“There I was on my very first day at the Metropolitan Opera House: on my hands and knees, center stage,” recounts Pennsylvania Ballet principal Sterling Baca. He had joined American Ballet Theatre from the ABT Studio Company two weeks prior and didn’t see a crucial casting sheet for the Don Quixote dress-tech rehearsal until minutes before it started.

In a domino-like sequence of unfortunate events, Baca had managed to get only half-dressed, and he missed his entrance and his character’s dance with Kitri. Then he remembered too late that he was also supposed to catch Basilio’s guitar. He turned around from setting down a tambourine to see the guitar already soaring through the air. He dove for it, but it grazed his fingertips, hit the floor and broke.

Baca had some literal and metaphorical pieces to pick up and apologies to make to the wardrobe and props departments, artistic staff and his fellow dancers. Luckily, everyone understood that he was new and “showed mercy,” he says.

The Lesson:
Although Baca can laugh about the incident now, he warns that “it only turns into a joke when you don’t do it again.” His advice? Double- and triple-check every single piece of paper on the call board.