Featured Dancers

The Fashion Composers

Pascalle & Hannah

Tell us a little about yourself?

We are two ballerinas (Pascalle Paerel, Hannah de Klein) and best friends dancing with the Dutch National Ballet. We have known each other since school and joined the company around the same time. Ballet has been a huge part of our lives, actually it all surrounds around ballet daily, but we always look for things/inspiration/fun stuff to do outside this profession. A year ago we started the Fashion Composers. It's a platform where we are trying to make a connection between the ballet world and fashion industry. Our goal is to have our own agency where we represent professional ballet dancers. Setting up interesting collaborations with big brands, photographers and magazines to create a different dimension to being a ballet dancer/artist.

How long have you been dancing for?

• Hannah: 

'I joined the company in 2008, I have been dancing almost ten years professionally'.

• Pascalle: 

I joined the company one year before Hannah in 2007. We both starting training professionaly since we were 9 years old.

What styles of dance do you specialize in?

• Hannah: 

'Our company is a classical ballet company, so we train everyday to maintain and specialise our classical ballet technique. I do really love the modern/contemporary style and luckily we don't just perform the great classics. It's cool to dance different styles, I like some variety'.

• Pascalle: 

   Likewise. After so many years in the company I prefer dancing neo-classical ballets over the big classics, but when I first joined a dream came true when I did my first Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty etc.

What made you want to start dancing?

• Hannah: 

'When I was four years old, my dad took me to a performance of Cinderella of the Dutch National Ballet. I just fell in love, it was what I wanted to do, not knowing at all what it meant to become a ballerina. I have been dancing since.

• Pascalle: 

I started going to ballet class just because other girls did as well and auditioned for the ballet academy because the best girls from the regular ballet school went there, so I wanted to go as well haha.

But for me the real love for ballet came a little later, I was thirteen years old when I fell in love with the cast and ballet of Romeo and Juliet of the Dutch National Ballet. So from then on my real motivation and love for this art starting growing very fast.

What has been your greatest accomplishment on your dance career?

• Hannah: 

I don't think I have one thing that I see as the greatest accomplishment on my career. In all those years I have danced many ballets and lots of different roles. I have danced small and big parts. It doesn't matter what you dance, we work so hard for every single thing we put on stage that also each thing feels like a great accomplishment. Maybe I can say the greatest accomplishment for me is in fact to actually have become a professional ballerina in a top company and being paid to just dance.

• Pascalle: 

I feel the same. Every premiere (big or smaller parts) feels like an accomplishment again even after 10 years. The level is so high so you have to work extremely hard to keep a certain quality on stage in every role. But still one of my most memorable days is the day I got my two year contract at the Dutch National Ballet. After being rejected at my first ballet-academy I never thought this was going to be possible anymore. But luckily hard work, dedication and a big love for this art got me there eventually.

What has been your most memorable moment?

• Hannah: 

The first time I got to dance a solo, and I was incredibly nervous. The few seconds before you go out on stage, knowing that the coming minutes people will be only watching you. That's just super intense, scary but it feels great!

• Pascalle: 

For me that would be also one of my first bigger roles; dancing next to one of my favorite ballerina's who I looked up to already since I was a child was so special to me and so nerve wrecking as well but the feeling after the piece ended couldn't have been better:)!

What has been your greatest challenge?

• Hannah: 

Castings haha, it's a big part of the dancers life, you just have to deal with it. Sometimes you get to dance exactly what you want and other times it is a huge disappointment. I have learned to not take it as hard anymore, dancers work so extremely hard, it hurts when you are not on that list. We do take it personally and are emotional attached but slowly (I'm still working on it) I know how to deal with it.

• Pascalle: 

Overwinning my eating disorder ( I was bulimic for over 12 years) and it has been a huge struggle for me, I even considered to stop dancing because of it. But I am so happy to have left that period of time behind me and live a healthy life now.

What advice would you give to other dancers?

• Hannah: 

Work hard, be yourself and have fun! Really enjoy every moment, don't dance to please others but do it for you. It will make a difference.

• Pascalle:

Follow you dreams and think smart. It sounds cliche, but you will only achieve things if you love it that much that you would do almost anything to get there, but you have to be smart as well to be able to look at yourself objectively and now what could work best for you to get where you want to get. And stay healthy!

For more from The Fashion Composers:

Instagram: @thefashioncomposers

To Be Featured: @ShopDanzia #danzia #shopdanzia