Atlanta Ballet dancers Emily Carrico and Sergio Masero understand the exhaustion that comes from balancing parenthood with high-profile ballet careers. In the weeks before the February 2024 premiere of “Coco Chanel: The Life of a Fashion Icon,” they tag-teamed care for their 2-year-old daughter, Alina, while dancing lead roles in alternating casts.
On days when Carrico rehearsed or performed the ballet as Coco Chanel, Masero took more initiative at home by feeding, bathing and putting their child to bed so Carrico could rest. When Masero danced as Chanel’s lover, Capel, Carrico took on more of the parenting responsibilities at the end of the day.
Six years ago, the two prominent dancers knew little of the challenges they would face together as artists and as a couple — from the Covid pandemic to the birth of their child when Carrico was just 26 and Masero was 27. But the maturity they have gained has enhanced their artistry, strengthening their roles as leaders among peers.
Credit: Courtesy Emily Carrico and Sergio Masero
Credit: Courtesy Emily Carrico and Sergio Masero
Growing close
Masero and Carrico arrived at Atlanta Ballet in 2017 with an influx of young dancers and were quickly singled out for principal roles — Carrico as the Sugar Plum Fairy in John McFall’s “The Nutcracker” and Masero as Basilio in Yuri Possokhov’s “Don Quixote.” Carrico also danced the principal role of Kitri in “Don Quixote.” They first met at the company bulletin board and got to know each other at a fall fundraiser Atlanta Ballet held at Whitespace Gallery.
The two routinely cross-trained outside of daily classes and rehearsals at Atlanta Ballet, as many dancers do. One evening, on their way to the gym, the conversation turned to finances. “We were talking about savings and smart spending, and to me that is very attractive,” said Carrico. She felt she could be more serious with Masero because he was serious about money. It solidified her hopes that they could make a life together.
Masero appreciated those values in Carrico, too. The discipline and determination she demonstrated as a professional dancer were values he’d hoped to find in the mother of his children.
Credit: Alfonso y Mercedes fotógrafos
Credit: Alfonso y Mercedes fotógrafos
Carrico loves ballet with unusual intensity. At age 4, she was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis, or slippage of the vertebrae. Doctors surgically fused the child’s two lowest lumbar vertebrae with her sacrum in order to avoid risk of paralysis. After spending three months in a full body cast, Carrico found healing in ballet and grew up studying the art form. She eventually rose to dance principal roles.
By the time she arrived at Atlanta Ballet, she had developed a perfectionist drive to excel and often pushed her body “to the max,” she said, which could result in pain and fatigue. Once she and Masero became friends, she said he could calm her down when her emotions became too intense.
In the view of Atlanta Ballet Artistic Director Gennadi Nedvigin, Carrico and Masero possess all the qualities a dancer is required to have — grace, athleticism, musicality and individuality. “They are both hard workers and often perform leading roles that require full dedication,” Nedvigin wrote in an email. “The lifestyle of a professional dancer does revolve around the profession.”
Both dancers hold themselves to high standards and use time at home to give each other feedback so they can refine their work beyond what choreographers and répétiteurs can achieve with them during rehearsals.
“When you care for somebody else,” said Masero, “and if you know that she can do it better, even if it already looks good, why stop there? We are so much more critical than even our ballet masters are with us.”
Credit: Kim Kenney
Credit: Kim Kenney
But for Carrico, there is a caveat. If Nedvigin has told her to do the exact opposite, she’ll respectfully decline Masero’s suggestions, she said, laughing, “because I’d like to keep my job.”
Masero has had an interest in choreography for many years. He choreographed while dancing with Ballet Memphis, and he has continued to develop his craft at Atlanta Ballet.
During the pandemic, he was one of several company members who volunteered to create works when travel restrictions forced Nedvigin to suspend programming of visiting choreographers’ works.
That’s when Masero created “Teneo Integrum” for the company’s 2021 virtual production, ”Silver Linings.” Masero and Carrico performed a pas de deux within the larger work.
Nedvigin said that because they were living together, Carrico and Masero were the company’s only dancers who could partner together without having to follow social distancing protocols. “It was unreal at that time to see two dancers embrace on stage,” he said.
Nedvigin clearly saw Masero’s potential as a dancemaker and in 2022 commissioned him to create another work. He choreographed the buoyantly musical ”Schubertiada,” and recently debuted “Querencia,” another gorgeous neoclassical ballet bursting with innovative lifts.
When Masero choreographs, Carrico often helps him work out partnering details at home. He’s taken many of her suggestions, especially where pointe work is concerned.
“Many male choreographers [create dance sequences] for pointe shoes,” said Masero. “I can tell you if I think it looks pretty or not, but I have no clue what it feels like or how hard it is.” Carrico has given him tips on how to modify choreography so it is more comfortable for dancers on pointe while staying true to Masero’s vision.
