Dancers at Boston Ballet juggling work and school through partnership with Northeastern University

When she isn't turning pirouettes in class, you'll find Boston Ballet's Sage Humphries on her laptop, completing work in a different type of class at Northeastern University.

The second soloist is one of the dancers taking advantage of the company's partnership with the university, which gives the dancers the chance to earn a degree while working full-time.

Humphries said, "I'm doing something every single day. I am chipping away at the work every single day. I'm reading something, I'm writing something, I'm managing group projects."

The California native is now pursuing her master's degree in organizational leadership.

She hopes to stay with the company after stepping off the stage.

"We go through so much in these four walls and I think that it's important to have leaders who are representative of that experience and have lived it and can respond to the unique challenges in this day and age that the dancers are facing," Humphries said. 

Retired Boston Ballet dancer Isaac Akiba explained, "You have to begin thinking about the end of your career when you begin your career, because it's so short."

During his career, he spent nine years earning his degree at Northeastern. Now, he's working as a realtor.

"It has given me skills to be able to have a vision for myself, for my future. So I can say, I could lead a team later, or I could start my own brokerage," Akiba said. 

Ari Schaaff, the Academic Advisor & Partnership Liaison at Northeastern, said, "Because their professional career is so demanding, they kind of have to build school in around it. The flexibility is really key."

Humphries says it's all a balancing act, telling us, "My laptop just comes with me everywhere I go and anytime that I'm free I just pull it open and read a little something here, do a little typing here and manage the schedule and try to work with my peers and coordinate things. I take a lot of calls with my full stage makeup on. I am sometimes rushing to do an assignment right before I go on stage."

Schaaff said that experience on stage can benefit the dancers in other fields.

"They just have to figure out the language to transfer those skills," Schaff said. "It's not that they don't have the skills to move into a different career field. They just need to be able to learn how to talk about it. "

"I love ballet, and it's obviously my first love and my passion," said Humphries, "but I found something in school here that I'm equally passionate about."

The partnership with Northeastern provides an 80 percent scholarship to Boston Ballet dancers who have been with the company for at least one year. Between 12 and 17 dancers are enrolled in the program each semester, and they take almost every class entirely online.