Longtime The Phantom of the Opera Dancer Carly Blake Sebouhian on Transitioning from Ballet to Broadway

Carly Blake Sebouhian has been wearing ballet shoes since she was three years old and has no plans of stopping anytime soon. "My mom put me into dance class, and by the time I was six, I was dancing with 12-year-olds," she said. The born-and-raised New Yorker continued to pursue ballet and eventually studeied at the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center. "I always expected that I would be a ballet dancer and be in a ballet company," Sebouhian said. "When I was a teenager, I switched my focus and decided that I wanted to have more fun with dance and not be in such a structured environment all the time. I had to break out of the ballet mold. I love to dance and I love to perform, but not being able to express myself in other ways was really difficult for me. Theater lets you be creative in more ways than just technical ballet." The transition from ballerina to Broadway cast member came quickly for Sebouhian; she auditioned for The Phantom of the Opera at 19 years old and hasn't looked back since. "I'm glad that all of my years of training as a ballet dancer paid off," she said. "I like actually getting to utilize that and do it on stage every night. It's just amazing to be in this show that is just never-ending. I never ever would have thought that I would get to do what I love for so many years and get paid to do it. It's the best."

Watch the video below to hear Sebouhian talk about her 16 years in Phantom and more!

Photo Credits: Photographs by Matthew Murphy | Styling:Greg Dassonville for DassonVogue | Grooming: KeLeen Snowgren | Assistant: Evan Zimmerman
Video Credits: Directed by Kyle Gaskell | Produced by Paul Wontorek & Caitlin Moynihan Additional camera: Alexander Goyco | Location: FD Studios