Company Secrets with Ma Cong: Directing Richmond Ballet

Join us as we delve into the inspiring journey of Ma Cong, the new Artistic Director of Richmond Ballet. From his beginnings at the Beijing Dance Academy to his rise as a principal dancer and renowned choreographer, Ma shares his vision for the future of the company. Discover how his unique blend of creativity and leadership is shaping Richmond Ballet's path forward, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment for dancers and audiences alike. Aspiring dancers will gain valuable insights into the company's nurturing atmosphere and the opportunities for growth and artistic expression that await them at Richmond Ballet.

www.richmondballet.com

Transcript

Jared Redick (00:04)
Welcome to Company Secrets Ballet Unfiltered, the podcast where we pull back the curtain on the professional dance world. Each week, I sit down with artistic directors and industry leaders to have candid conversations about how dance companies really work, what they're looking for, how decisions get made, and what it takes to thrive. I'm your host, Jared Redick.

Today's guest is someone whose artistic journey spans continents, cultures, and an extraordinary range of creative achievement. Born in Beijing, China, his dance training at the Beijing Dance Academy, specializing in Chinese classical dance. He later joined the National Ballet of China before moving to the United States in 1999. He spent over two decades at Tulsa Ballet as a principal dancer and resident choreographer.

performing works by Forsyth, Killian, Balanchine and Robbins while also building a growing reputation as a choreographer in his own right with commissions from companies around the globe, including Queensland Ballet, Singapore Ballet and the National Ballet of China. He joined Richmond Ballet in 2020 as an associate artistic director. And in July, 2024, he was named artistic director following in the footsteps of longtime artistic director Stoner Winslet, whose visionary leadership

helped shape the company into what it is today. now carries that legacy forward with a bold, creative, and elegant vision for the future. Welcome to the show, Ma, and thank you so much for being here.

Ma Cong (01:38)
Thank you, it's an honor to be here.

Jared Redick (01:40)
I've really been looking forward to our conversation today and I'm sure our audience will be so interested to hear about all the fun things you're doing and exciting things with Richmond Ballet.

Ma Cong (01:49)
Thank you. Yeah, it has been a quiet journey and you know, time flew by and I cannot even believe that I'm already finishing one year as artistic director already. Okay.

Jared Redick (02:00)
Congratulations

with that. It seems like the transition from your directorship from Stoners was really smooth and was really collaborative. Yes.

Ma Cong (02:09)
Yeah.

And what brought very wonderful for this journey was that I was here by the end of the 2021 in December and it has been three years. I'm working side by side with the stoner and she has been very much mentoring me for the last couple of years. And the last year in July one, I stepped into this role as artistic director and it has been a very fulfilling and exciting journey. I'm very looking forward to.

to build a new vision for a rich and balanced future.

Jared Redick (02:42)
very lucky to have you and it really sounds like the best possible scenario when you're transitioning from one artistic director to another, because that can sometimes be problematic. know, new person coming in has to figure out the lay of the land, but you had that wonderful bridge working with Stoner.

Ma Cong (02:59)
Yes, and another only with Estone, also with this organization. And my first time came to this organization was as guest choreographer back in 2009, where I choreographed my first work, Earth's Revolves. Since then, I kept invited back and then making the new works for the company. And so far I have more than 10 works created for Richmond Ballet. So I met so many incredible

people, donors, and friends here in Richmond. Moving to Richmond almost felt like, little bit of feel like homecoming in 2021, really.

Jared Redick (03:38)
so

great to be able to just move into a city already knowing the lay of the land and knowing the dancers and the audience already knows you, right? They've already seen your work with 10 works in the repertory already.

Ma Cong (03:48)
Yes, yes, it's wonderful.

Jared Redick (03:50)
Tell me what a typical day looks like for you as artistic director.

