Before joining the ensemble of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Broadway dancer Mary Page Nance learned how to take her dancing to the next level from Pam Turner at Richmond Dance Center.

“She just had this energy that was infectious. She was always pushing me to travel more, take up more space and fall down. She would say, ‘If you don’t fall down, you don’t know how far you can go. Push yourself to that limit, and then you can pull back accordingly.’ She was just this fireball that would push you to go to places that you weren’t comfortable.”

Pam Turner is the director of Richmond Dance Center in Virginia. She teaches jazz, tap, ballet and creative movement.

See Nance in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.