JUSTIN PECK New York City Ballet BIO | POSTS

I just had my first day back at Columbia University since the long summer break. Initially, it always feels a bit discomfited and awkward getting thrown back into the swing of things there. Perhaps this is due to the unfamiliarity of new professors, new classmates, and new academic locations. Or maybe this type of feeling can’t be helped when a university abruptly brings together thousands of bright students seeping with intellectual vigor. Either way, once the initial clumsiness wares off, the focus of my school routine is free to kick in with full-fledged force. There is nothing that feels more productive once I get going with my school schedule paired up with my dancing.

I’m taking two courses this semester: an introductory Biology lab and a course called Dance Criticism. It’s a nice balance of classes, as the two are entirely opposite to each other. For example, today I dissected arthropods and earthworms in my 3-hour lab. Then I moseyed on over to my Dance Criticism class, where I analyzed old videos of Nureyev dancing classical ballet with well-known dance critic Mindy Aloff. The two are like night and day.

I’ve also worked it out so that I will have all my classes of the week only on Mondays (my day off from dancing). It’s a long day—from 10 until 6—but its worth it as I won’t have to wake up early before “work” (I quote ‘work’ because dancing for a living is really more like playtime) to go to school. Last year, I had morning classes Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays. It was neither fun nor easy having to wake up at 7 a.m. after just finishing a show at 11 p.m, along with a day full of rehearsals the day before. Mondays are when I get to pretend that I am simply a normal student at a University. Its sort of a taste of an entirely different lifestyle and pace for me. Refreshing.

Elliott Smith is always keeping me company, via my ipod headphones, when I am on campus. There is something cerebral and stripped down about his music that just pairs so well (like fine wine and aged cheese) with the gorgeous campus and constant student buzz of Columbia. Then again, I feel like any kind of music would put me in a good mood when strolling through a campus of the likes of this:

The Main Library and Centerpiece of the C.U. campus

Butler Library (where I do most of my studying)

Me Inside Butler Library

The Stacks!! These are the creepy half-floors in Butler where all the books are kept. It feels like a daunting deserted library up here, probably since so many people simply utilize the Internet these days. It would make a great location for a horror movie, hm?

The view of the C.U. campus from my lab room. breathtaking, no?

Ballet Dancers at Barnard

The Columbia entrance way

I’m heading down to Miami in a couple days to visit a bunch of close friends whom I knew while training at SAB. These friends felt like true family to me while living in the dorms at SAB. It was sort of like I lost an essential part of my family when they all ended up getting jobs with Miami City Ballet and I ended up staying in New York to dance for NYCB. Anyway, I can’t wait to see them! And hey, who knows, I might even run into fellow Winger correspondent Alex Wong? We’ll see. I’ve never been to Miami before, any recommendations of fun things to do there (restaurants, activity, etc.)?