Georgina Pazcoguin, a soloist with New York City Ballet, has always been an artist in search for new experiences; in her time at NYCB, she's performed dramatic character roles like Madge in La Sylphide, sung onstage in West Side Story Suite, and worked with exciting choreographers inside and outside of the company.  Now, she's heading to Broadway, taking over the role of Ivy Smith in On The Town for two weeks this August. We spoke with Georgina about performing in musicals, her love of Jerome Robbins ballets, and what she'll be dancing in NYCB's fall season.

Unlike most ballet dancers, you have some experience singing on stage - and at Lincoln Center no less! Can you talk a bit about performing as Anita in NYCB's West Side Story Suite? You always look like you're having such fun, and I'd love to hear about how you first came to perform it.

It is one of the most fun parts I've experienced. The way everything came about was they were bringing back the production....  I knew the stories of how when Jerry [Jerome Robbins] first did the production, he made everyone come in and sing with a pianist, and they had to sing "Happy Birthday". We were in our Saratoga Season, and J.P. [ballet master Jean-Pierre Frohlich] came up to me and said, "I'd really like for you to sing for Anita, would you be interested?" And I said, "Yeah, of course!" I'd seen West Side Story before, Jenny [Jenifer] Ringer was one of my favorite all-time ballerinas and she did the part.  So literally one afternoon he was like "Okay, I'd like you to sing" and I ran up the stairs and grabbed Kyle Froman, who was still with the company at that time, and I was like: "I have no idea how to sing. Can you please give me some pointers?"

We went in the shoe spray room in Saratoga, which was a tiny little annex to the hallway, and he was like, "You really have to think about the breath coming from the small of your back." He gave me a quick tutorial. And then I went down to the practice room and Elaine Chelton, one of the pianists, was there, and we just kind of sang through "America," which was really fun. The second I started singing, J.P. and Elaine kind of looked at each other, and they were kind of like "OK!"  And then in the Fall...the rehearsal schedule went up, and JP and Jenny were teaching me Anita.

I read that you saw West Side Story when you were a kid and were totally entranced.  Have you always liked musicals?

I don't regret anything, but I wish that I would have had more exposure to the musical theatre world as a kid. I grew up in Altoona, PA, and West Side Story was one of those musicals that made it into my [radar].  I went to a very small Catholic school, and I remember being in fifth grade and during the period when they put on [a video of] West Side Story, and just the technicolor and.... Everyone else just sort of fell asleep or was doing other things, but I was just absolutely enthralled with this movie.  And after that, I started doing more research on musicals.  I love a big number, and I also just love West Side Story, and it's so odd that my life is just taking me in the exact place where that was filmed.

You've also had the chance to perform dramatic character roles, like Madge in La Sylphide last season. How does creating a character in ballet and musical theatre compare?

Well, I think, in comparing it to On The Town, Ivy has been created and she's existed for a while; and so has Madge. But Madge can also be played by a man. I feel like with Madge I had a little bit more freedom to create what my portrayal would be.  Now inserting into Ivy, I know that John Rando, the director, really wants me to find my own way of doing Ivy, but I'm also going to be very considerate of the fact that Megan [Fairchild]'s been doing it for a long time, and the other actors are used to a certain way, so I want to find that special sweet spot, if you will, of having my own approach to the role and also catering to my fellow colleagues.  I think my experience with having some of these fun acting roles, be it [Jerome Robbins'] The Concert, or the Nurse in [Peter Martins'] Romeo + Juliet, and Madge, they've all only helped me, because it's still a stage. It's still stage acting -- which is so different from acting on film, which I have much less experience at.

How are rehearsals for On The Town going so far?

Rehearsals are really fun. Scheduling has been crazy, since I've been bouncing around with summer tours and gigs and New York City Ballet and other companies. Today will be my official put in rehearsal, and it actually will be the first time that I get to do scene work with Jackie Hoffman and Tony [Yazbeck], and I'm really ecited!

The dancing is super fun. We worked out all the lifts yesterday, and it's gonna be a little bit trial by fire at the first show, because I'm not going to have the real stage lights until the first show. So I'm just kind of riding the roller coaster, and trying to remain as calm as possible in the process.

What did Megan Fairchild say to you when you landed the part? Did she give you any tips, any insights into who Ivy Smith is?

Well, Megan texted me "Congratulations!", and I was like "For what?" (laughs) So she kind of broke the word to me that things might  become more official and I might get a shot at the role.  Her advice... I think she said, "Get used to dancing in really bright lights."  The stage is much smaller and [the lights they use] are extremely bright. And she said, "Take a huge breath before you go upside down to sing."

I feel like some of the old Balanchine-choreographed musicals like On Your Toes need to be revived with all of you multi-talented City Ballet dancers doing musical theatre. You and Megan in On the Town, Robert Fairchild in An American in Paris, Tiler Peck in Little Dancer in D.C...

Oh, I would love that. This is really an exciting time for theater. Not only do you have these amazing, earth-shattering musicals like Hamilton, which are completely shaking up the whole theater world and how things are cast, and the language in which you can tell a story. It's also a renaissance of real dance, and the audiences seem to be really responding to that. It's really exciting. I think we're all in this together in that we want to keep dance as an art form going in the future. And I think it's great that classical dance is reaching a more expanded audience through a platform like Broadway.

I want to talk with you a bit about Jerome Robbins, because you've performed in several of his ballets, including Fancy Free - which, of course, is the ballet that sparked the idea for On the Town. What is it that you enjoy most about Robbins' work? Is there one that you haven't yet gotten to perform that you'd like to dance?