Ma Cong (03:54)
Well, that is a huge contrast for me as stepping into this role from a freelancing choreographer into a full-time job. So my particular day started in the very beginning was I get up very early, like around 6 a.m. And as soon as I get up and I make sure that my voice are fed and

They are ready for the school and I will arrive just a little after eight o'clock to the company. And sometimes I teach company class. If I'm not teaching, I'll be straight diving into a meetings. And there has been a quite a lot of meetings because as you know, there's a transitions and I need to start to get to know everybody in this organization and also start to leading everyone with this new vision and.

starting to shape the company to my artistic vision. My day just nonstop really. Sometimes I even forget about it when it's a lunchtime. Sometimes you're just, okay, well, I'm hungry. That's already 3 PM in the afternoon. And then, you you are about to dive into another meeting. It is pretty much nonstop from a morning all the way to 6 30. And sometimes, you know, I, because I'm in a studio, I'm in a meeting. I was not able to answer emails.

So the nighttime really becomes the only time that I have that I could catch up some emails.

Jared Redick (05:24)
A very busy day, no doubt. As an artistic director who's also a choreographer, do you have at least one of your ballets on every season? Or is that something that you really want to have more of your work in the rep? Or is it something you balance with other choreographers? What does that look like for you to kind of balance that, right? Because that's kind of, you have those two different hats that you're wearing.

Ma Cong (05:44)
Yeah, I think definitely I'm looking forward to continue to create non-stop because I think that's where my style will be implemented to the company. And I will create something very unique, special with the artists that we have here in the company. And I think the creativity has to continue. But at the same time, I think with my artist's vision is that for the best answers, they need to receive.

not only on creative voice, they need to also learning from others. And I definitely would like to really put a very, very unique, very special art form here at Richmond Ballet that belongs to this artistic vision that I am envisioning for the company and make this company very unique and different than others. I am definitely dedicated to continue choreographing every season.

And also, no matter if it's a new creation or already existing work from my choreography, and also that includes a four-legged ballet as well.

Jared Redick (06:54)
That's wonderful. As dancers in the company, you really get to know each other in the studio, in that creative process. Things come out, your work can become something potentially different than what you had envisioned with just working with the artists that are in front of you. And for you as choreographer and director, you really get hands-on information with each of the dancers. How do they respond to these choreographic challenges and what do they bring artistically to the table in that respect?

Ma Cong (07:21)
Well, you know, that's the part that I called it. It's magic, right? It's a creative magic and it's really hard to use your words to explain what is happening in the studio. That's why I encourage all our audience and patrons to come to see the creative process because that's really a magic. Why I call it magic is because I think it is a conversation in a way between choreographer,

or artistic director to the dancers. It's almost like give and receive, but at the same time, both are inspiring each other at the same time. So great choreographers will be inspired by great dancers, and great dancers at the same time will inspire great choreographers. So I think that kind of a creative juice that it was created very much originally inside of studio.

I just love that moment. Now when that can happen, I think that's the most beautiful thing and that's the most beautiful growth that can happen in a company.

Jared Redick (08:25)
That is the best situation when you're in the studio to have that collaborative environment working with a choreographer as a dancer. It's so exciting as a dancer to feel that, that you actually are part of that process. You're not just a body in space, but you're actually helping to craft and create that magic that you're talking about.

Ma Cong (08:43)
Exactly. You have to be very open, like, or just use the word of very collaborative, that it had to be very open, very willing, because it sometimes is really a experiment. And so you have to take a lot of patience, a lot of hard works and a lot of the tryings and never give up. Because, you know, when people just try hard and over open again, you know, sometimes we get maybe hit the wall and it's a feel like, okay, well, something just

Last, try to, when that happens, I think that's the moment when both parties will take five minutes break. And then that's the moment where the choreographers or the directors will take the lead and help to reset the studio and reset that moment and then make sure everybody is coming back to this very creative, inspiring moment again, to find that moment back again.

Everybody has to be very collaborative and very much hardworking.

Jared Redick (09:44)
Of course, we want to find that creative juice in the studio all the time. It's so fun for everybody.

