Alumni Spotlight: Cameron Dieck
This month, SAB sat down with alumnus and former New York City Ballet dancer Cameron Dieck, now an Investment Banking Associate at J.P. Morgan. He finished his training at the School in 2007 after receiving the prestigious Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise. During his eleven-year tenure with New York City Ballet, he completed a degree in economics from Fordham University. Upon his retirement from the ballet, he began his career in investment banking at Credit Suisse. His fiancé, Unity Phelan, is currently a principal dancer with New York City Ballet.
How were you introduced to ballet, and how did it lead you to SAB?
Cameron Dieck: I started dancing when I was probably three or four. Not seriously—it was something I did a couple days a week. I had an older sister who danced. I was a very active, unruly child, and my mom realized that if she put both of us in the room, she had an hour to herself. She was a very busy doctor and when that clicked, she threw me in the class with my sister. I wanted to do everything my older sibling did.
“I was a very active, unruly child, and my mom realized that if she put both of us in the room, she had an hour to herself. She was a very busy doctor and when that clicked, she threw me in the class with my sister. I wanted to do everything my older sibling did.”
That was my introduction to dance. I think I just ended up having, for lack of a better way to describe it, a good facility for it. Teachers that I had told us that we should go down to what we thought was an evaluation at SAB. I didn’t even know I was auditioning at the time. I had no idea what I was doing when I auditioned – all I knew was I was missing my first day of fifth grade. I came to SAB when I was nine for the audition, and then I spent ten years at the School.
I have two parents who are doctors and were not dancers, so it was a very new world for us. I remember we got a phone call that evening saying, ‘Can you start next week?’ Honestly, in my mind, I remember just thinking that it seemed like a great opportunity. So, I accepted, and I fell in love with ballet that first year at the School. I always loved dancing, but that was really a formative year for me.
How was that for your parents, coming from the medical field and learning all about the dance world?
CD: One of the nice things about it was that we had no expectation or preconceived notions coming into it. During my time at the School, through my time with New York City Ballet, we just figured things out in real time. That made my experience really great. My parents were always really supportive and said, ‘if you want to do this, that’s great,’ but there was no pressure. In hindsight, my parents were a few years older than I am now when they started driving into the city, five, six days a week. I just think it’s an insane, unbelievable commitment. They were both doctors with their own private medical practices, and they just shuffled their schedule around.
“In hindsight, my parents were a few years older than I am now probably when they started driving into the city, five, six days a week. I just think it’s an insane, unbelievable commitment. They were both doctors with their own private medical practices, and they just shuffled their schedule around.”
I have always been enormously appreciative. It was a financial commitment and a time commitment. It was so great of them to let me do it, and then even more mind-blowing when I was in middle school when they started letting me take the train by myself. Mind you, I took the family’s one cell phone with me. These were very different times. I had a $20 bill in my pocket that could pay for my roundtrip fares and the food I needed. It’s funny, too: I remember when I moved into my first apartment my apprentice year, I said to my dad, ‘I can’t believe you let me do that and live alone on the Upper West Side.’ And he said, ‘We knew you were a good kid.’ Still, it’s unbelievable.
Where were you commuting from?
CD: I grew up in Westchester in Mount Kisco, New York, so it’s an hour by train. I have vivid memories of when I started ninth grade at the Professional Children’s School. I took a 6:04 a.m. train in the morning to get to school. I was home on the 7:04 p.m. train coming out of the city. It was a really long day. I did that for two years before I moved into the dorms.
I went from being one of the day students as a kid, and then I moved into SAB’s dorm for my junior year of high school. I lived in the dorm for three years, and those are some of my favorite experiences. It’s such a unique experience living with a bunch of your contemporaries, and all of the sudden I had so much time in my day I didn’t have before.
“I lived in the dorm for three years, and those are some of my favorite experiences. It’s such a unique experience living with a bunch of your contemporaries, and all of the sudden I had so much time in my day I didn’t have before.”
