Catie Robinson

3 weeks ago | pointemagazine.com | Catie Robinson

While her onstage personas are as varied as Cinderella and Odile, Royal Swedish Ballet first soloist Maya Schonbrun’s offstage style stays consistently quirky. Her dance bag is a black Fjällräven Kånken backpack, decorated with patches she added herself. “I really like dinosaurs and food, so I went with a dinosaur/food theme for my patches,” Schonbrun says. “I love patches. I didn’t want a plain bag, so I got these all at once and then put them on.

4 weeks ago | pointemagazine.com | Catie Robinson

Onstage, Ballet San Antonio principal Michael Agudelo battles the Rat King in The Nutcracker, mourns his lost love as Albrecht in Giselle, and suffers a mortal sword wound as Mercutio in Edwaard Liang’s Romeo and Juliet. Online, as MikeStarWalker, he reviews lightsabers, teaches saber choreography, and produces highly detailed fan films complete with special effects. His YouTube channel has grown to 179,000 subscribers. Agudelo was introduced to both ballet and Star Wars by his parents.

1 month ago | pointemagazine.com | Catie Robinson

When Texas Ballet Theater dancer Sophie Williams founded the nonprofit ballet company Pointeworks, her goal was to bring dancers from various companies together during their layoffs. “I wanted to make a company that was really dancer-first and where we could collaborate together,” says Williams. She also wanted to place the creativity of women at the forefront. “I never danced work by a female choreographer for the first eight years of my career,” she says.

2 months ago | pointemagazine.com | Catie Robinson

If it wasn’t clear from her outfit and the contents of her dance bag, Ballet de Catalunya soloist Ellen Mäkelä’s favorite color is pink. On a recent trip to New York City to perform at New York City Center, she stopped by lululemon to grab a jacket in the color. Originally from Finland, she’s no stranger to cold weather, but she still bundles up on winter mornings for her walk to the studio on the northeast coast of Spain.

2 months ago | pointemagazine.com | Catie Robinson

When the Martha Graham Dance Company debuted Lamentation Variations in 2007 as an anniversary tribute to 9/11, it was intended as a singular performance. It featured a recording of Graham herself performing the original Lamentation solo from 1930, followed by three new compositions inspired by the original.