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Elegance has a way of pouring out of Miriam Miller. Her arms open like wings, her fingertips part like petals. At 5 foot 10, with long legs and an elastic back, she has the kind of line that goes on for days.<\/p>\n
But a body isn\u2019t everything in ballet. What makes Miller so striking isn\u2019t what you see but what you instinctively feel: her aura. Resolute yet plush, her presence has a quiet command and, within that, an almost casual confidence.<\/p>\n
At New York City Ballet, where she was recently promoted to principal<\/a> dancer, Miller, 28, has that rare ability to dance onstage as if she were singing through the steps in an open meadow. \u201cI don\u2019t love doing ballets that are performative to the audience,\u201d she said. \u201cI like it when it\u2019s more internal, and it\u2019s the audience looking in on you and seeing you approach and explore.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Over the past couple of years she has become her own dancer \u2014 not Miller dancing someone else\u2019s part, but Miller being herself. On Thursday, she makes her debut in the dual role of Odette-Odile in \u201cSwan Lake,\u201d with Chun Wai Chan as her Siegfried. The weight of carrying this ballet, for any dancer, is both a technical and emotional feat. Timing is everything. Miller\u2019s consistency has caught up to her beauty. And she is<\/em> a swan.<\/p>\n Miller has danced with City Ballet for 10 years<\/a>, beginning with an apprenticeship that just months in saw her making a debut as Titania in George Balanchine\u2019s \u201cA Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream.\u201d Even at a company like City Ballet where debuts come out of nowhere, this was a shock. Just who was this willowy blond from Iowa City, Iowa? She was young and her performance wasn\u2019t perfect, but her radiance and command of the stage<\/a> were obvious.<\/p>\n