UrbanUpdate

Ballet is absolute hell on the bodies of those who do it, but Justin Peck, who at age 26 became only the second resident choreographer in the New York City Ballet's history, considers the grind to be a privilege. In addition to his role as a performer, Peck designed the choreography for Red Sparrow—in which Jennifer Lawrence starred as a Bolshoi ballerina-turned-assassin—and even picked up a Tony this year for his work on the Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel. Earlier this summer, we sat down with him to hear about all the sushi, peanut butter, and children's snacks that keep his body in world-class ballet shape.

GQ: Given how many different hats you wear, what does an "ordinary" day of training look for you?

Justin Peck: Most of my training and exercise is in the studio, so I’ll usually wake up and take some sort of warm-up ballet class to get my body aligned and moving. I’ll also do some stretching prep work in the morning, and Pilates to get my core active. Then, if it’s a lighter day, I’ll often do a little bit of cross-training in our theater gym, which involves some time on the elliptical or the bike, and then a little bit of light free-weight lifting.

What sort of weightlifting? Like, what are the primary things you have to work on as a dancer?

Anything that can help to augment partner work. There are exercises that were first taught to me when I was in the School of American Ballet as a teenager—they actually have a great weight training program for the men to help build the right muscles used for supporting ballerinas. I’ve been doing those since I was 16 or 17. But we don’t want to build too much bulk. It’s lifting that supports a leaner look. No heavy weights.

What do you eat in the morning to get through those workouts?

I try to have a hearty breakfast. My whole day is pretty active, so I’ll have oatmeal with fresh fruit or eggs with really whole grain-y bread. During the day, I’ve been having a lentil- or bean-based soup, or an açaí bowl that's almond butter- or peanut butter-based. That keeps me going and doesn't make me feel weighed down. And then for dinner I’ll indulge a little bit more. When I cook at home, I have a really good grain bowl with miso-glazed salmon that I love to make, and some pickled cucumber and roasted vegetables to go with that.

When you’re in a show, how often are you performing in a week?

Since I’m at the soloist rank, I don’t usually perform every night. Maybe on a busy week I’ll do four performances, and on a not-so-busy-week I’ll do one or two. Usually I eat something really simple about two hours before a performance, just so I have something in my stomach. There’s a deli around the corner, and I just get a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole wheat bread, toasted, or a banana and yogurt and maybe, like, a Clif Bar. Obviously I don’t want to try anything risky right before I go out and perform, so it’s usually something simple and consistent.

That sounds like stuff you’d find in a middle schooler’s lunch box.

Exactly. Nothing with too much spice. Just really basic flavors.

Watch:Ballet Dancer Chase Finlay: On Diet and Fitness

What projects are you working on right now?

I’m sort of in transition, because I just finished choreographing Carousel on Broadway, and I’ll be traveling quite a bit in the next few months, dancing as well as choreographing a new commission for our upcoming season. I’m actually working on a new piece with the composer Sufjan Stevens, who is writing a score for this ballet I’m choreographing that will premiere in winter 2018. The piece will be pretty large in scale, in terms of the cast size, which is something I always enjoy getting a chance to. It’s definitely going to be my biggest work for the next year.

You also did the choreography for Red Sparrow. How was that different from choreographing a live performance?

Live productions, at least in my world, are presented toward a traditional proscenium—the audience is out in front, facing the stage, and that's their only perspective. Working on a film kind of opens up the dimension of how dance can be viewed—it’s a 360-degree vantage point. It's really interesting to work with the director on the best way to shoot this one step at this one moment in time.

What’s been the biggest change for you as you’ve moved from dancing into choreography?

For me, performing as a dancer feels more regimented. Like, there’s a specific choreography that’s learned, and then you work on how you perform that or how you execute that. When I’m choreographing, it’s much more exploratory. I do a lot of movement development using my own body and improvising in the studio by myself. We’re creating something brand new, and we’re not quite sure what it is or how the body moves in a certain step, so there’s a lot of trial and error.

When you're dancing, how do you refuel after a performance?

We eat out, because it’s so late. There are restaurants around Lincoln Center that we’ll usually go to as a group. Rosa Mexicano is up there. Blue Ribbon Sushi is across the street.

Are big group dinners like that likely to throw off your diet, or are they kind of programmed in?

We burn so many calories throughout the day, and you can't eat much when you're rehearsing and performing, so it’s never really a concern for most of the dancers. Dinner is a nice chance to balance things out.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Luke Darby is a contributor to GQ, covering news, entertainment, and the environment. A Louisiana native, he now resides in Cleveland, and his writing has also appeared in Outside, the Dallas Observer, and Marie Claire.Related Stories for GQReal Life Diet