What are some of your most important memories at SAB, and what are some of your favorite experiences in and out of the studio?
CD: Some of my most vivid memories honestly are very early on. I remember how cool it was to go to SAB where my entire class was boys – I was always one of two or three beforehand and felt like the odd one out. Back then, it was really uncommon for boys to dance and unheard of to have a room full of boys. That just felt so wonderful.
“I remember how cool it was to go to SAB where my entire class was boys… Back then, it was really uncommon for boys to dance and unheard of to have a room full of boys. That just felt so wonderful.”
I didn’t feel different, and I remember being struck with that when I started. That was part of why I fell in love with it over the first year.
Aside from memories in the dorm and just being able to be a normal high school kid, I think rehearsing for Workshop stands out in my mind. I did three years of Workshop Performances. Rehearsing the Workshop ballets and starting to bridge that gap from student to professional is a really special experience.
What’s something that would be unexpected to our readers to learn about training at SAB in the Boys’ Program?
CD: I find a lot of misconceptions about boys training and ballet usually comes from just not understanding what it is. People have an idea of a tiara, a tutu, a pointe shoe. They don’t realize how when you actually go into a classroom of all men training, it’s the jumps, the turns, the physical strength to lift people above your head. You’re really training to be athletes, because you are athletes.
“People have an idea of a tiara, a tutu, a pointe shoe. They don’t realize how when you actually go into a classroom of all men training, it’s the jumps, the turns, the physical strength to lift people above your head. You’re really training to be athletes, because you are athletes.”
I think that that’s one of the most impressive things to see up close.
How do you think the School has changed since you were a student?
CD: I think the School is always evolving. In many ways, it changed a ton in the ten years I was attending and in eleven years as a dancer at New York City Ballet. Some of that is physically – it was renovated. It looks very different from when I first started, and the curriculum has changed. The age that they start accepting students has gone down. They didn’t have the Preparatory Division the way they do now. But in many ways, it hasn’t changed. I think that the beauty of the School is that it’s a tradition of dancers training and becoming professionals. It’s very unique to SAB to see people really bridge that gap in their finishing years.
“I think that the beauty of the School is that it’s a tradition of dancers training and becoming professionals. It’s very unique to SAB to see people really bridge that gap in their finishing years.”
No matter what year it is, there’s the same partnering classes taking place. It’s a different crop of students, but they’re all at that same inflection point. It’s comforting when you go back; it feels a little like home.
When you were a student at SAB, did you dance in any of the New York City Ballet productions?
CD: I didn’t. I remember I did an interview when I got in the company during my apprentice year, and I was asked that question. I told the interviewer that I was never picked for any of the child roles. The ballet mistress came and found me a week later to tell me that while they loved me, I was always too tall. I did feel like a little bit of an odd one out that I didn’t have that experience as a kid, but there’s so few dancers that start at the School who get into the company. I got to dance with the company for eleven years, so whatever I missed out on as a kid, I made up for as a professional.
“There’s so few dancers that start at the School who get into the company. I got to dance with the company for eleven years, so whatever I missed out on as a kid, I made up for as a professional.”
What was the transition like from SAB to becoming a professional dancer at NYCB?
CD: It was really exciting. I consider myself so incredibly lucky to have my childhood dream come true. It was also intimidating because I had the unique experience of growing up at the School. I really grew up watching the company, so I had held the ballets in such high regard. I was all of a sudden dancing alongside the people I’d idolized for my entire childhood. Even the same principal dancers that I watched growing up were now dancing next to me.
“I really grew up watching the company, so I had held the ballets in such high regard. I was all of a sudden dancing alongside the people I’d idolized for my entire childhood. Even the same principal dancers that I watched growing up were now dancing next to me.”
