INTERVIEW – Ryan Tomash has been on a year’s leave of absence from the Royal Danish Ballet, performing with New York City Ballet, first as a soloist but very quickly followed by a promotion to principal dancer. In the one year, he’s been in New York he’s become a star within the company and danced the full repertoire. Is he coming back to Copenhagen once his leave is up? I met Tomash outside the David H. Koch Theatre after seeing him perform the male lead in Christopher Wheeldon’s “Continuum”, partnering New York City Ballets leading ballerina, Mira Nadon.

I first saw you as Armand in 2019 and you’ve also done other Neumeier ballets that were such a perfect fit that I’ve often thought, if he’s going to go somewhere else, he’s going to John Neumeier. He’s going to Hamburg. What made you go to New York City Ballet, and how did that happen?

I think in my deciding to take leave and find a new home for a little while, I was actually looking for something that was different from what I was used to. And I just thought that it would be so interesting to actually go to a new place to learn a whole new technique, like a new language.

At New York City Ballet, they obviously they have the Balanchine style and then from that, Robbins, Ratmansky, Wheeldon and Justin Peck and all these people who create new work within that company, and I fel that could be the place.

And I had always wanted to live in New York since I was a little kid. I think it was maybe something that I picked up through just, like, media. And I have some family that lives here, and my immediate family is living in Toronto.

So I was kind of figuring out, okay, how could I find a place where I would learn something, grow. And I also wanted to be a little bit closer to my family so I could see them more often.

When we were doing the Balanchine triple bill at the beginning of last season in Copenhagen, it kind of just clicked a little bit. I was speaking with one of the stagers afterwards, a little bit on a whim. I was just like, do they need dancers at New York City Ballet? And he was just like, yeah, I think that they would really like you, so you should send your stuff.

Who was the stager?

Amar Ramasar. He staged “Four Temperaments” for us. Yeah. And that’s just kind of how it happened. I really wanted to grow and to learn.

And then you contacted somebody at New York City Ballet?

Yes, basically, through Amar, I sent him my CV and my video reel. I put together all my videos. And then he sent it to the directors here. And then they invited me to come.

Wendy Whelan and Jon Stafford?

Wendy and Jon, yeah. They invited me to come take class, and we were speaking for maybe like two months after that. Because I had initially just wanted to see, like, actually, okay, what do you need? I was only here for a day. So in the one class that I took, I was trying to also figure out, what’s the vibe of the company, and how would I fit in, kind of thing. I had a face-to-face meeting with them after I took class, and we just kept the conversation open. It was more just like, let’s keep talking and let’s see what this could maybe be. And then I sent Wendy an email and told her that, okay, actually I would like to come, do you think you could offer me something? And then it must have been, I think, February or January, I sent her an email. And she offered me a contract here.

And it’s one year?

Yeah, as of now….

And you’re going back to Copenhagen in…

I’m going back in the fall. And then I’ll be back actually here in New York for November, December and January.

Okay. So now you’re having a mix?

A little bit of a mix, yeah. A mixed relationship, exactly.

And so what’s the move been like? How did you land, so to speak?

I think it was quite interesting because things really felt like they fell into place quite naturally. I didn’t feel like I had this big pushback from the city. And I’ve heard that that is a thing that kind of happens when you move here.

I didn’t really know anybody in the company, but I knew of some people. And in the ballet world, a lot of people know everybody. So it’s like, oh, actually, we have a lot of mutual friends. And so I felt like I could connect with people quite quickly. I found an apartment that I really liked that was quite close to the theatre. I feel the city really welcomed me, as did the company, with open arms.

I remember I had to go get a social security number in the Financial District, in a goverment office. And I was there, maybe it was one o’clock on like a Friday lunch hour, but I hadn’t seen that many people in years. I remember being so overwhelmed because I had been living in Copenhagen; there’s never really a place where there’s that many people all together at once.

How long have you been in Copenhagen?

I was there for eight years.

