Broadway Alum Georgina Pazcoguin Embraces Being an Outlier in Her Book Swan Dive: The Making of a Rogue Ballerina

Contrary to the lyrics in A Chorus Line, not everything is beautiful at the ballet—but it can be. So says New York City Ballet soloist and Broadway alum Georgina “Gina” Pazcoguin in Swan Dive: The Making of a Rogue Ballerina. She recently talked about her new memoir with Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek on The Broadway Show.

In addition to describing herself as “If Fleabag were a ballerina” on Instagram, Pazcoguin proudly goes by the head-turning term in her book title: “The Rogue Ballerina.” “It came out of a gig gone somewhat wrong, where they gave me a tutu that didn't match the Paquita principal lead. It should have been red. They gave me some tutu pink, and I was like, ‘Absolutely not,’” Pazcoguin said. “I was thinking about, ‘Who am I? What do I have to give back to the art form of ballet? I don't fit in. I've always been seen as an outlier.’ I decided, ‘You know what? I'm just going to embrace it.’ Then boom, The Rogue Ballerina came to mind. It's flipping the connotation of rogue on its head and saying, ‘It's OK to be different.’”

Originally from Altoona, Pennsylvania, Pazcoguin fell in love with ballet at an early age and went on to hone her skills in New York City. It’s the story of many ballerinas. However, with a Filipino father and an Italian mother, Pazcoguin says she always felt different. In 2013, Pazcoguin became NYCB’s first female Asian-American soloist. “I am a multicultural woman in a very white, Eurocentric world of ballet, and I think that's a story that most people don't get to see,” she said. “The only way that we're going to get new audiences involved and wanting to come see the ballet is to make the people on stage relatable.” In addition to writing about her experiences in Swan Dive, Pazcoguin joined forces with author, arts administrator and educator Phil Chan in 2017 to create Final Bow for Yellowface, which aims to maintain the integrity of works from the classical Western canon while updating outdated representations of Asian people.

While Swan Dive details some traumatic experiences faced by Pazcoguin during her time with NYCB—being given notes about her appearance, tearing her ACL, cutthroat competition between dancers and more—her account is not a takedown. “As someone in the ballet world who loves it so much, I want ballet to be able to survive generations into the future," she said. "What we’re doing right now isn’t working."

Pazcoguin also shares her experiences regarding her Broadway bows in On the Town and the 2016 revival of Cats in the book. 

“Everyone, regardless of where they are in life, regardless if you're an artist or not, you have the ability and the freedom to grab hold of your narrative and tell your truth. There's no one that can stop you in that,” she said. “If this book empowers just one person to step forward and own their own story, I think I've done my job.”

Watch the interview below, and head here to check your local listings for The Broadway Show. Hosted by Emmy-winning anchor Tamsen Fadal and powered by Broadway.com, it is the only nationally syndicated weekly theater news program.