PNB star also has a nose for perfume making
For Jordan Pacitti, the lemon was a broken foot last spring, just before he was scheduled to dance a major part. The lemonade became a trip to France to study the mixing of perfumes with a professional "nose."
Obviously not one to rest on his crutches, Pacitti came roaring back this season with Pacific Northwest Ballet to dance a number of featured roles, including Puck in the current production of "Midsummer Night's Dream."
He also launched his own fragrance line under the name "Jordan Samuel" in September.
How ballet and perfume mix in the life of this Queen Anne resident are no mystery to him. He's always been interested in both.
"Ballet is just in me. And I've always been obsessed with scent. My dad's cologne, my mom's perfume, the smell of the Christmas tree or cookies baking," said Pacitti.
The career in ballet began in his teens, when he left home in Cleveland to study at the School of American Ballet in New York.
"I'm the typical story of a ballet dancer. I was a really active child, my parents signed me up for all kinds of classes and the thing that stuck with me was ballet," he said.
In 1999, at age 18, Pacitti left the East Coast to accept his first professional position as a corps dancer for PNB.
"For me, the Far West was Cleveland. But it ended up being a great thing coming out here," he recalled. "My first year, I was given a lot of great opportunities."
As for the perfume business, it began a little more slowly and picked up speed since the broken foot forced Pacitti to take a break from dance last year.
"I want everyone to have a signature scent. I started doing it as a hobby, making perfumes as Christmas presents. Then I thought this could be a business," he said.
He contacted a friend in New York who ran a spa to create an early outlet for his perfumes, called his father for some business advice, and then began building a business that made sense to him.
"First, I wanted my business to not be wasteful, make it so people could return bottles to me to be refilled, use organic grain alcohol as a base," he said. "Not to tap into a trendy green thing, but just not be wasteful."
He also doesn't accept stereotypes in perfumes. All of his scents are unisex. "I feel like a man can wear rose and violet. It's more masculine on male skin and more feminine on a woman's. The rest of the male and female thing is just marketing."
Currently he offers three scents. Inizia is a "green woody fragrance, very fresh. Black Lavender is a deeper richer scent, lots of amber. And the third is Vanity, which has lots of sandlewood. All have this really nice meeting in the middle of cleanliness and sexiness," he said.
Pacitti's perfumes are available at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall through the Amusements gift shop. Inizia can also be ordered on the web at www.jordansamuel.net.
Pacitti plans to add two new fragrances to his line later this year.
"I don't call myself a 'nose' but I consider myself an artist at blending scents," he said. "And I'm always trying to recreate a scent in my mind. For example, we went on tour to the Hollywood Bowl and there was just a smell there: summer, the soap I used, the air at the theater. I just want to create that! Sometimes it's like lemon and watermelon together create this fresh note that is neither lemon nor watermelon."
With more than 500 bottles of pure scents, like lemon or watermelon, at his home, Pacitti has a lot of combinations that he can try. And, as a dancer, his life is all about focusing on the right way to achieve that perfect artistic moment.
"The drive, determination and focus that I've learned from ballet, I can turn to the business world. I think that is a big help. In terms of creativity and artistry, just talking to my Web designer or in terms in blending scent, I feel there is a crossover there," Pacitti said.
And the big challenge? That's how to bring the perfume into the ballet.
"I want a fragrance that can be worn in the dance studio. And there, you cannot have a fragrance that is overpowering. Just a whiff as somebody goes by," said Pacitti, who characterizes all of his current scents as being fairly light.
For now, his dance career also remains in full bloom, with roles in the upcoming "Laugh Out Loud" Dance Festival and "a busy end of the year," he said. "I can't complain."
The Pacific Northwest Ballet's Dance Festival
returns the theme "Laugh Out Loud!" April 17 - 20
Tickets may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at (206) 441-2424, online at www.pnb.org or in person at the PNB Box Office at 301 Mercer Street.