A large audience welcomed Megan Fairchild, jury member of the Budapest Ballet Grand Prix (BBGP) and prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet at the Libri Allee Bookshop. The former Broadway star spoke informally about her profession and her book The Ballerina Mindset, which is now also available in Hungarian.
The book-signing event was organised by Hungarian Dance University and the Budapest Ballet Grand Prix. Tamás Nagy, competition director of the BBGP and former distinguished ballet artist spoke with Megan Fairchild, whose book is best understood through its subtitle: How to Protect Your Mental Health While Striving for Excellence?
Photos by Pál Csillag
The acclaimed ballerina did not show any sign of having landed just a few hours earlier, and she answered the questions with incredible warmth and engaging detail — questions that mainly concerned her unique yet highly successful and still active career.
„For a long time, I didn’t know what to do after my children were born, but then I quickly realized that I still had plenty to learn. When I’m at home, I focus on my children and household matters, but at work, in the company, the work really comes first — there I no longer have time for meditation. It is very important to learn how to spare your body and when to lay off if needed. There were times when I couldn’t dance for two weeks, and during those periods I didn’t force myself to move. This also brings a kind of mental relaxation, because ballet involves serious stress and challenge. It is also important that if we cannot use our bodies for a while, we should not stress about it, because after proper rest everything returns to normal again.”
The author of the book also spoke about the various tools she uses to help her stay in shape, such as meditation.
“The transcendental meditation I practice is extremely simple — you repeat a two-syllable word throughout. It’s enough to learn it once, and after that it’s easy to use. Its essence is to create silence in your mind. I learned it from my uncle when I was going through a more difficult period. It literally changed my life. Although I don’t write about this in my book, it also changed the course of my relationships a lot. It has helped me make important decisions in every moment and realize what I really want.”
The book launch concluded with a signing session and informal conversation. Before that, however, on her way to the Meet the Jury event, Megan Fairchild also referred to the Budapest Ballet Grand Prix, which will truly begin on Tuesday at the National Dance Theatre, and where she will serve as a juror at a major international competition for the first time in her career. Yet she did not speak about this or about the participants’ perspectives.
Megan Fairchild with Hungarian Dance University’s rector, Márta Fodorné Molnár
“It is important for the competitors to view the BBGP as practice, because ballet as an art form is already stressful in itself — let alone a competition. In a ballet company, you are exposed to competition every single day; in my case, I personally have to keep up with twenty-year-old dancers, but along the way you learn how to perform under intense pressure. In fact, it can be even more stressful when I have to dance in front of my boss or my colleagues during a rehearsal. This time, however, I will be the one to evaluate others’ performances, which I am excited about. It is important for me to emphasize that I want to be supportive for the competitors and share my experience with them, rather than put pressure on them.”
The full program of the Budapest Ballet Grand Prix is available here.
The book is available here.
