Spotlight On: Mark-David Bloodgood
This dance season, St. Louis Dance HQ is excited to sit down with dancers, choreographers, and directors from various companies throughout the St. Louis dance community to share their thoughts on upcoming or past shows, as well as other events throughout the year. First up, HQ writer Sarah Crawford interviews Mark-David Bloodgood, company dancer with Saint Louis Ballet.
Mark-David is originally from Seattle, Washington and grew up training at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He studied there for 12 years and then danced in various companies throughout the country until he landed in St. Louis in 2016. His enthusiasm for life—both onstage and off—is contagious, and he was eager to converse during this interview the week before Saint Louis Ballet began its 2023-2024 season. The company’s first performance, Giselle, will take place on October 6-8 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of University of Missouri-St. Louis.
HQ's Sarah Crawford: What are you most looking forward to this upcoming season?
Mark-David Bloodgood: Hitting the ground running, but I think the thing I’m most looking forward to is Giselle. One of the things I’m most excited for is that I’m fortunate to be performing Albrecht. Giselle is one of my all-time favorite ballets. Giselle is just two acts. It’s short and sweet; it’s to the point. It has one of the most underrated scores in classical ballet. It’s dramatic, and it’s beautiful. I’m going to be sad when it’s over.
HQ: What does a day in life look like for you once the season starts?
MDB: I’m normally up at 7:00 pretty much every single day, putting away dishes from dinner the night before, making coffee, making breakfast. I generally like to work out in the morning, so I’ll be on my bike or doing yoga in my basement. Then around 8:00 I’ll have breakfast and coffee with my wife, then I’m off to the studio. We have class around 10:30 every day but Saturday for an hour and a half, then we have a 15 minute break. Then we rehearse until 4:00. Then after that I generally go to the gym or stay in the studio to stretch, whatever my body needs. Then I go home, take my dogs to the park, then just do stuff around the house.
HQ: Who inspires you?
MDB: My two older brothers: Paul Michael Bloodgood and Adam Christopher Bloodgood. My older brothers were professional dancers. My oldest brother was a long-time principal dancer with Ballet Austin, and my middle brother was a principal dancer with Ballet Fantastique in Eugene, Oregon. I was very, very fortunate that they have held my hand throughout my entire career. If they weren’t dancers, I don’t think I would have gotten into it. I saw what they were doing as a kid, and I emulated that. I think as a sibling, you either want nothing to do with what your siblings do, or you’re inspired. I really looked up to both of them during my childhood and still do to this day.
HQ: What was your favorite memory from last season?
MDB: This is tough one. It’s a toss up between Christopher Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour and performing Siegfried in Swan Lake. With Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour, I think it’s simply one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever done—the music, the costumes, the setting, the lighting. And then with Siegfried, I grew up watching PNB’s Swan Lake religiously. It was in the repertoire every two to three years when I was growing up. We did Kent Stowell’s version (the artistic director when I was a child). Every male dancer that I admired growing up danced Siegfried. And it was our first full-length ballet with live music. It felt like such a step forward for the company. Within the Golden Hour was so beautiful, and Swan Lake felt like fulfilling a childhood dream, and the company took such a huge step forward, and I feel lucky to be there for the ride.
HQ: What is the rehearsal process like when you’re learning a new piece or new work?
MDB: Generally, we have anywhere from four to five weeks in the studio and a week in the theatre, including the week when we perform. Our schedule is pretty consistent. We have class every day followed by four hours of rehearsals. Whether it’s a work we already know or something new, the process is pretty much the same. We tend to throw Nutcracker together a bit quicker since everybody already knows it. We’re in the theatre by Tuesday or Wednesday, and then we perform Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
HQ: How much downtime is there after a performance week?
MDB: We generally have a week or two off. I actually appreciate that. I normally don’t set foot back into the studio until at least Wednesday of that week that we’re done with shows.
HQ: What is your favorite part of performing?
MDB: It’s who I am. I feel like being a thespian is what God put me on Earth to be. Ever since I was a little kid, I was always a ham. I’m very extroverted. I liked being the center of attention. When I was a kid, I used to say I’m a ballet dancer, but as the years go by, I’ve realized that I’m a performer. I just really love being onstage and entertaining. My three favorite places in the world are church, a baseball stadium, and the theatre. Those are the three places where I feel at home. When I’m onstage, I feel like this is what I’m meant to do. The best compliment that I can ever receive is when someone says, “I can see that you’re joyful” or “I can see that you love it.” That’s something that I always try to convey. I really love what I do.
HQ: What baseball team do you always root for?
MDB: I’m a Mariners fan through and through. I’m a fully converted Midwesterner, but I will not give up my Mariners.
HQ: If you could tell the audience one thing that you’d want them to know when they come to a performance, what would you want that thing to be?
MDB: I just want them to experience it. Use the performance as an escape. I think the reason that theatre is never going to die is because it is truly an immersive experience. Even if you’re at a sports game, there are screens and advertisements, and your phone is going off. But when you are in the theatre, and it’s dark, and you hear the music, and you see it [the dancing], you are in that world. I think that’s what makes ballet so beautiful. As life gets more complicated, I really appreciate the escape, and I really want other people to appreciate that escape, as well.
Photos by Kelly Pratt
