Dachshunds in Pop Culture: American Ballet Theatre

Playbill Arts recently had a look at the canine friends of New York's American Ballet Theatre dancers and staff - and their contributions to the company. Of course there are dachshunds!

Excerpts: To see dogs casually moving among dancers with the confident assurance of superstars, you must visit ABT's headquarters on lower Broadway. At presstime, the dancers and the staff owned 24 dogs, and it's not unusual to find half a dozen or so patrolling the corridors or monitoring classes with an aplomb only those at the center of attention possess.
Principal Marcelo Gomes's three-year-old dachshund, Lua, may occasionally bark in time to the class pianist but is generally content to wait until her master is free and can gather her up in his arms. "I try to speak to her only in English," Gomes says (instead of the Portugese of his native Brazil). "If I knew any German, I might try that." Photo by Katsuyoshi Tanaka.
Dancers visiting massage therapist Olinda Cedeno can expect a tongue facial from her brindle dachshund, Jimi! Photo by Jerry Ruotolo.