Ma Cong (09:49)
Yes,

it is really, that's the most enjoyable moment for being an artist, I would say. ⁓

Jared Redick (09:55)
Let's now pivot to the nuts and bolts of what this podcast really is going for to help inform and empower these young dancers. I would love to know how many dancers are currently in the company.

Ma Cong (10:08)
Last season we have 20 dancers in our company, next year we have 21. And also we have a studio company, their highest level of our training system at our School of Ritual and Ballet. And 10 dancers in the studio company as well.

Jared Redick (10:26)
That's great. Do you also have a trainee program? Did that feed into the studio company? What does the structure look like for Richmond Ballet?

Ma Cong (10:32)
do

have a trainee program, our program is one of the most exciting programs that we offer. For what I'm saying is exciting, it's because our trainee programs get a lot of performance opportunities and they will be performing the nutcracker with the company. They will be doing the snow scene and the waltzing flowers. And also in February, when we perform the full length story ballets, they will be also performing with the companies.

We currently will have about 15 to 16 trainees in our company. also is a highest, well, the structure is like this. We have a School of Richmond Ballet, our trainees and a studio company, they are belong to School of Richmond Ballet, but they are the highest training level of our school. And we call them a professional training program. So they're just one step getting to the professional career. And the last year we had

three trainees, two girls and one boy were promoted to studio company from a trainee program. And we had two studio company dancers were promoted to the company as a company apprentice. So we encourage that we really try to find a way to give our dancers a source and tools and education and training that we want them to grow within our organization from the school and up to the

professional training program and a the studio company and a to the company.

Jared Redick (12:04)
It's great to hear that pathway from the school into traineeship into the studio company into company is available to them. It's great to see that and should be heartening to those young dancers out there. want to train at Richmond Ballet. I want to get in the company, become a professional dancer.

Ma Cong (12:19)
Absolutely. We have so many dancers. Well, our training program and studio company, they are auditioning group. We recruit them from everywhere in the country and international. So that, and we also have our school that are actually training very wonderful, beautiful dancers. And we have a dancers actually grow up from our Minds in Motion program and going to our School of Rich and Ballet all the way up. Right now they are in a professional company right now. So.

Jared Redick (12:48)
That's great. Congratulations with that. It's great to see those pipelines being effective and successful.

Ma Cong (12:53)
Thank you. And it's really inspiring to, like we just say, inspiring for the dancers as well.

Jared Redick (12:59)
For those full-time dancers, the 20 or 21 dancers that you have in the company currently, how many weeks of work does that contract come out to be?

Ma Cong (13:07)
I think this upcoming season, we have more than 40 weeks of contract for them. And it's a fairly very, very good amount of working weeks for everybody. We've got a lot of productions, a lot of great ballets that needs to be staged, both classical and contemporary ballet. And for the studio company, and they will be also having some tourings happening within Virginia.

very pleased and now of course the goal is to have a full year of contract for our downstairs. We're working towards that but I think we're in a really good place right now to be able to offer 40 weeks contract to our downstairs.

Jared Redick (13:51)
Yeah, I think that's fantastic. I always thought as a dancer, anywhere between 38 and 44 on the very high side was about as much as you want to handle in a season because wear and tear and having some downtime is really important. So 40 weeks, kudos to you and the organization for having that available to them.

Ma Cong (14:09)
Thank you, thank you. And I think to be exact, I think we have a 42 this upcoming season.

Jared Redick (14:15)
For dancers who are looking at the company, they're thinking, I want to come and audition. How can they tell if and when you're actually hiring? Is that something you put on the website? Is that kind of word of mouth? How do you manage that?

Ma Cong (14:27)
I think it's both ways. We have seen a lot of dancers that who joined Richmond Ballet from different places and it just by words of mouth they have heard of us. Now they are actually being inside the company now. They have learned our culture. They love it. They love Richmond. They love Richmond Ballet and they love what we do here. And so they're just spreading the words and then we have seen some dancers are just kind of keep coming to audition for us from the same place.

