PA Ballet Principal Lauren Fadeley Veyette Dishes on Healthy Eats, Training, and Christmas in Philly

Lauren starts a typical day with warm-ups and onto around 6 hours of rehearsal as well as for upcoming ballet performances. She does sit-up and push-ups every day before class, along with stretching to help find her center and warm up. When she has the time, she likes the elliptical and free weights at the gym, or takes yoga to lengthen her muscles.

Lauren Fadeley Veyette, Photography by Alexander Iziliaev

The past few weeks Lauren has been focusing on her three parts in the Nutcracker. “There is something so magical about being the Sugarplum Fairy! I think it's every little girls dream to be a fairy princess, so it's a lot fun to play dress up in a tutu and tiara and be that idol for a few hours a night,” Lauren says. 

“Even though the role is technically very hard, having all the kids dancing with me onstage and those watching me in the audience uplifts me and makes it that much more enjoyable. I actually teach a lot of the students in the production, and I remember when I was their age and looked up to the Sugar Plum and it's just amazing to be her now,” she expresses. 

Lauren Fadeley as The Sugarplum Fairy at The Racquet Club of Philadelphia, Photo by Dave Moser

“It reminds me of why I do this. It's very easy to get caught up in the day-to-day stresses and physical pain that's involved in ballet, but once you get out there in front of an audience and are able to share your passion- the feeling is indescribable.”

Lauren absolutely loves music and finds her favorite pieces to dance are those with her biggest connection to the music. “One my favorites is Christopher Wheeldon's pas de deux from After the Rain to Arvo Part’s piano solo Spiegel im Spiegel.”

How do you prepare for a performance and stay hydrated, I ask. “I sweat a lot and get dehydrated very easily, so I'm always chugging water and replacing electrolytes with beverages like coconut and vitamin water, or adding emergen-c packets to my water before a show. I never like to feel too full before I perform, so I'll usually have a snack of chicken salad and a banana 2 hours before and then will eat a full meal after when I'm done,” she explains. 

“One of the best things about doing the Nutcracker during the holidays is that we can eat all our favorite treats and never have to worry! I have a major sweet tooth and love all the homemade Christmas cookies that circulate around the theater. I also love Mexican food and could probably eat chips and guacamole every day!”

Principal Dancers Lauren Fadeley and Francis Veyette, Photo by Alexander Iziliaev

Lauren also dances with her husband, Francis Veyette, a California native who is a principal dancer of the PA Ballet company. 

Lauren and Francis met many years ago, and have had such a beauty courtship. “It is very fun especially when we get to dance together! We are pretty much together 24/7 and at the same time when we are in different rehearsals for an hour - it seems like an eternity so I miss him!"

"We are dancing the Sugar Plum and Cavalier together and it's just the best feeling because it's a part I've done for many years so I'm very comfortable with it and then dancing with someone I love and completely trust makes it such a wonderful experience,” Lauren happily explains. “It’s also so nice to be with someone that completely gets you and understand what you're going through with your career mentally and physically. I feel very fortunate to be able to do what I love with the man that I love.”

Sansha eBay

In addition to the stage, Lauren has branched out into the silver screen with the movie Black Swan (2010). 

“It was a very cool experience! It was a hard process though as they have to film things over and over again and from different angles, so we were constantly trying to stay warm and fresh with each take. The crew quickly realized to tell us if they were filming our whole bodies or not so that we could mark or not go up on pointe to save our bodies. Sometimes we'd be dancing act 4 Swan Lake at 4am so it was very taxing on the body,” Lauren clarifies. 

“I did appreciate how authentic they wanted to be with the ballet scenes and would often ask us for input to make sure things were as accurate they would be in real life.”

See Lauren, Francis and the entire company perform George Balanchine’s^TM  The Nutcracker at The Academy of Music through Thursday, December 31.

Characters from The Nutcracker at The Racquet Club of Philadelphia, Photo by Dave Moser

All photos property of the PA Ballet and used by permission. From the PA Ballet. 

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