We had the good fortune of connecting with Tyler Donatelli and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tyler, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I think risk taking is necessary! If you don’t push yourself to your limits you will never know how far you can actually go. The reward from a risk is usually far greater than you could have imagined, you feel limitless. Going onstage and performing a ballet I’ve only covered and pushing myself to my limit in front of thousands are only a few examples of how risk plays a factor in my career.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I try to be my most authentic self in my art-form of ballet even if I have to portray a character. No matter what I have to stay true to myself in order to feel I have successfully entertained an audience. Getting to the professional level in ballet was and is still hard work. I had to let go of a typical childhood in order to train to be the best I could be. I had challenges along the way like anyone else; doubt, fear, and physical limitations contributed to some trouble but in the end overcoming them made me stronger. I think working hard (and smart) is the most important thing. If you know you’ve done everything you can, that’s success in itself no matter what happens.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would say we would go to a lot of amazing restaurants: Uchi, One Fifth, Tinys No 5, Coltivare, and Empire cafe are among my favorites. For dessert, Fluff bake bar always.

For fun around the city, we would definitely shop in rice village, Kuhl-Linscomb and 19th street in the heights. We might go out to Anvil, Bad News Bar, or Better Luck Tomorrow for some drinks.

Lastly for some R&R we would probably get facials at the Houstonian. Then we could go out to a show at the Jones Hall or Wortham Theatre. There’s so many things to see and do in Houston it’s hard to list !

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mom deserves so much recognition for my success in ballet. As a single parent, she sacrificed so much for me to dance and fully believed in me to accomplish my dream and goal of being a professional ballerina.

Instagram: @tylerdonatelli

Image Credits
First main photo credit: Alana Campbell Second page of photo credit : Lawrence Knox and Amitava Sarkar

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