Company XIV’s dark and dramatic production of Snow White takes the stage this season with its signature XIV flair. Hilly Bodin, a newcomer not just to Company XIV, but to the New York dance scene, has landed the title role, and we talked to her about her first New York gig, playing the iconic Snow White, and her plans for the future.

So this is your first season with Company XIV, right?

Hilly Bodin: Yes. My first season started in August, just two weeks after the audition. I did the audition in the summer, found it through Facebook, from a friend that was with the company in the Cinderella work: Katrina Cunningham, the singer. I knew her from SUNY Purchase, and she’d posted about an audition. I’d just gotten home and I figured, you know, why not? So I rounded up my graduation money that I hadn’t spent and put it towards a ticket to come up here.

And as I’m sure you know, it’s not that simple, just getting a contract that fast and that easy, just within one audition.

That was the first time I met Austin [McCormick, Company XIV's Artistic Director], and the first time I’d done any work like this. And it’s been just an incredible year so far for me in the city. The city has treated me very well.

You have a more classical background. How has this shift into a burlesque and a really avant-garde style been for you?

I had done some work in Vienna where we, the girls, wore pretty much nothing -- the guys wore absolutely nothing. It was a modern and contemporary piece and it was very revealing. In terms of Europe, they’re very open to that kind of revealing of the human body.

As far as putting my classical background into it, it worked out well. Because Austin actually has a pretty prominent ballet and modern background on him, too. And I think that’s what struck when he saw me, so he used it to his advantage, and I was able to use it to my advantage. There were certain sections that I did on pointe for Snow White. I also did that for Nutcracker Rouge and I also did that for Cinderella. And those roles were created on me. He allowed me to find movement that connected the burlesque feel and combined that with the ballet. I’m having a lot of fun with that.

I saw Nutcracker Rouge as well. Also amazing and really fun to see. What would you say is your favorite aspect of any of these performances?

Oh my gosh! Where do I start? Where do I narrow that down? There’s one thing that I failed to mention in my interview with Broadway World, but I have to mention it now: it’s the breaking of the fourth wall.

Before I even started, in their work in the past, they have kept that fourth wall down. The dressing room, changing from one costume to another, it’s all onstage. In front of the audience. To put that kind of exposure to into a work, that’s something I really cherish. I really enjoy that as a prime element in this work. It’s not your traditional run offstage to transform into another character and then come back on. It’s all happening out in front. I find that both challenging and a really cool experience, just in my years of performing and training, to just have that all open to the audience.  It’s an interesting feeling, being in that position and understanding that you are exposed. When you’re getting ready on stage, it’s still a performance, and that’s something you don’t really see in a lot of traditional dance performances.

You’re not going to see New York City Ballet … you’re not going to see the white swan change into the black swan onstage. But I think it would actually be a really cool image to do if they were willing to take that chance. I’d love to see them do that.

That’s interesting because it kind of ties into the fact that you guys aren’t really wearing much clothing. It’s almost like this is the performance, this is how raw it is.

Yeah, and on top of that, we’re also operating the truss, we’re operating the curtain, some of the lights on the side of the stage, too. I think that’s a really awesome element to add. We’re also doing the stage work. Some of it.

We have this group of lighting designers that is just out of control talented and that’s one thing I’m seeing from photos that people are posting. They’re saying “wow, this lighting is amazing. The stage is amazing.”

With Snow White in particular, you’re the lead character, the main role. How does that feel for you? Being not only new to the company, but new to the New York dance scene in general?

You know, I was extremely caught off guard when I was informed that I was going to play Snow White. And when I found it out, I thought it was a curse and a blessing. This is all new to me and I was diving in, and I had to add that theatrical element to it, which is something I never trained in, though I admire it a lot.

