34 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM Swan pas de deux, which is, for me, the hardest part,” she recalls. “That’s where you have to do 32 fouettés and variation coda pas de deux.” As she stood backstage, anticipating that feverish flurry of fouettés, Jasmine was hit with a wave of nausea just as the trumpet played for her entrance. She found a bucket, bid adieu to the contents of her stomach and pranced right back on stage. As for the pas de deux? “Honestly, it was probably the best I’ve ever done.” She shakes her head and laughs. “The crazy things we put our bodies through for ballet.” For many ballerinas, a professional career means relocation and far-flung travel. Jasmine remains just a quick drive from her parents’ home in Menlo Park, thanks to the rare opportunity to dance locally with one of America’s premier ballet companies. “There’s so much soul to the things that we dance, the repertory that we do and the people in the company,” Jasmine reflects. “I think you can tell when you come to a performance. It just feels really genuine and honest.” Befitting a San Francisco Ballet principal, Jasmine doesn’t {punchline} shy away from a challenge and is happy stepping into ballets that push her. “A role that I really, really loved performing and is dear to my heart now is Manon,” she says. “It’s quite dramatic.” She describes the character as the most mature role she’s portrayed. “She’s a little bit more worldly and she knows what she’s doing. She goes through a really intense, dark arc.” Jasmine may see herself in the gentle Giselle, but her steely determination and unerring discipline to honing her craft and her body is not to be underestimated. “I am constantly trying to improve my technique and strength as a dancer,” she shares. “I’m definitely more of an artistic, fluid ballerina and the strength doesn’t come so naturally to me. I need to work very, very hard to get that raw power.” Equal parts grace and resilience, Jasmine knows you have to be tough to perform the most delicate of dances. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: LINDSEY RALLO - SAN FRANCISCO BALLET / ERIK TOMASSON - SAN FRANCISCO BALLET Above: Jasmine performs as a principal in Possokhov’s Don Quixote; Jasmine practices with other students during a character dance class in 2015.
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