So that's one way. The other way, of course, is coming from social media and coming from an online platform and coming from the magazines and coming from the websites, those information.

Jared Redick (15:10)
or your new dancers, what is starting salary for your full-time company positions?

Ma Cong (15:15)
Are you talking about company apprentices?

Jared Redick (15:18)
What about first year quarter ballet? What does first year quarter ballet look like?

Ma Cong (15:22)
quarter

ballet we're starting at 685 per

Jared Redick (15:25)
Okay, wonderful. were talking about dancers coming from all over the place. Obviously, I was just there teaching for your summer program. Is that a pathway for dancers to come into the company to audition through the summer intensive? ⁓

Ma Cong (15:38)
Absolutely. Actually, it so happened last year that I had one very talented young lady, Kate Swell, and actually she's from Houston area. And she came to join our summer intensive. And right after that, I taught class and I saw her and, you know, I just talked to our professional training program director, Judy Jacob. And, you know, Judy, I just said, we need to get this girl here.

And because she's very, talented and after spoke to her and her parents, they're so honest. So we just got her here as a trainee so that this year that she's already promoted to the studio company dancer.

Jared Redick (16:21)
That's great. For the whole season, about approximately how many performances do you do? Give or take.

Ma Cong (16:27)
for the entire company. every each like a contemporary evening, we call a moving art at the VMFA. We do six shows and this season we have four productions of that. So that's 24. And also we have Nutcracker and this year we do 18. So that's adds up to 42, I guess. And then we have four shows this year.

of Giselle, that's in our main stage theater. So that's a 46. So that's around a 46. On top of that, we also have the touring that are happening for the studio company. So somewhere around 50, 60.

Jared Redick (17:14)
All the maybe donor events or outreach events, all those things. So you're probably in that high 50 to low 60 range, give or take. so for our dancers, right? I'm a young dancer. I'm out there. I'm interested in the company. I send my audition materials to Richmond Ballet. Who sees it? And then when do you see it? Cause ultimately you are the decision maker in terms of who's getting hired or who's coming into the organization. Sure.

Ma Cong (17:18)
Exactly.

And we have developed a very, good system. of course we have a very dedicated and qualified team that to communicate to all the dancers that were trying to audition us. So we have a filtered system. Meaning that when we receive the materials, we need to take a look at whether they are, you know, their age and where they should be belong to this program, that program, or maybe if he's overqualified and blah, blah.

And then we just go through the next one, which is rate their resumes. And of course, go through every single details, make sure really clearly rate through all their resumes, their experiences. And then we're going to move into the videos, which is their audition reels and have a look at them. So for those ones that we are very much interested in, and we're going to go move to, for example.

We are on audition for studio company and then we're going to send it to the studio company category, the pile of the folders in there. And those are the contenders that we think needs to come to me to take a look at it. And then the other ones go to the company, the people that come audition for the company. And then later on, we have our artistic team to take a look at the company and we have our

professional trainee program team to take a look at the trainees and also studio company and they will do another round of filter and a filter let's say, okay, we have all this very, very beautiful, talented dancers for you to take a look at and I will go through each one of them to go through. And then some of them because of the schedule and I really trust my team, they just go ahead inviting them if they are really just going to be eager.

wants to dive here for the in-person audition or go into our open audition somewhere else, we invite them to those classes and auditions and just join us in person because those are very helpful to get to know them.

Jared Redick (19:46)
So you have a very thorough process in place, which is always good to hear. think that young dancers and even professional dancers, maybe not, they don't quite understand the process. Sometimes it can feel like you can send this information out and it kind of goes into a black hole, but it's good to hear that Richmond Ballet is on it and has a great process in place.

