Rehearsing “Swan Lake” a few weeks ago in a sweaty studio, trying to iron out some last-minute kinks, ballerina Unity Phelan stopped just before launching into the famed 32 fouettés — those crowd-pleasing whiplash turns on one leg performed by Odile, the devious Black Swan.
“No fouettés today — save them for tonight,” directed Phelan’s coach at New York City Ballet, Kathleen Tracey. Dancer and coach agreed: preserving Phelan’s precious leg muscles took priority over rehearsing the fiendishly difficult move.