Credit: Kim Kenney
Credit: Kim Kenney
The two rarely partner together but danced principal roles in Johan Kobborg’s “La Sylphide” and Possokhov’s “The Nutcracker.” They are already so familiar with each other that boundaries can easily be crossed and feelings hurt. But on certain occasions, such as a duet they danced together during one key scene in “Coco Chanel,” the effect has been electric.
Becoming parents
Carrico and Masero were married in a civil ceremony at the Cobb County Courthouse in September 2019. When the pandemic shutdown happened in March 2020, their plans for larger weddings in both Georgia and Spain had to be postponed until June 2022. But someone couldn’t wait. Carrico found out she was pregnant in June 2021.
They hadn’t planned to have a baby so soon. “We were thinking maybe in a couple years,” said Carrico.
They had talked about it and felt that if it happened, he said, they’d be happy. “We already had bought a house, and we felt stable in Atlanta,” Masero said.
Carrico was learning to minimize the pain caused by her spine condition, but pregnancy posed more challenges. “I was frustrated,” she said. “I couldn’t do all the things that I had muscle memory of doing before.” Even a moderately low arabesque strained her abdominal muscles, which typically separate during pregnancy.
“I started to kind of resent ballet, feeling like I’d never get back,” she said. She had to give herself grace, she said, take fewer classes and focus on growing a healthy baby.
In later months of pregnancy, Carrico staged sections of “The Nutcracker” and taught company class. It was difficult, she said, to watch as some of her co-workers didn’t seem to push themselves as hard as she did or didn’t always enjoy the work that she so wanted to do.
Alina was born in February 2022. Being at home with a newborn was exhausting, said Carrico of the time immediately after giving birth by cesarean section. She worried about getting back into shape and had to work her training around Alina’s schedule, taking recorded, virtual ballet classes when the baby napped. If Alina woke up before Carrico finished, she completed class later in the day, as time allowed.
When Alina wouldn’t stop crying, Carrico had to learn to calm herself in order to calm the baby. She would pause to exhale, then take a beat, saying “OK.” Then she could help Alina to settle down.
Credit: Photo by Ashley Concannon.
Credit: Photo by Ashley Concannon.
Return to the stage
In June 2022, Alina joined her parents in two formal weddings — the first at a garden bed and breakfast in Powder Springs, and the second in Spain among Masero’s family.
In August of that year, six months after Alina’s birth, Carrico began rehearsing as the Waltz Girl in George Balanchine’s ”Serenade” in preparation for the company’s September 2022 season opener. Alina was still quite young, so Carrico and Masero had to tend to her a few times a night, Carrico said, and then rehearse the next day, all day.
Before Alina, Carrico always had an underlying fear of messing up on stage, and she wanted to come back strong. She worried about regaining her core strength, and it took extra effort to build the stamina and speed she needed to feel confident that she would be on top of her game.
It was Carrico’s first time to dance in “Serenade,” the work that introduced the vision of choreographer George Balanchine to American ballet in 1934, ushering in a new era.
“Serenade” doesn’t have a storyline, but themes appear, particularly with the Waltz Girl. Partway through the ballet, she arrives late and joins a corps of dancers who repeat the iconic opening, standing in formation and gesturing outward in unison. The Waltz Girl then dances a lush duet with a male partner and later falls to the floor alone, hair unbound.
It was a fitting role for Carrico in her first performance after childbirth. The moment felt symbolic of all she’d been through. “I remember thinking that I was having fun, which I don’t do that often,” she said. She felt a newfound sense of enjoyment.
Masero said he felt Carrico looked stronger and freer than ever.
Three months later, Carrico reprised the formidable role of Marie in “The Nutcracker.” She had danced the role in previous years, but this time she felt she performed better than before.
Credit: Courtesy of Atlanta Ballet
Credit: Courtesy of Atlanta Ballet
Parenthood has shown Carrico and Masero a different level of responsibility — and exhaustion.
Sleeping past 7 a.m. isn’t an option. And from the moment they pick up Alina at day care until she goes to sleep, they have to be fully present and focus on her, not on themselves. Where once they might have fretted over a bad performance for days, now they have to let it go.
Fatherhood has taught Masero patience, whether he’s contending with a toddler who takes off her shoes every time she’s in her car seat or setting a large, technically demanding ballet on his co-workers.
In the same way that Carrico learned to calm Alina as an infant, she has learned to calm herself in the studio. Now when something’s not right, she doesn’t get upset the way she used to. She pauses to exhale, takes a beat and thinks: “I’m happy to be here, and I can problem-solve and try it again. No big deal.”
Asked if parenthood has changed her dance dreams, Carrico said not so far. “I have always tried my best and want to be the best that I can be. Sometimes, when I feel . . . not motivated, I remind myself that I would like to make Alina proud.”
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Cynthia Bond Perry has covered dance for ArtsATL since the website was founded in 2009. One of the most respected dance writers in the Southeast, she also contributes to Dance Magazine, Dance International and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She has an M.F.A. in narrative media writing from the University of Georgia.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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