Ma Cong (20:03)
Yes. And also we know that audition can be very, very stressful process for the dancers because you know, the dancers, they are, they might not only audition for Richmond ballet, but they are also audition for other places. ⁓ earlier answer they can get, I think it's a little bit better for them to really, for the plan purposes and all that. So we try to process that as quickly as possible for every audition we take for all the information we have received.

No matter if the answer is yes or no, we try to give to them as quickly as possible. And just to help the young dancers can really stay on their game, make sure they can find their path, you know, where the company they belong to.

Jared Redick (20:51)
I

love hearing all of this because it seems like you just have such a human approach to this process, which is stressful for everybody, yourself included. being a former dancer, being a choreographer and a director, you understand what these answers are going through. you know, there's always the time commitment and the financial commitment to do all these auditions. So that's just, really, I'm heartened to hear all this information about your process there. That gives me a great segue into kind of a follow-up on this.

You're in the studio or you're looking at the reels for an audition. What qualities catch your eye? What dancers are really going to excite you about bringing them into a company or inviting them to audition?

Ma Cong (21:30)
especially drawn to the dancers who demonstrated curiosity and musicality and emotionally intelligence and also their way how they adapt work, adapt your words and also the combination that you teach them. And also there's a lot of the I'm looking at is their maturity as well and also how they make themselves to stand out.

I'm looking at those qualities now. Of course, the most important quality is whether the dancers carry very kind manners. And because that's really important as well, because here at Richmond Ballet, we really try to encourage everyone to have a very, very kind and generous environment. you know, everybody who works in this company will feel that the warmth

coming out of this building. I think the dancers carry that as always a plus for me. And they have to be brave too, right? They have to be kind of a brave in a way, because sometimes when you go to the studio, that there are like, you know, 100 or 70, 80 or 50, whatever, dancers in the studio, that sometimes if you're not brave enough and you're not going to be able to be seen.

I think it's a very stressful process for the dancers, but at the same time, I would say that I think you just got to show as much as possible and what kind of talent that you can offer. Doing that an hour and a half, two hours time.

Jared Redick (23:13)
I hope that dancers who are interested in auditioning for Richmond Ballet, you listen to this, you think about these words as you're approaching your audition because being brave is important, but we work so closely together as a community, as dancers within a ballet company, that kindness element is so critically important. That environment is so important for everyone who works there. And as I like to say, the tone is always set from the top.

Hearing it from you, is great to hear, trying to create that environment, or I should say, continue that environment that Stoner already put in place. It's really great for these young people.

Ma Cong (23:48)
Yes, yeah, thank you, thank you. I really think that, you know, everybody has a gift and that gift is a talent. As far as for audition process, you gotta use those time to really show what kind of talent you can offer. No matter if it's you got a really beautiful, you know, physicality or if you got a beautiful musicality or you just got so much to share, to show off or...

Any kind of talent that you are able to compact into those audition time, I think it will be very beneficial for the artistic team to be able to see you and get to know you better.

Jared Redick (24:28)
This wonderful moving along, we're going to go into our next section, which is really advice for the aspiring young dancers out there. What do you wish more young dancers knew about company life? What will help them be successful?

Ma Cong (24:42)
I think my advice will be stay open and stay hungry and stay being kind to each other. And I think those are really, really important. And lastly is work hard because you know, when you're young, if you step back and being relaxed, I feel that we're wasting our time, right? Because when people are young, there's so much potential that you could push yourself towards into. So

The artists that we have here and I have seen them like every year, they're a tremendous growth because they work hard, they sweat, they're being kind to each other, they share laughs, they share tears with each other and they stay hungry because they always want more. know, doing just a five minutes break and they still working on a partnering, they're still working on their period, they still refine their feet, their shapes and they're very open for receiving

the corrections. And I think that's very, very important because the corrections are the guidance for us to improve ourselves to be better. And of course, sometimes it's very, hard for all of us to receive some corrections that you might find a little bit hard because you believe that, I don't think that I was doing wrong. I think I was doing a

But sometimes it's very hard for us to know what we're doing because you're not seeing yourself from another angle. I think to stay open, I think that's the key to the success. Then you could really learn a lot about yourself in a way you could really improve. I think my advice is stay open, stay hungry, stay kind, and work hard.

