Jessica McCann

 

Jessica grew up in Los Angeles performing all styles of dance. She then joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in 2015.

She was chosen for Pointe Magazine's top 10 "Stars of the Corps" in 2016. Jessica later advanced to Soloist at PBT in 2020.

Jessica has performed in many feature roles, including the Priniciple Couple in Rubies, the lead in In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Kitri in Don Quixote, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, and many more.

Jessica also has experience choreographing, with her work making world premieres in the States and in Japan.

 

How did your dance journey begin?

I started dancing when I was 4 in Los Angeles, California and trained in every style you could imagine. My mom was in dance so she put me in everything and I’m so grateful to her for that! I’ve also done competitive ice skating as a child, I did kids background acting in LA for movies and tv, and performed in Chinese Silks across the coast as a teenager with an amazing troop that was founded by a retired Cirque du Soleil artist. I always wanted to be a ballerina but I definitely don’t have a “traditional” way of arriving to where I am now. I trained with LINES contemporary ballet in San Francisco, and ABT in New York City. I didn’t begin to gain any professional ballet performance experience until I was actually 23 when I arrived in Pittsburgh. I performed with the Company as an apprentice and was hired into the corps de ballet at 25. I consider myself extremely lucky and extremely hardworking. I remember auditioning and directors asking me “So, why haven’t you been with a company yet?” It made me feel like I almost missed my window for this profession. I’m sure it looked strange to them, they probably wondered what I had been doing this whole time. But sometimes it’s all about timing and being at the right place at the right time (and being prepared for the opportunity when it arrives) and that’s what happened for me with PBT. My first season I immediately began performing roles like the Lead in William Forsyth’s “In the Middle Somewhat Elevated”, and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker. I’ve had so many incredible performance experiences in my career. I have definitely felt like I needed to play catch up because I wasn’t hired at 17. But I never regret my path - I’ve gained so much life experience and I have so much depth I can bring to each role I have the privilege to perform. I’m so incredibly excited that I’m about to debut in my most career changing role yet, Odette/Odile for Swan Lake. That’s been a dream of mine since I was a child. Hopefully someone reads this and realizes that you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing to get to where you see yourself. With hard work, hard determination and love, you can do it. I’ve always trusted the process and trusted the path I’m on. And if it hasn’t felt right, like I wasn’t where I should be, I changed it.