So two very different companies to work with, surely. I mean, obviously different cities, but also very different organizations.

Very different organizations, yeah. For starters, the way that we have our seasons is so different. So that was also something that I had to get used to: the pace in which we rehearse and perform here. Because it’s in chunks: we have a the fall, Nutcracker, winter, and spring season, and we perform for six weeks at a time. I have every single show this week. And the last three weeks I’ve had six out of the seven shows. So it’s like sprints. In Copenhagen, it’s more of a marathon, because we’re working throughout kind of the whole year.

So it’s more like interval training in NYC?

Yeah, I never had seven shows in a week when I was working in Copenhagen. It’s more compact in that way. And also, I feel very fortunate because I dance a lot. I’ve had to learn a lot of different ballets, so my days are quite long. I’ll be working until 7pm when we’re in rehearsal period. And then when we’re in performance period, like we are now, we can rehearse until 5:30 and then the show’s at 7:30. So I feel like my pace has picked up a lot. I’ve had to really be like a sponge with choreography and with new ballerinas and all that.

And how’s it going with adapting to the style and the different styles?

I always prioritized, when I was as a dancer, to be quite versatile. And so I feel since I’ve come here I’ve definitely learned a lot about the style of dance and also the style of partnering that they do here. And I feel like just through kind of the repetition and being around it all the time, I’ve sort of made my way in a little bit. I feel definitely more comfortable, and I have a lot more knowledge about what it is that makes it maybe unique.

A lot of people talk about the challenges of partnering and how the art of partnering is really completely different at New York City Ballet.

It’s fantastic because it is really like a different style of partnering. In a way, it’s equally as much attentiveness, but not nearly as much hands-on physicality. Because so much of the Balanchine partnering is really letting the ballerina dance and only being there when she needs you. In pirouettes, letting her do her pirouettes and just coming in at the end. So there’s also a level of trust that you have to have with your own skills and with the ballerina, and attentiveness, and always trying to get there at the last second and creating as much space in between you and your partner as possible.

Have you worked with anyone on that?

Yeah, I’ve worked a lot with Andrew Veyette. He retired last season. He has coached me for a lot of the Balanchine stuff that I’ve done. He’s an incredible partner and an incredible teacher. Sometimes he’d be like, okay, watch me. He’s like, you can do it like this and this is how you do it, but actually this will make it look different and this is kind of what it’s supposed to be. So he’s somebody that I really trust and I really like.

What repertory have you been given? You’ve had two seasons or three seasons?

Excluding Nutcracker, I’ve had three season. When Marina Harss did the Pointe Magazine article, she said I had had 18 debuts. I was like, wow.

What has been the most remarkable or interesting or challenging?

In the fall I really loved “Western Symphony”. I had so much fun doing that. I also did the first movement of “Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3” in the fall, the section called ‘Elegy’. I only ever knew “Theme and Variations”, but I didn’t even know that it was a part of the whole suite that Tchaikovsky wrote. So that was also a really nice moment.

In the winter, “Dances at a Gathering”. I did the Purple Boy. One of my favorite roles, I think that I’ve… I’m putting it up there with like a top three or top five. It was really such an amazing ballet.

Working with Alexei Ratmansky: I was a part of his creation, “The Naked King”, that he did in the winter. So that was really fun.

And this season, a highlight has been “Goldberg Variations”, actually. I really, really enjoyed that. I kind of learned it in like a week.

I saw you were on social media earlier.

Yeah, they posted the solo. I really enjoyed the part that I did with that ballet. “Symphony in C”, I also had a really good time. I used to do the first movement in Copenhagen, and now I debuted in the second movement a few weeks ago. And I’m probably forgetting a bunch of things. Yeah, there’s never a dull moment.

So, I was going to ask if you’re returning to Copenhagen for a full season, but you’ve already answered that. You’re doing James?

Yeah, I’ll be doing James in the fall. It feels a little bit like a rite of passage type of ballet. I have learned it for so many years — since I was like 20, I think it was the first time the company did it since my being there.

