SALT LAKE CITY — A first-year Ballet West corps artist performed the lead in a notable ballet — for the second time in the troupe's history.

Lexi McCloud, 20, had the honor of performing the titular character in Ballet West's "Cinderella" during her first year with the company. Her professional lead debut occurred on Feb. 8, when the dancer slated to perform as Cinderella fell sick and McCloud was asked to step in for the matinee.

"I've always been kinda ready for it because that's always what I've been wanting — that's all I've been training for my whole life," McCloud said.

She was slated to play the role of Cinderella for two of the later Ballet West performances but wasn't scheduled to perform until the following week and didn't get a chance to do a dress rehearsal for the role. But she did the best she could with just a few hours notice.

"It's almost more exciting in that way because there's no time to think about it. I felt like I could go for things more easily instead of stressing or worrying about things going wrong and performing to the best of my ability and being in the character. I was able to enjoy it more," she said.

This is only the second time Ballet West artistic director Adam Sklute has cast a first-year corps member in a lead role. Former principal artist Beckanne Sisk was the first, when she was cast as Kitri in "Don Quixote" during her first year with the company.

"This moment marks a rare instance of a first-year corps artist performing a principal role — a testament to McCloud's talent," Ballet West said in a statement.

McCloud was first noticed by Sklute when she was 18, while competing at the Youth America Grand Prix and the Prix de Lausanne. He reached out and offered her a contract with Ballet West II. Two years later, she was promoted to the main company for the 2024-25 season.

"I'm very lucky in that sense and I always feel like I was ready to take on bigger things. I knew that that was exactly what I wanted and I mentally prepared for that," she said. "Ultimately, just do your best and that's all you can do."

While it's hard to describe the feelings of that day, McCloud said it was an emotional experience for her.

"I ended up falling in love with 'Cinderella' and I had honestly never seen it before until I saw Chisako do it," she said, referencing her favorite dancer, Boston Ballet principal artist Chisako Oga, who performed the show last year.

"It's a very, very sweet story with the stepsisters, the whole ball and even the father, and the very last pas de deux, and the music, as well. It's just a very emotional experience and that's exactly what I felt," McCloud added.

Since it was on such short notice, McCloud said she didn't even have time to be nervous before the performance. She was just excited and immediately called her parents and got them tickets.

"That was the most important thing for me was for them to be there and know they were in the audience. I felt completely calm and just knew I had to trust myself and do it," she said.

Related:

Ballet West debuts 'Cinderella' with costumes, sets from London's Royal Ballet

The magical fairytale of "Cinderella" returns to Salt Lake City, but this time dancers will grace the stage with costumes and sets from the Royal Ballet in London.

McCloud, who grew up in North Salt Lake, said she is grateful her family and friends are so close and can support her in her career.

"I love that (Ballet West) is my home. It's nice all my family is here and they can all come and watch me, whenever. I love the support I get from friends as well," she said.

While on Ballet West II, McCloud received supplemental roles performing with the main company.

"I love how supportive (Ballet West) is of me and all the opportunities they see and have for me and how much they have trusted me with all these roles. I'm very grateful for it. It's not every day that you get that. You don't see that very often and I know how important and how rare it is and I appreciate it a lot," she said.

Performing as Cinderella was an incredibly valuable experience and McCloud is happy with how her performance turned out.

"I think that brought me a step closer to being a professional dancer and how to handle those kinds of situations. Being able to step in whenever you need to and being prepared mentally as well as physically, because it's a challenge mentally to take on something that big," she said.

Related topics