(Photo: Jake Chessum)

I love Napoleon. I studied him this year, and I know he’s a little bit of a tyrant, but he is just the coolest person ever. He was a little guy with so much power, and he really brought France back together after the Revolution. Plus, he just looks nice on his white horse. I visited his tomb in 2005, when I was training for a year at the Paris Opera Ballet School.

I’m now a sophomore at Nightingale-Bamford. We’re learning Pride and Prejudice, which is definitely one of my favorite books. I love Mr. Darcy, and Elizabeth is a little bit annoying when she judges him with Mr. Wickham, and then I feel really bad for him when she attacks him when he proposes to her. I named my dog after him!

It’s a big honor to work with Christopher Wheeldon and have a piece made for me. Last fall at City Center I danced Christopher’s Polyphonia with Wendy Whelan, a principal with the New York City Ballet. I remember seeing Wendy originate the role when I was 7—and there I was, face-to-face, doing it with her. It’s really empowering. I am a lot younger than everyone else in the company, so I really had to prove myself.

I go to school from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., then I have dance from 2 to 4, and then I go to the gym from 7 to 9. All my friends have been taking hip-hop dance classes on the weekends. I don’t know that much about hip-hop. They do a lot of body rolls. It’s fun. I don’t have time for boyfriends, but I don’t feel like I am sacrificing anything.

As told to Emma Pearse

Stix-Brunell will be performing in Wheeldon’s Commedia at the Guggenheim on March 8 and 9.

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Related:

• Archive: “Breaking”
• Table of Contents: Mar 2, 2009 issue of New York | Subscribe!