So you’ve learned it without doing it?

I’ve learned it without doing it. I’ve performed the second act, I’ve done it in galas and gigs and stuff like that. And I’ve worked a lot with Sorella Englund — just when we had free time we would work on it. So it’s definitely something that I’m really looking forward to, very excited to dance it.

How are you thinking about the shape of your career from here? Is this a chapter or something more permanent?

It’s a fantastic question. Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t really have an answer right now.

It must be annoying that people ask you that.

No, not annoying, because it makes so much sense. It’s like, what’s going on? But I think what’s been really nice is that I feel like both companies have understood that it will take a little bit more time for me to make a concrete decision. And I feel all three directors, Jon and Wendy and Amy, have been very open and understanding about me just needing a little bit more time to make a final decision.

So, going back: Can you tell me what drew you to Copenhagen in the first place? And could you say a few words about your journey with the Royal Danish Ballet up to now?

First, I would say that Sorella being in the city and in the company was such a magnetic force for me to go there. Because I had worked with her when I was a kid in the school in Toronto.

And when she told me that they were auditioning for men and were looking for somebody that was kind of my height and all that… I really trust her. And so I went and I was kind of there and I was taking class and I met Nikolaj, because he was the director at the time. And also just feeling his excitement and his interest in me and in building my career, that was something that really made my decision quite obvious. Because I had the option to stay at the National Ballet in Toronto. But I really think that Nikolaj’s excitement and investment in me was something that felt very special. So I was like, I have to go there. Of course, because this person really believes in me.

And I knew Liam Redhead – we were in the school together, at different points because he’s four years older than me – so I was on the phone with him a lot before I went to audition and after, when I was making a decision.

And also something that really drew me to the company was the diversity of repertoire. Doing the Bournonville ballets, the Neumeier dramatic ballets, the classical ballets, the contemporary ballets. And I think at the beginning of my career that was all that I could have ever asked for.

The amount of performances that the company does, that was something that really drew me, because at the National Ballet, I don’t know about now, but I remember at the time, because they rent their theatre, they share it with the opera, they weren’t doing so many productions and they weren’t performing a lot. And when I was graduating from the ballet school, what I wanted to do was learn and perform and have time on stage. And Copenhagen is such a beautiful city. It’s hard to not fall in love with it.

What’s attracted you to the Bournonville rep? Is it the style, the technique, the dancing, the roles?

I think what I like about Bournonville is there’s so much humanity in the work. It’s so honest. And I feel like the pieces that I’ve done — and I’ve been able to, as a performer, performing his works — it’s like actually not a lot needs to be put on.

Of course there’s the style and the technique and how things should look, but just character-wise, he just drew from everyday life, from things that are actually happening. And maybe not literal things that are actually happening — like in La Sylphide, things like that don’t actually happen. But the feelings of each character are the most relatable in 360 degrees. The idea of what a human being is, I feel like Bournonville could portray so many ideas and facets of that on stage.

And what have been your main roles in Bournonville rep?

Junker Ove, A Folk Tale, I did…

Oh, I have to ask you about Junker Ove. So there is the scene that actually Nikolaj Hübbe put in at the beginning of Act 1 where he’s alone with his book and this whole thing happens. What’s that about, in your opinion? Because it’s not in Bournonville, it’s an addition, or an elaboration of a moment into a whole scene.

I guess that scene is really the… I remember I was working with Nikolaj and with Sorella on it, and it’s a little bit… it’s this monologue of, what am I doing in my life? Because that whole first scene, he’s clearly such — or feels like such — an outsider. With Birthe, every single time they have an interaction, it just goes completely wrong. He’s fed up with his life, he doesn’t like the sort of tight-knit society that all the wealthy people have, and then also seeing the peasants and how they interact with everybody. That scene just feels like an honest “in your bedroom, what is going on? What am I doing? Where can I go from here?” Because the life that I’ve been living is not the life that I want to continue to live. And then the world changes.