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Holiday shows in New York City have a certain ephemeral magic to them. Do you feel there is more pressure for shows like this? Not at all. If anything, I feel I'm more relaxed during "e Nutcracker" because we get to do it every year. It feels very warm. e audiences are coming to celebrate the holidays with their families, so I always feel everyone in the audience is there for a good reason, and not as judgemental as a typical audience. What is your favorite part about New York City during the holidays? Your favorite memory? Growing up, I never had snow. For me, the best part about performing "e Nutcracker" is having my family fly here and getting to share that with them. We get to enjoy a snowy Christmas that we never had. I do miss having a fireplace, but just being together—my family is super close. New York City for Christmas is just really special. You've been photographed by NYC Dance Project and were featured on the cover of their latest work "e Style of Movement: Fashion and Dance." Knowing how beautifully they capture movement, what was it like working with them? It was an honor to be on the cover in vintage Valentino, which almost no one gets to wear. Valentino is a friend of mine, and he actually let me do that. It was the first time I was able to wear dresses that were designed by him, as they are now designed by the house, so it meant something extra to me. I think fashion and dance have such a beautiful collaboration, you know? I think that dance somehow makes the dresses look their most beautiful. Sometimes they're not seen that way—especially if they're on a runway. So I think fashion designers love when dancers put on their dresses, because you can really see the movement and quality. Deborah [Ory] and Ken [Browar] are so amazing to work with. I've shot with them a few times and I always look forward to it. You have a children's book coming out in 2020 which follows Katarina, a 10-year-old girl with aspirations to be a ballerina in New York City. How will this story mirror your own in any way? [Katarina] is not supposed to be me at all. e only similarity is that she has a little dog that we based off of my own. I wrote it with a friend of mine, Kyle Harris, who was my co-star in a musical titled "Marie, Dancing Still." We put together this idea of this little girl who wants so badly to fit in with the other girls. It's about owning what makes you unique. I think growing up in the dance world, you can easily get caught up comparing yourself to other ballerinas. I know for me, what makes me different is what the company likes about me. So I think for every kid, whether they dance or not, what we're trying to do is show that dance is this universal language that everyone can understand. You don't have to be perfect. You have to be able to own your uniqueness and use it to make you the best version of yourself. You're also dabbling in acting, appearing on "Ray Donovan" season 7. What can you tell me about the role and your time filming? e team couldn't have been better; they were so welcoming to me. Liev [Schreiber], his daughter is actually a ballerina, so one of the first things he said to me was, "My daughter thinks I'm pretty cool right now." ey were all wonderful. I play a ballerina in the episode, so it wasn't a far stretch for me! I ended up being in three episodes; it was originally just supposed to be one and it kept evolving. It was amazing to be offered the opportunity and I had such a great time working on it. What inspired you to start Tiler Peck Designs? It's a leotard line for Body Wrappers, which is a dancewear brand. Aer being photographed in the line, I started thinking to myself, 'I could make these more hip.' I'm in my street clothes for no more than 10 minutes a day, but I'm in leotards all the time—so I definitely knew what I wanted to feel like when I'm wearing a leotard. I also wanted it to be fashionable because that's how I show my personality in my dancewear. We even started making pieces that can go from studio to streetwear. I knew I liked the designs, but I never knew other people would as well. It's nice to know people like wearing them. I was working on another TV show and had brought some of my designs to set and the wardrobe team actually picked two of them for me to wear instead of what they had pulled for the character. When I teach, I see all the little girls wearing my leotards, it makes me happy to see them happy in my design. "What we're trying to do is show that dance is this universal language that everyone can understand . You don't have to be perfect . You have to be able to own your uniqueness and use it to make you the best version of yourself." V U E N J . C O M 108

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