I’ve been learning a lot just from the people who have been there before. Especially Laura [Careless], the queen, who has done so much of Austin’s work. She has an incredible balance between acting and dance. I’ve been using her as a key influence on how I dive into it. And she’s mentioned there is really no difference. You don’t have to have a separate agenda for both. The goal is to really mesh the two together.

As far as having the role of Snow White, I’m exuberant about it. I’m through the roof. It’s gotten so much publicity and I’m just excited for where it’s going to go. It’s going to be a huge advantage for my future, obviously. And because I’ve found this to be the most challenging thing for me to tackle in my performance career, I’m thinking that I want to stick with diving more into theater and dance.

That’s what this role has set me up for. It’s given me the confirmation that this is the ultimate high. The ultimate performance.

It’s really kind of a dark role. Did you have trouble with that at all?

I actually sat down and watched the Disney version like three times in a row. And when I mentioned it to Austin, he’s like, “Oh, no, no, no. I don’t want you playing innocent at all. That’s nice but it’s not at all what we’re going for.”

That’s actually easier for me. Which is interesting. It’s kind of weird how what’s asked for the role is similar to personality traits that I have in everyday life. Not that I’m super close with the role, but there’s something to be said for the fact that this character is the younger girl, the young role, who’s kind of enveloped in this world and just trying to make it through. That’s pretty much what my life is, as the new girl in the company trying to make it through my first season, my first big role with the company, my first year in New York.

And thank God Laura and I have such a great offstage relationship. It’s really nice to have that because I know sometimes when you have to play a rivalry with someone’s character, some people keep that, or have that extend into their private lives with that other person. I don’t fear that. It works as an advantage to not have that tension outside. I think Laura would say the same thing.

It’s just the beginning for you and your career with XIV. What kind of plans do you have for the future?

It’s a combination of things that I want to progress in. When I get done with this season I’m going to go home and resume what I was occupied with before I auditioned. I wanted to do dance for film.

I’m a huge admirer of William Forsythe, I worked with him when I was in college, and it kind of hit me. When I was working with him, it was sort of the last remaining moments of that company existing, and he added a lot of theatricality into it. Comedy and dark elements.

And it’s kind of interesting how I ended up at XIV. This is the start of me really mastering the element of theater that I never really had the training for. I would love to obviously continue dancing for XIV. It’s been a really good year for the company, and it can only go further with what we’re doing here.

I do want to do some independent work. I’ve been doing some site-specific work home in Florida. I’d like to build up my own independent profile as a choreographer for film. That’s a huge goal for me. The ultimate goal is to incorporate everything and choreograph for hollywood films. To get to that point where dance is way more integrated into cinema. That’s where I want it to go.

It seems like you’re trying to be a jack of all trades. And Company XIV right now, you guys are masters of everything as well.

Everyone has their skills. That’s what’s incredible about the company. Everyone has their own individual thing and you put us all together, and it’s a full blown canvas. It’s amazing. It’s monumental when we put all of these individual talents together, and it’s great to know that we’re not all after the same thing, like you are with a traditional company. I have nothing bad to say about that, but I’m really enjoying and I really appreciate how we’re all successful and supportive of what we’re all doing.

It’s extremely, extremely, extremely collaborative. It’s a huge advantage that Austin is allowing me to do ballet onstage in New York by myself, in comparison to if I was to join a ballet company where you have your ranking. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to really have this opportunity.

If you could tell an outsider one thing about this production of Snow White, what would it be?

Oh, dear. You know, if you enjoy, if you’re open to, or if you’re unfamiliar with performance art, come to the show. If you want to see all elements of art move and if you want to find yourself, come to the show. And I’d say that about all of the work, not just Snow White.

I guess that’s what I’d say. If you enjoy art, come to the show. Words can describe it on and on. I could write an essay about it, but it’s an opportunity to allow feelings and emotions and perceptions to operate.

I think what’s happening for the company and for me and for the generation we’re in, we just have to keep pushing the boundaries that we’re pushing here. We have to keep pushing that everywhere in all forms of dance.