Jared Redick (26:26)
Great advice. We have been having this broader conversation. I think really COVID put a fine point on it to some degree about how important mental health is for the wellbeing of dancers, especially in this profession that demands so much physically. For you, what's one habit or mindset that has served you throughout your career in terms of that? You've been through your career as a dancer and now in retrospect, what might help serve these dancers? ⁓

Ma Cong (26:53)
say you just have to put a very good balance and know who you are as a person. Know yourself better. I mean I still remember doing my training back at the Beijing Dance Academy and there were moments that it was hard. It was very very hard and I remember at that time you know the training was very very much demanding. When that come to the point that you feel like you're really into

breaking point. I think you just need to find resources or find the people that you trust and really, really share and be open-minded and being very open to let them know what your thoughts are and why you're struggling. I just think that you should be very, very much open and not to really stuck into that moment where you struggle because that could be very, very unhealthy.

moment.

Jared Redick (27:53)
completely agree. I think now the ballet world is changing slowly, but it is changing, you know, being more responsive to the mental health issues of our dancers, but also their physical health as well. And so I think it's good that dancers go ahead and advocate for themselves and let people know. do believe artistic staffs are very open to those conversations. It would not be a punitive conversation towards them or how they're looking at them. It's like, I'm really struggling with X, Y and Z.

the dancer would come up and tell the artistic staff. I think the artistic staff would more prefer that than they just suffer in the silence in the studio and just not be able to have a positive experience.

Ma Cong (28:33)
For sure, here at Richmond Ballet, we're really very, very much open to all of our dancers. And I have been letting all my dancers know I have an open door policy. So if you feel like something, you get stuck. That if you feel like something that you're struggling with, and my door is always open, and you feel like you cannot talk to me, we have HR.

that you can go to and our dancers has been feeling very much encouraged. you know, it's a very, challenging career and it's very competitive. You know, we're all learning and under the same roof and there's a certain thing that some people is better than another. And also the pressure coming off of learning ballet in such a short amount of time and also a little bit more challenging coming from a partnering. So there's so many elements will stress people out and we're

get you into a really, really moment that you feel like have been pushing you into a corner. That is a moment I feel like as an artistic director and I have been sharing with my team, that's a moment if we see some downsides into that situation, we need to pull them and come to talk to us just to see if there's anything that we can do to help. And sometimes it gets a really better result when the communication that start opening up. So I think

dancers should not be afraid to talk to artistic and to express their feelings about anything, about casting, about how their partners and they don't feel comfortable to partner. You know, they should be able to open up to be able to sharing those things. If they do share, we know exactly how to help them, how to make things easier for them.

Jared Redick (30:23)
think helping dancers understand how to have that professional positive good communication is so important. mean, you talk about partnering and partnering just doesn't happen if you don't have good communication or good partnering doesn't happen without good communications. think it's all just relationship building and how do we work together in a positive way. You were mentioning the Beijing Dance Academy and

Ma Cong (30:43)
and slowly.

Jared Redick (30:48)
I'd be interested to know, and I think our listeners would be interested to know, are there structural differences in Chinese companies versus the US? You know, I'll say...

Ma Cong (30:59)
I moved to the 26 years ago and during my time at China, is somewhat similar but not very much. But now it has very much a lot of similar structures now. For example, I just came back working with the National Ballet of China and the company is fairly very large. They have over 100 dancers in the company.

So they divide the company into senior company and the junior company. so their structure very much like Paris Opera, you know, they have their atlas, they have their principal, have a solos and have a demisolos and a solos. And every single level, they have a solos, A, B, D, and they have a principal A, B, C, D and those level. But during my time when I was there, it was very much just very,

simple that there's no two different senior company or junior company. It was just a company and, but at my time it does have ranks. ⁓

Jared Redick (32:07)
Which

leads me to my question, am very curious because obviously like Royal Danish and Finnish National, these companies they have lifetime contracts. Is that the same there?

