By Sean Leviashvili, News Staff

Eight women took the floor Sunday morning to rehearse for the American premiere of Jiri Kylian’s five-act ballet ‘Black and White,’ which opens today at the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre.
The piece doesn’t involve classical music, but keeps in tact the classical movements known to ballerinas without confining itself to the scales and pirouettes one would expect.
‘One of the things we use [in ‘Black and White’] is called ‘petit mort,” said Heather Waymack, one of the dancers who was performing in a segment called ‘Falling Angels’ Sunday morning.
In this play, the style, which translates to ‘little death,’ incorporates artistic swordplay set to the sounds of Mozart.
Waymack said she has worked with the Boston Ballet since 2005, but she put on her first tutu as a child.
‘I put it on and couldn’t stop dancing around the house,’ she said.
She took her first lesson as a toddler, and by the age of 9, she was in classes more than twice a week. Waymack has since taken on roles like the Snow Queen in ‘The Nutcracker’ and Aurora in ‘Sleeping Beauty.’
As she took the stage to perform in ‘Falling Angels’ for the second time, she said she was grateful for the workouts ‘- even for the grueling hours.

Huntington News:’ What is a typical work day for you?
Heather Waymack:’ It depends. When we are not in the theatre, we don’t work weekends. When we are in the theatre, we work Tuesday through Sunday, from 11:30 to 10:45 at night. Getting a piece ready for the stage takes a lot of grueling hours.

HN:’ How do you train your body?
HW:’ We do about eight and a half hours of exercises each day during work. Outside of work, I do yoga, pilates ‘- anything to strengthen my core. Also, stretching is key. Our body is our work, so [as ballerinas] we have to keep it in the best shape possible.

HN:’ How closely did you work with Jiri Kylian?
HW:’ We actually didn’t work directly with Jiri Kylian. He couldn’t make it here. I heard he has a fear of flying, but I don’t know if that’s why. For ‘Falling Angels,’ which is the segment I performed in, I worked with Patrick Delcroix, [who is a stager on behalf of the Kilian foundation] along with [director] Roslyn Anderson, who gives me so much insight into what we’re doing. They both do a good job of telling us how to perceive the pieces.

HN:’ Can you tell me about ‘Falling Angels,’ the piece you perform in?
HW:’ Falling Angels is one of my favorite pieces I’ve performed during my career. It’s 18 minutes of percussion, 18 minutes of drumbeats. Really, it’s nonstop counting of music from the beginning to the end, and I perform alongside seven other women so it’s really awesome to dance with those friends and be in sync with them.

HN:’ How do you expect the audience to react to ‘Falling Angels’?
HW:’ It’s not what most audiences are used to seeing. They are used to seeing more [narrative] pieces like Swan Lake or Serenade, for example. This is so different. ‘Black and White’ is not a classical ballet. We perform in flat and jazz shoes, and petit mor at times, and the performance requires us to throw ourselves on the floor at times, get back up and then crouch to the floor again.

HN:’ You performed in ‘Falling Angels’ in 2004. Is it different performing now?
HW:’ I’m a lot less stressed out. Four years ago we were learning it for the first time, and it takes a very long time to learn 18 minutes of drumbeats. I’m more comfortable with it now, I know when to breathe and relax.