Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan

You know I've sat at this spot for 23 years?

- Really? -This spot.

Oh, get the door.

There they are!

What? Leftover sheet cake?

Oh, you're just trying to clean out!

Thanks, guys!

Uh-oh!

Roasting!

No, it's not roasting!

This is toasting.

This is just amazing.

I don't know if you notice, but just like all the eyes,

all the faces that were in the wings watching you,

you've affected them and you've made this place so great.

I've appreciated every moment, and I just-- I love you.

I realize I've seen each of you guys come into the company.

I met Ash when he was 13 years old.

And you guys all came in as the, like, younger, new people.

But when I look at you now,

I realize how much I've learned from each of you.

You're incredible people, and I feel so lucky that you're in my life.

I've always been extremely devoted to what I do...

and I love being a part of the New York City Ballet...

but I do feel the ticking clock

and, at times, I've thought if I don't dance, I'd rather die.

I've actually said that.

- Can I take a picture? - Of course!

Where's your camera? Right here, yeah?

Yay!

We want to do front.

One, push back, two, tours en l'air, three, on the jambe, four.

One, two, three, Prussian four, pirouette.

Press six, go to our sides.

Seven, eight, okay? Two coupes.

-Ready, one? -

Ballet can be tough on the body,

and the New York City's work is so extreme

that to do it for a long time, it really plays havoc with you.

But I just want to do something well.

To be a dancer at 47, you can't--

ballet dancer at 47, it's hard to keep doing that well.

Wendy Whelan is here.

Since 1991, she's been a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet.

She is considered to be one of the great ballerinas performing today.

Ballet superstar Wendy Whelan inspires a kind of rapture

in dance critics and choreographers alike.

When you see her move, you understand.

Wendy Whelan is a national treasure

who is always taking us beyond.

She's a dancer for all seasons, all -isms.

She's absolutely magic in the Balanchine repertoire.

I'm still fascinated with Balanchine's choreography.

I never stopped learning about those ballets.

They constantly reveal new things to me.

But the first year I was there, Balanchine died.

I worked with Jerome Robbins for 12 years on a daily basis.

Since I didn't have Balanchine, I feel incredibly lucky to have had him.

After Balanchine, Peter Martins took the helm,

and he chose me pretty early on because I was a strong dancer.

Every once in a while when somebody pops up with that gift,

it's not rocket science, you know.

It's very easy to identify.

You just grab it.

After 30 years with the company,

nobody in the history of New York City Ballet

has had more new works made upon them.

Wendy has been one of the great originators of new roles,

and shaped contemporary ballet today,

shaped the work of William Forsythe,

Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky.

I had the world in my hands.

I was getting every part under the sun.

They were like, "Wendy, this is yours. This is yours. This is yours."

All these gifts coming, it was like gold streaming into my world.

But as soon as I started to achieve success

and thought, "This is pretty amazing,

I'm actually feeling what I wanted to feel my whole life,

I'm at this place, I'm recognized,

uh, I'm doing things...

What the fuck is it gonna be like when I can't do this anymore?"

It's okay.

Don't let the right pelvis drop. That's it.

So you want to stay nice

and in that neutral training region of your pelvis

while your hip joint's moving.

Had a weird pain this morning.

-I, uh... Yeah. -On the outside?

Which, I was like, "Probably need to find that cartilage farmer."

-Cartilage farmer. -Yeah.

-You know, you probably just... -The guy that grows the cartilage!

-...activated the muscle too quickly-- -It kind of was like--

-Jammed together? -When it's raw up in your tooth?

It's on the outside rather than the groin area, right?

-Yeah, or the labrally thing. -The labrally area.

I have a labral tear.

A lot of people have it.

Some people can continue to dance through it.

I've tried and tried and tried for the past, like, ten months,

and tried everything.

It's debilitated me to a certain level,

so I've just focused on certain pieces that I can do.

I don't have to do Nutcracker.

I don't-- I want to do the fall season, but...

-I was wondering about that. -I have to just let it go.

Yeah, I have to let it go.

Do you have to have surgery or something?

I do.

-You do? -Yeah. Hopefully I'll be back

doing something at City Ballet.

It depends on how I heal.

I'm trying to get strong in certain areas and be really ready for the surgery,

so I'm trying to be wise beforehand to counter a lengthy recovery,

keep it as short as possible.

So, like, how do you feel today?

Well...

Other than sore.

Really sore!

What is the procedure?

Like, give me a little information.

I don't really know anything.

It's just an arthroscopy,

so it shouldn't be a big deal,

-but they go in two sides-- -Oh!

-...my hip. -Okay.

-They clean up a tear that's in there. -Yeah.

I just-- I'll be so excited to know that it goes well,

and then hopefully will feel a bit like my old self again.

Mm-hmm.

It's hard for me to believe I'll ever feel like that, but I hope I will.

You can head in that direction.

My whole career, 43 years of dancing,

I've had such minimal pain.

That's a really lucky thing,

but two of the last three shows,

to cross from one side of the stage to the other,

the pain I felt, just walking, was...

it's just shocking.

And, uh, Dr. Philippon called me on the phone,

and he said that he thought that surgery could really help my issues.

He's one of the top hip specialists in the world,

and he's designed surgical treatments for torn labrum.

That's why a lot of athletes go to him.

Like, big-time athletes.

Because they need to get back in the game, and...

I guess I'm one of those people.

Need to get back in the game

'cause I don't have a ton of time left at my game.

If you'll just-- right now, if you'll have a seat right, and then--

-So, Dr. Philippon saw you-- -Thursday, yeah.

-Thursday. -Uh-huh.

How long's your hip been bothering you?

-Um, almost a year. -Almost a year.

Like, September last year.

Yeah, where does it bother you?

Uh, where does it not bother me?

-Um, a lot in the front. -Yeah.

-Some in the back. -Any problems with your left hip?

No, not that I know of. -Any problems with your back?

-I have some scoliosis, yeah. -Okay.

Dr. Philippon was very impressed that I made it this far

with the back the way I have it, so...

-Okay. -So, whoa.

You've done a pretty good job of dealing with that curvature, so...

Okay, so we talk about possible labral debridement,

-repair, or reconstruction. -Uh-huh.

So, the labrum's the little bumper that's around your socket.

There's a chance that it's torn, and he'll use sutures to repair it

-back down to the socket... -Uh-huh.

...or there's a chance that it's really badly torn,

and in that instance Dr. Philippon's developed a technique

where he'll reconstruct it, taking some tissue from the side of your...

from the side of your hip area.

My first ever IV.

That's incredible.

This is quite a costume.

It's hysterical.

Yay. All right, I'm sending this one.

Awesome.

So, we're ready to roll, and we'll do the epidural in the room,

and we'll, uh, get you going on your recovery.

Awesome. Thank you so much.

Okay. Any questions?

No, these guys have me covered.

-They're all amazing. -Okay. All right.

-Thanks. Okay. -See you in a few minutes.

What I do now is I just kind of

gently outline her anatomy...

-Right hip. - Right side.

Okay, doctor, gonna start here.

Nine CCs.

...standby, please.

Let's turn this off in the background, okay, guys?

So, Wendy... Everything is going well, Wendy.

-Awesome. -Yes, everything is going very well.

So, we're gonna need to micro-fracture fixes right now.

Creating channels for the blood to come to the surface

and create powdering.

Are you comfortable?

It's amazing to me, as a surgeon, to see what kind of abilities