I remember holding Wendy Whelan’s hand onstage for a ballet and thinking, ‘I cannot believe I’m onstage holding Wendy’s hand. What is happening?’ I was in awe. Due to that, my experience transitioning was a little more trepidatious just because I was in disbelief I was on the stage.
Over the years, I got to see how the company and the School have started working together to bridge that gap in such a beautiful way with a formal mentorship program that they didn’t have when I joined. It’s wonderful to see how they bridge that gap now for the dancers.
What was part of your decision to move on from NYCB, and how did you make your decisions about next steps afterwards?
CD: I’m kind of a habitual planner. As soon as I got in the company I knew I wanted to go to college, so I went part time my entire time that I was in the company.
“As soon as I got in the company I knew I wanted to go to college, so I went part time my entire time that I was in the company.”
My love for ballet and coming to SAB is very much the story of a kid escaping from the suburbs and coming to the big city. My love affair for the ballet turned into a love affair of New York. I always knew I wanted to stay in New York and be able to have a family in New York.
I also knew I wanted to do something in finance in New York. I studied economics and math in school, so it was a logical progression for me. I always knew that dance was finite. Maybe because I spent so much time at the School and watched careers come and go, I knew that it wasn’t a forever thing. I wanted to make sure I was set up to make a transition, and I was really ready for it at the time that I did. I danced for the company for eleven years and had a number of surgeries and injuries. I knew I wanted to be physically active for the rest of my life. I’m so proud of what I did during my time at the company. I got to dance some awesome stuff, and I left it in a way where I had such a positive experience.
“I’m so proud of what I did during my time at the company. I got to dance some awesome stuff, and I left it in a way where I had such a positive experience.”
While I was in the company, I ran a dancewear manufacturing company. It was called ‘Échauffe’ – it’s ‘to warm’ in French. We manufactured leg warmers and other dance apparel. I’m never satisfied unless I’m completely overwhelmed. I always knew that there was a next step for me, but mainly one that was going to keep me in New York.
What do you love about what you do in investment banking?
CD: I think what I love most about it is the concept of being paid to use your mind, which is such a foreign concept when you’re a dancer, as dance is very physical labor. That was a beautiful reckoning when I started, just realizing that you could get paid not for your blood, sweat, and tears. I think what I love about it is there’s a lot of similarities to what I did before. As a dancer you get to meet a lot of really interesting donors, and there is a relationship you build, which is not dissimilar to the relationships you build when you’re advising CEOs and CFOs. People become your friends in the same way donors became your friends at the time in the company. And in the same way, like a season as a dancer is always changing – learning new ballets, your day to day is never the same – it’s the same thing with investment banking. I’m always working on different projects with different companies. I might be doing an IPO, an M&A transaction, and a debt financing all at the same time. It’s always evolving, and I think that’s what I like about it – it’s mentally challenging in the same way dance is.
“(Investment banking) is always evolving, and I think that’s what I like about it – it’s mentally challenging in the same way dance is.”
I work very long hours. My fiancé, who dances for the company, and I joke that neither of us ever has a two-day weekend. There will be a time in life for it, but I think my dance career and the eighty-plus-hour week prepared me very well for investment banking.
I jumped into an analyst program on Wall Street, which is everything you think it is. It’s hundred-hour work weeks. It’s a bunch of kids that are straight out of college, and everyone is just a total wiz. They’re the smartest people from their classes – it’s really an elite group of people, and it’s really impressive. I was the old kid in the group, and I was proud to stand up with everyone. But watching people who have always excelled in their field go into their first review cycles, or have things not go well on the job, taught me that some people are not groomed to deal with criticism. They don’t know how to take the positive from it, learn from it, and turn it into something productive, and that was really eye opening to me. The way you deal with getting criticism on a daily basis in the ballet world and turn it into a positive is something that’s really unique to dancers.
“The way you deal with getting criticism on a daily basis in the ballet world and turn it into a positive is something that’s really unique to dancers.”