Ma Cong (32:18)
No, actually it's not a lifetime contract in China. However, that right now what I learned is the Chinese government, they are very, supportive with the arts and all that. So with the dancers that have contributed such important work to the company, they are really great benefit, meaning that they receive health benefit.

And also once they are retired, we're talking about the government will be actually provide you some housing and also some benefit as well. So I think it downs us there 35 to 40 years and that's maximum, I think.

Jared Redick (32:56)
Okay, I'm always interested in that because we have such a different structure here in the United States than other places abroad. You just never know. Did you ever imagine yourself becoming an artistic director? Or was that just something that you put out there and I'm like, I'm going to do this at the end of my career or you knew it early on or you thought, there's no way I'm going to do that?

Ma Cong (33:03)
Yeah.

So

let's go back to when I was earlier, my dream as a person. So when I was little students and learning dance at the Beijing Dance Academy, and all I want to do is to becoming a finest dancer, right? And so I just so happened, I was very lucky and I came to the States and I joined Tulsa Ballet as a dancer and I fulfilled my dream.

and I became a principal dancer there and I had a great career. And while I approached the very, very end of my career and I started thinking about it once I finished dancing, what am I going to do? And that's, I'm very likely in my years at Tulsa, I got an opportunity to choreograph. So then that was very clear that, you know, I would really love to be a choreographer because my work started being seen. And that's really clear.

And as far as for artistic director, I think that's coming from when my career as a choreographer taking another step up to becoming a little bit more mature. When I start to choreograph in a piece and I start to think about what if I can choreograph even bigger picture rather than just a work, but it's an organization.

Like if I could choreograph a creative piece for an organization, that this piece has a certain vision that can lead into this organization to the future for many years and just start to grow, grow, grow, just like snowball, you know. So that idea started becoming very, very fuller, fuller, fuller. And I think that approach my end of my career as a dancer transitioning into choreographer, that's becoming very, very clear. So that's about 12 years ago.

And I knew that I would really like to approach this direction, maybe one day to become an artistic director.

Jared Redick (35:14)
That's quite a journey, 12 years from dancer to choreographer, now as artistic director. That's wonderful. We're nearing the end of our interview here. I like to end every interview with our full circle question. And so my question to you is, what is one piece of advice you'd give your younger self at the start of your professional career?

Ma Cong (35:34)
Advice

to start off a professional career. I would say very simple sentence is carry a very honest and a full heart. And because that's the number one thing to enter this career, you have to be honest to yourself. It has to be honest to others. And you have to carry a very good heart to be kind, to be generous and to be kind to the people dedicated so much into

training you, coaching you, give you rehearsals and carry a good heart to your partners who partner you and be your friend to support you in the studio and be a good heart to other people who is outside the to support you as a person, as your friend. So I think honesty and a good heart, that's always the key to success as a young dancer.

Jared Redick (36:31)
Wonderful advice for your answers. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Ma, thank you so much for being here today. I really appreciate you making time in your very, very busy schedule. We'll link to Richmond Ballet's website where our listeners can learn more about the company and follow your upcoming season.

Ma Cong (36:49)
slowly yeah we have a wonderful season coming up with a lot of wonderful choreographers you know Balanchine and Yoma Ello and Andy Shamoli and I will be choreographing a new ballet and also Giselle Fulling so there's a lot of things that coming up and also plus the world premiere by Valkyrie probably so it'll be a full season and we're looking forward to

more talented young dancers to join us in the future.

Jared Redick (37:21)
Fantastic. If you liked our conversation here today, you can follow Company Secrets Podcast on all platforms and on our website, companysecretspodcast.com. Thank you for listening because the stage is only part of the story.