Georgina Pazcoguin―the Groundbreaking Ballerina, Broadway Star, and Culture Leader―is Leaving New York City Ballet For Greater Heights

Georgina Pazcoguin, the scintillating New York City Ballet soloist, Broadway star, activist, and culture leader is accustomed to breaking barriers. That's one reason why she's known as "The Rogue Ballerina." Where some dancers simply keep their heads down and follow the company line, Pazcoguin has been celebrated and sometimes scorned for speaking her mind and demanding better for her peers and fellow Asian American artists.

But after two dazzling decades spent originating numerous leading roles with a coterie of today's hottest choreographers―including Kyle Abraham, Lauren Lovette, Justin Peck, Angelin Preljocaj, and Alexei Ratmansky―and going back and forth between City Ballet, television (Fosse/Verdon), and Broadway (as Ivy in On the Town and Victoria in Cats), the star has decided to leave her home for even greater platforms.

As Pazcoguin told BroadwayWorld in an exclusive interview, "The New York City Ballet has been my home as a dancer for 20 years, and I depart very proud of my achievements in that role. I've forged deep friendships, learned many lessons, and made a lifetime of artistic memories.

It's no secret that I have frustrations with issues in the ballet world, especially in the area of diversity and inclusion. Having autonomy to direct my own contributions to the performing arts world is so important to me. As my growth as an artist shall continue, so shall my advocacy to address these concerns through my work with Final Bow for Yellowface/Gold Standard Arts and as a Kennedy Center Next 50 change maker.

It is my hope that companies worldwide, including New York City Ballet, will continue to make steady progress in becoming more inclusive and welcoming to all. My final performances with NYCB will be in 'Namouna, A Grand Divertissement' in the upcoming Spring season."

What Comes Next for "The Rogue Ballerina?"

Pazcoguin shared with BroadwayWorld that her final performances with the company are on May 6 (8 PM) and May 7 (3 PM). With that curiosity satisfied, we could not stop wondering, "What comes nexxt after tearing it up at City Ballet?"

Especially after becoming the first Asian American ballerina promoted to soloist in the company's history or carving her way through a wide repertoire that includes ballets by George Balanchine (most astonishing performances: Hippolyta in Midsummer Night's Dream and Dewdrop in The Nutcracker), August Bournonville, Eliot Feld, Peter Martins, and Jerome Robbins (whose West Side Story Suite she RULED as Anita). Or writing the critically applauded and at times hilarious (Swan Dive: The Making of a Rogue Ballerina) which revealed that things aren't always beautiful at the ballet.

So what's next for The Rouge Ballerina? The obvious answer is returning to Broadway. That's right! Pazcoguin is making history once again and adding another hyphenate to her name, joining a cohort of Filipino producers on the upcoming revolutionary musical, Here Lies Love.

With music by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love tells the story of the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos, First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, who wielded power and style alongside her husband Ferdinand Marcos, at the hands of the People Power Revolution. (She's also mother to the country's current president Bongbong Marcos.)

Conceived of and directed by Alex Timbers, Here Lies Love features a ground-breaking fully-immersive experience designed by David Korins, and puts Filipino/a/x artists and history center stage.

As Pazcoguin explained during our interview, it's also Broadway's "first ever fully bi-national producing team (with a team of American, Filipino-American in the Filipino producers in the Philippines working in lock step) and a watershed moment for inclusive advocacy on our stages and behind the scenes of Broadway and dance, built upon genuine partnership."

Pazcoguin's colleagues on the show include the first-ever Filipino lead producers on a Broadway musical: Clint Ramos; the Obie, Drama Desk, Lortel, and Tony Award-winning designer and producing creative director of City Center Encores, and Pulitzer Prize winner and Tony- and Drama Desk Award-nominated producer Jose Antonio Vargas―as well as the Tony Award-winning star Lea Salonga, who, like Pazcoguin, is making her debut as a Broadway producer.

Creating a Safer World for Asian American Artists

With so many flowers in her bouquet, one has to wonder what will Pazcoguin's legacy be? It's too early to say, but for this writer, no matter which new boundaries she breaks, her greatest glory will be the contributions she's made to the world as an activist.

It wasn't enough for Pazcoguin to call out the abuses she witnessed (and experienced) during the prime of her career―even it put a target on her back. Despite the threats and consequences she faced for doing so, she continued to speak the truth and, after seeing that words weren't enough, began to advocate for systemic change as the co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface; an organization that she created alongside choreographer and activist Phil Chan to eliminate racism in dance.

What started with removing orientalism from Balanchine's The Nutcracker has become a full-throttled movement and notification to the field that racism has never been okay and is due for thoughtful updating. To that point, rather than "cancel ballet," she and Chan have worked with or inspired leaders across the world―including the notoriously slow-to-change Paris Opera Ballet―to develop intentional and inclusive substitutes for racist caricatures, so that all audiences feels welcome at the ballet. To date, nearly every major ballet company in America has signed their pledge to do so.

Happily, recognition has followed their efforts. As Pazcoguin noted in our interview, her work with Chan led to their being nominated and designated by the Kennedy Center as part of the 50 leaders who are lighting the way forward through art and action. Their inaugural cohort includes adrienne maree brown, Camille A. Brown, Mahogany L. Browne, Tony Duncan, Amanda Gorman, Megan Rapinoe, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Jose Solís, and Esperanza Spalding.

It's notable that Kennedy Center's description of the group begins with the words, "A soccer player. A poet. A chef. A comedian. A ballerina. Leadership crosses the boundaries of genre, medium, and discipline." The ballerina on that list is Pazcoguin. Because among her peers, she is the only one. After decades of being the only person at City Ballet calling for change, her incredible voice is being heard around the world and helping to remind this country that there is greatness in diversity.

But for Pazcoguin, the work doesn't stop with being honored. In addition to speaking on numerous panels around the world, she, Chan, and Jessica Tong established a virtual dance festival―10,000 Dreams: Virtual Choreography Festival―in response to the 2021 Atlanta murders that targeted Asian women. As a direct result of their festival, six major ballet companies have agreed to commission new ballets from all-Asian creative-led teams―including the choreographer, composer, costume designer, and set designer―by 2025.

Since that accomplishment, she and Chan have created Gold Standards Arts Foundation, a new organization that advocates for artists and leaders of Asian descent by providing them with resources, guidance, and space to speak candidly and by actively creating new opportunities.

As everyone who saw during her luminous, last-minute debut as Polyhymnia (last year) knows, Pazcoguin could continue dancing. But it's clear that holding center stage is no longer enough for her. That doesn't mean that she's done with performing or acting... But for now, she's focusing on making sure that anyone who wants to dance is invited to the ballet. In other words, rather than ask what's next for "The Rogue Ballerina," the better question is, "What isn't?"

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