What We Learned from "city.ballet." Season 2, Episode 8

March 22, 2017


Season 2 of “city.ballet.”—the AOL On series that gives an insider’s look at New York City Ballet—is live now! We’re recapping one episode per week. Watch all 12 at dancemagazine.com

Finlay in costume for Christopher Wheeldon’s m…i’m not sure (photo by Nathan Sayers)

Episode 8 of “city.ballet.” follows Chase Finlay—who, as the youngest male principal in New York City Ballet, is under a lot more pressure than your average 24-year-old. But these days, that pressure is even higher than usual: Finlay is coming off a serious foot injury, and he needs to show the company that he’s recovered and ready to take on his old roles. Here are five things we learned from the ep.


1. Finlay is a bro, bro. “Right after I broke my foot, I was like, ‘Forget this, I’m just going to go drink a beer and watch football,’ ” he says. Dude, we feel you.

2. There is titanium in his foot right now.
 He broke his fifth metatarsal, and they had to insert a titanium screw to fix it. Crazy!

3. His parents are adorbs.
We see Finlay and his dad playing a cute father-son round of golf—in coordinating polo shirts, naturally. And Finlay’s mom’s description of baby Chase’s first time watching The Nutcracker will make you melt a little bit. “He was so small he was sitting in my lap,” she says. “And the curtain went up, and I felt his little ribcage go, ‘Oh!’ ” They’re both obviously so proud of him, and it’s the best.

4. Coming back from an injury is terrifying.
“I don’t want to go up into a turn or jump and wonder if it’s going to work,” he says. We hear that. All the close-ups of him landing on his injured foot make us cringe.

5. But it’s also a chance to prove yourself anew.
“You don’t want to be a lesser dancer than what you were before,” Finlay says. “You want to come back and wow people.” From the footage we see in this episode, it seems like he’s well on his way to wow.

Click the image below to watch the full episode!