The thing about Robbins work, is it's always been based on creating a sense of community on stage. And I know that's been said in a ton of interviews, over and over, but it really is true.  Even in things like Mr. Monotony, which is a very deep-cut Robbins work that American Dance Machine for the 21st Century has brought back, there's three different dancers, the girl's a Fosse dancer, and the sense of community they create... there's only three people, and they're telling this exciting story.

And I like that you don't have to put so much energy into "Where am I coming from?" with Robbins' work. He already had the idea there.  I didn't get to work with him personally, but the coaches who are in charge of the Robbins rep are really great at instilling what they thought Jerry would want from the process. I know a lot of the time they're saying, "Less, easy baby" -- "easy baby" was his quote.  He wanted to show the person in the role. Each individual. So it wasn't doing the steps through the steps. He wanted to see "How does Gina do that step?" A lot of the time my corrections are approach it with less; kind of, almost, sort of mark it. And that's the sort of energy of the pieces he created.

There are so many Jerry ballets that I absolutely love. One that I've never gotten to be in, and I would love to, is Piano Pieces. And I do hope that they [New York City Ballet] will bring it back! We've got a huge Robbins festival coming up in 2016 for New York City Ballet.

The first ballet I saw that made me want to be a dancer, and come to New York and be serious about it, was Jerome Robbins' The Cage. There's something so visceral about it. I was probably 9 or 10. I loved the theatricality of it. He created this whole lair with minimal sets, just some black backdrops and some rope and lighting, and the costumes, and he created these creatures, these insect women, who obviously were super empowering.  I just loved the whole idea of it, I was struck with it, and I was like 'whatever that is I need to do that.'

The choreography for this production of On the Town is not the original by Robbins, but Robbins-inspired choreography by Josh Bergasse.   I'd love to hear where you see the influence, as someone who has danced so much of Robbins' work.

I see it sprinkled throughout the entire musical. More so with the boys' dancing. There's a section in the Times Square ballet where all the boys are on stage and you really see that sense of community; you see the boys interacting with each other, having a blast. Josh has done such a good job in this choreography in updating it for a generation that's much younger, and also a theater world that's changed a lot. So there are very subtle references.  Like in Fancy Free, there's a moment where the boys all stop in second [position] and  they stop with their arms low and they turn their gaze up and up, like they're looking at the buildings in the skyline of the city in awe and wonder. And you see that, that reference - and I'm not sure if he did it on purpose, but I definitely see it in Josh's choreography -- in the beginning, opening New York section, everyone in the ensemble including the three sailor boys, the principals, they all are dancing, dancing, dancing, and then they all crouch and gaze up.  And I really think that was an homage, if you will.

Am I right to assume you'll be back at NYCB for the fall season?

Yes, this has been almost fate how [the timing] has worked out... On the 24th or 25th, we start with New York City Ballet.

What will you be dancing? Any new ballets?

I've looked at the grid.  The casting doesn't come out until two weeks before. I do have some rep pieces.  I'm sure I'll be in Swan Lake in some sort of divertissement.  Opus Jazz comes back, so I'll probably reprise my role in that. I'm really excited to be involved in the new Justin Peck piece.

Oh great, have you started rehearsals for the Peck piece yet?

Yes. All I'm gonna say is it's super super exciting. The music is by Steve Reich, and it's just got this ongoing beat to it.  It's really difficult for the dancers, because it doesn't stop, and if we lose count, it's going to be very hard duets to count. So we're all going to really need to concentrate.  It's not one of those ballet you can just go out and forget everything once you're on stage, you really have to count.  But it's going to be explosive and fun and I can't wait to get started on it.

You were in Justin's Everywhere We Go last year, too. What is he like to work with?

He has a really clearly defined sense of music, along with a little bit of whimsy in there, and a lot of athleticism, and I really like that he is able to find those points in all of those characteristics in all of the dancers he works with, no matter who he works with.

Something that I've really admired about your career is your openness to projects outside of NYCB - not just this stint on Broadway, but also Ballet Next, American Dance Machine for the 21st Century, working with choreographers Emery LeCrone and Pontus Lidberg... What has driven you to seek out these new experiences, and do you have any other exciting projects on the horizon?

It's always been my thought that any sort of experience beyond the norm is going to benefit me growing as an artist. New York City Ballet is a wonderful, wonderful place, and I'm so happy to call it my home. But there are other facets of my artistry that I need to feed.  Just because New York City Ballet is so big, and there are so many talented dancers, I'm not always going to get to do the parts that I would love to do at City Ballet.  Or sometimes in the seasons where there is no acting part, and I would like to feed that, or just [experimenting with] different styles of movement. Working with Pontus last year was so eye opening, and I was doing things I never thought I would be able to do -- contemporary movement, working on the floor -- and all of a sudden my body just became stronger.  I love those kinds of growing experiences. And Pontus is also one of those choreographers who would just say, "Be less, just be you, you don't have to try so hard."  And it was really great learning his sense of movement.  Ballet is always a continuing education art form; we're never going to master it. I feel like I have this hunger and this need to feed myself with as much information as possible, because I feel like my body's strong right now, I'm in a good headspace to take in all this information, it can only help and give me more facets to draw upon when something comes up.

So have you caught the musical bug? Are we going to see you with Robert Fairchild in An American in Paris next?

(Laughs) Um, well, I mean I don't want to throw myself under the bus with my boss, but I've always loved musical theatre, and it's always been something my closest friends have been like "You really need to explore this, you should explore this." I do think I'm not ready to hang up the pointe shoes just yet, but if the opportunity came to have an experience like that, in being in An American in Paris or any other musical that had great dance....  You know, I'm a dancer first, and I'm still working to make my acting and my singing on part with my dancing. And I'm ready, willing, and open for the challenge.  It also should be said that Peter Martins, my boss at City Ballet, has been so wonderful about letting his dancers branch out this year, and as long as he's willing to work with me, I would be so happy to do that.