There will be no pirouettes or pliés today. Cainan Weber is enjoying a rare day off.
It's a chilly February evening, and he's out with friends at a restaurant in New York City. Soon he'll have even more R & R to look forward to, when he returns home to his native Emmaus for a couple of weeks in March. As a newly anointed member of the New York City Ballet, and a veteran denizen of the City that Never Sleeps, Weber is not your typical 18 year old.
It may be that Weber was destined to be a dancer, that he would have found his way to the ballet studio one way or another, amidst the usual childhood antics that kept him busy during his earliest years. But lucky for Weber, he only had to follow the well-trod path of his older siblings. Both his brother, Miles, and sister,
Haley, were dancers at the Repertory Dance Theatre in Emmaus (formerly the Dolly Haltzman Dance Academy). Weber recalls watching them dance in Nutcracker. He also recalls a teacher asking his mother, Terry, if he might be interested in joining; they needed another boy in the studio. Weber's reaction? “It looked like fun and something that I wanted to do.” He was just five years old.
At first, like a lot of young dancers, Weber cast a wide net—he sampled tap, jazz, ballet and modern styles. But soon the others melted away, and ballet emerged as his niche. Weber says, while all forms of dance require a high level of athleticism and self-discipline, ballet appeals to him the most because it allows for some degree of individualism. “Ballet has the most beauty in all of the ways you can express yourself,” he says. He also appreciates the structure. “I like having a guideline, knowing what I'm supposed to be doing,” says Weber.
At first, he was taking classes a few times a week, but by the time he was a student at the Arts Academy Charter Middle School in Allentown, he was in the studio almost every day, and ballet was more than just a hobby. Entrance to the exclusive and ultracompetitive School of American Ballet, the associate school of the New York City Ballet, seemed possible. “I knew it was something I wanted to go for,” Weber says. He was accepted into the school's intensive, five-week summer program in 2014, and was invited to return the following two summers. In 2016, at the age of 14, he was asked to stay on, which meant moving to the city full time. “It was a big transition,” Weber says. “I had a little trouble the first year. But then I got more comfortable being on my own, not seeing my family as much.”
And it's a good thing he did, because even bigger things were in store. Weber was named an apprentice with the New York City Ballet in early 2019; another hurdle conquered, but still not quite the time to rest on one's laurels. “Apprentice is the transition between school and company,” Weber explains. “The company is still assessing you. You have to make sure you're double-checking everything.” Weber buckled down. About a year later, he was waiting outside the office of the company's artistic director, Jonathan Stafford. This would be the moment of truth. Was he in… or not?
Luckily, Weber wouldn't have to suffer alone with his nerves for very long. Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan saw him and assured him that the news he was about to get was good news. And when the words were finally spoken, Weber recalls breaking into a huge smile and trying to contain his jubilation for the rest of the meeting.
Afterward, he left the office, ran down the hallway at a full sprint, ducked into a dressing room and called—who else?—his mom.
Now it seems he's always in motion. His life is a whirlwind of near-constant classes, rehearsals and performances. Some weeks, he gets a day off. Some weeks, he does not. It's a grind, but you won't catch Weber complaining. “I thrive in this kind of environment,” he says. It also helps that he's joined in the trenches by like-minded men and women who share his passion, and who have come from all corners of the globe to pursue it through their own blood, sweat and tears—sometimes, quite literally. “The company is like one big family,” Weber says. “Not everyone is super close, but I could walk up to anyone in the company and have a conversation and it wouldn't be weird.”
As for his real family, Weber says they're frequent visitors and audience members at his performances. He acknowledges that his hectic schedule keeps him from returning to the Lehigh Valley as much as he'd like. “Oftentimes, I'm distracted by work. But then I'll have a missed call from my mom and it reminds me that I need to see them.” He also keeps in touch with friends from his school days in Emmaus. He says he misses the greenery of his hometown. “Instead of looking around and seeing buildings, you can look around and see actual trees and nature.”
Weber knows it's not physically possible to dance at a professional level for the rest of his life, and he's candid about the fact that some dancers have to move on to “plan B” much sooner than they anticipate. “As a dancer you have to think of that early because you never know,” he says. “Something could happen, and I might not be able to dance for the rest of my life.” Weber hasn't suffered any catastrophic injuries in his career; he did injure his foot and ankle while playing football at a friend's house in 2016, and he hurt his pelvis two years after that. He bounced back from both. Even so, Weber has put some thought into what his post-dancing life might look like. He toys with the idea of returning to his musical roots—he played the trumpet in middle school, and his father, Clearnce, plays the euphonium in the Allentown Band. Teaching ballet or working in physical therapy are also possibilities. “I definitely want to stay active after I stop dancing,” says Weber.
Hopefully, those decisions are far in the future. For now, Weber is content being a young man having the time of his life—and working really hard at a job he loves—in one of the most exciting cities in the world.
