of toe shoes. It was then that destiny brought me to Carola Trier. The first disciple of Joseph Pilates. Not only did she heal me but made me stronger then before . Now at the age of 73, I am also a healer for other injured souls. Plus I have my own TV Show, The Stephanie Herman Show, and I am still dancing, choreographing, being a good role model for the aging.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I have just finished writing my Memoir after the huge success of “Ballerina, A One Woman Play”, which was also filmed and won 8 Film Festival Awards.
My Memoir now in the final editing stage, so I imagine the next 6 months to be working on re-editing while continuing to teach and heal others. Once I’m finished editing I will try to find an agent that can help publish it and get it to film- I would like to be a major part of the film production and possibly act and dance in it too.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.PilatesBallet.com
- Instagram: [email protected]
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PilatesSH/
- Twitter: [email protected]
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/sherman1dancer
- Yelp:
- Other: Ballerina A One Women Play https://youtu.be/GorYu3NTc4I
Image Credits
Azita Gandjei fir the portrait