Back from injury, a dancer initiates LA Ballet's 10th year

When Robert Mulvey performed his favorite contemporary dance, his knee would occasionally lock in a bent position. He finally got it checked out last March. Within 10 days, he was operated for a torn right lateral meniscus.

After six months of downtime, Mulvey, 22, will perform tonight in Los Angeles Ballet’s season opener Giselle in the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m.

“I’m actually really excited – nervous is not the word,” said the westside resident. “It’s good to get back on the stage where all our labors come to fruition and we feel that people value the work that we put into it.”

LA Ballet embarks on its 10th year in its bid for permanency. Los Angeles has been the only major U.S. city without a native professional ballet company. Movies, T.V. and other arts prospered, but previous attempts to established fine art dance have been quixotic.

“Los Angeles Ballet’s 10th anniversary is a testimony to LAB’s achievements as a member of the city’s vibrant arts scene,” said Thordal Christensen, co-artistic director, in a statement for Patch. “Over 10 years, our story has been one of tremendous artistic growth, recognition, audience development and support. LAB’s cultural contribution will continue, bringing spectacular performances to the Southern California community.”

Giselle is an ethereal masterwork of the Great Romantics. In the 2-act ballet, the peasant protagonist dies of a broken heart after uncovering her lover’s unfaithfulness. She is summoned from the grave by Wilis, supernatural women who dance men to death, but, instead of exacting revenge, Giselle frees him from their clutches.

His ballerina mom enrolled all five kids in ballet, but only Mulvey persevered to become a professional dancer. After studying in the San Francisco Ballet School, he accepted an opening with the Washington Ballet.

But after a year and a half, Mulvey opted for the enviable weather and laid-back atmosphere of Southern California. He initiates his third year as a company dancer tonight.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” Mulvey said. “When I dance, it feels so right. It’s in my gut.”

One of enduring ironies of ballet is that dancers perform to the tastes of the upper crust of society but with modest incomes live with the lower crusts.

“When I decided to work in this field, I understood that I was not going to be Mr. Moneybags with $100,000 in my bank account and eating lunch out everyday,” Mulvey said. “But I’m not suffering. It’s not easy, but I’m willing to make a sacrifice because I love what I do. I don’t think many professionals can say they love their work like I do.”

Mulvey’s injury was a nagging problem from two years prior, and he can’t even remember when he originally tore the ligament.

“It was not super painful,” he said. “Maybe I just have a huge tolerance for pain. It felt like stuff was slipping around in there.”

Good thing he mentioned the problem to the LAB’s physical therapist. Though he wasn’t concerned, Susanne Thom recognized warning signs and sent him to get an MRI. He missed six performances last year.

“I was really, really, really upset,” Mulvey said. “My father was supposed to come out and see me, and it was the first time he would have seen me dance in five years. It was a pretty big disappointment.”

The fact that the day of the surgery was April 1 helped provide a bit of comic relief to pre-surgery anxiety. “I got to make light of the situation,” Mulvey said. “It’s really nerve-wracking going under the knife. But it made it easier to be able to laugh about it.”

The surgeon was able to stitch up the tear, and with rehab, Mulvey has been pronounced ready to perform. With proper physical therapy, with cross-training, with icing, with taping, with proper rest, he expects to never re-injure the meniscus.

For Mulvey, ballet is about passion.

“It sounds so terrible – the pain, the rigor, the torn meniscus, the stress fractures, the hours, the criticism,” he mused. “But none of that matters. I know what I’m doing is so important for the community. We dancers love what we do.”

Photo: Robert Mulvey with Molly Filppen. Credit: Reed Hutchinson.