Lead dancer chosen for ‘Flesh and Bone’

Entertainment company STARZ announced today that acclaimed dancer Sarah Hay will play the lead role of Claire in the new dance drama series Flesh and Bone. Producers auditioned hundreds of dancers in the search for the perfect Claire – a process lead by dance casting specialists Telsey + Company.

Created by Emmy award-winning Breaking Bad Writer and Executive Producer Moira Walley-Beckett, Flesh and Bone will follow a young ballet dancer, Claire, who has a distinctly troubled past, as she joins a prestigious ballet company in New York. The dark and gritty series will unflinchingly explore the dysfunction and glamour of the ballet world.

A gifted dancer who is currently performing in Germany with Dresden SemperOper Ballet, Sarah Hay might be remembered as a corps dancer in the film Black Swan. Sarah Hay is a Capezio Athlete who has also performed with Pennsylvania Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theatre.

In Flesh and Bone, Hay will be joined by a stellar cast of world-renowned dancers, including former American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Irina Dvorovenko and current Soloist Sascha Radetsky. The choreographer for the series will be Ethan Stiefel, Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet and former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer.

Chris Albrecht, CEO of STARZ, said, “From the beginning, we all agreed this project could not go forward unless we found a world-class dancer who had the ability to convey the widest range of emotions that Moira has written. This is one of the most challenging and dynamic characters I have even seen and am thrilled to say we found our Claire in Ms. Hay.”

Moira Walley-Beckett added, “Finding the perfect Claire has been an almost impossible task. It was truly like looking for a unicorn because the demands of the role are so specific and challenging. I was looking for a beautiful and transcendent ballerina who is not only a brilliant dancer but also a gifted actress, and who also possesses a fierce curiosity and enthusiasm about the brave demands of the work.”

“Sarah Hay embodies the role of Claire just as I dreamt her,” Walley-Beckett continued. “I’m very, very excited. Chris Albrecht and the team at STARZ have been incredibly supportive of ‘Flesh and Bone’ since its inception. I can’t wait to start filming! NYC here we come!”

Hay will portray young ballerina Claire, a beautiful, soulful and deeply emotionally wounded young woman who possesses an innate innocence and fragility while at the same time harboring self-destructive tendencies and a vaulting ambition. She is a transcendent ballerina, capable of reaching the sublime, but her inner torment and aspirations drive her in compelling, unforeseeable ways.

Production of Flesh and Bone is scheduled to begin in New York City in early 2014. The series is expected to debut on STARZ in 2015.

To see Dance Informa’s exclusive interviews with Moira Walley-Beckett and Ethan Stiefel, click here.

Photo: Sarah Hay. Photo by Ian Whalen, courtesy of Capezio.