What would be your advice to any SAB students who move away from a professional career in ballet or dance and go on to do something else, whether they do that directly after SAB or later on after a dance career?
CD: I think that there can be a stigma that if you don’t go on to a dance career that you haven’t succeeded, but I think dance is about so much more than having a professional stage career. It’s about life lessons, a lifestyle, having a good relationship with physical fitness. There’s a lot of skills you learn as a dancer: time management, how you present yourself, taking constructive criticism. These are all things that help you excel in whatever you do and are skills that most people don’t have or they really have to develop.
“There’s a lot of skills you learn as a dancer: time management, how you present yourself, taking constructive criticism. These are all things that help you excel in whatever you do and are skills that most people don’t have or they really have to develop.”
I always find it gives you a leg up, and I also find what I do right now to be quite performative. I host calls, we do board presentations to public companies. In some ways, that’s the same sort of thing. You put a suit on – that’s your costume. You have to show up and hit your lines and think on your feet because you might get asked a question that you didn’t expect to get asked. It’s similar to the way you might have your dance partner go out that day and you have to do it with a different partner. I think there’s a lot of parallels and a lot of skills you learn as a dancer that help you succeed in whatever you do. Dance makes you grow up very quickly, and I think that’s something that benefits people in the long run. There’s something really special about dancers that really helps them excel in whatever they put their mind to. Don’t leave those skills learned behind – those are what will propel you forward.
There’s also this beautiful network of dancers in the professional world. You’ll come across them, and a majority of them are very successful. That’s been a great network for me. When I initially interviewed at J.P. Morgan, one of the people who worked directly for the CFO at the time went to SAB, so you’ll come across dancers in all walks of life.
Did you have the opportunity to go to New York City Ballet’s initial performance last fall when the season reopened?
CD: I didn’t make the opening night because of work, but I’ve been many times. I try to catch all of my fiancé’s debuts, and she’s had a ton of them as of late. I’ve probably been to maybe twelve shows since they reopened. It was overwhelming, honestly, sitting in a theater. One aspect was just being in a room with so many people for the first time. Outside of going to the U.S. Open, I hadn’t been in a space with that many people. Aside from just being in a room full of a bunch of people, hearing live music and seeing live dance again was overwhelming.
Hopefully, as people have that same experience, it’ll help propel the arts out of the COVID rut. It’s impressive that the company looks as good as they do after dancing in their kitchens for a year and a half, and I saw that very intimately with my fiancé. It was a really difficult time, and I’m very proud of how they all came out of it. It took a lot of perseverance on their part, but I’m not surprised because that’s what dancers do.
“It’s impressive that the company looks as good as they do after dancing in their kitchens for a year and a half, and I saw that very intimately with my fiancé. It was a really difficult time, and I’m very proud of how they all came out of it. It took a lot of perseverance on their part, but I’m not surprised because that’s what dancers do.”
Any final thoughts?
CD: You don’t realize how meaningful the arts are in your life until they’re taken away and there’s an inability to congregate and enjoy them together. It was powerful to be back in a theater.
“You don’t realize how meaningful the arts are in your life until they’re taken away and there’s an inability to congregate and enjoy them together. It was powerful to be back in a theater.”
I liken it to when I joined the company during 2007-2008, when the markets crashed. It was a really scary time for a lot of people. People were losing jobs, and I remember I was on a subcommittee at the company, and it was interesting because our ticket sales were the best they’d ever been. There’s this inverse nature to when there’s a lot of strife or economic uncertainty – people escape life by going to the ballet. It’s an escape from the reality of what’s going on. I think what’s unique about COVID was that all of a sudden, people can’t even have that escape. The importance and meaning of the arts have really come to the forefront of a lot of people’s minds as they’ve been able to re-engage with it
“The importance and meaning of the arts have really come to the forefront of a lot of people’s minds as they’ve been able to re-engage with it.”
I think it’s so important for us all to support the arts in any way we can because it’s been a difficult period for the arts.