hen the slim door next to the dresser opens, dance history pours out. Magazine covers, scrapbooks and satin ribbons take us back in time. We see the scandalous nude photo from Dance magazine and piles of toe shoes that are marked with either “good”, “bad” or “okay”, telling her which shoes molded to her feet best or worked well for any given ballet. She has an entire drawer of unused shoes in plastic bags.

When we ask to see what this ballerina wears for fun, another closet door opens. But, we have to wait a minute. There is an unremarkable box containing remarkable contents, and we must see it, she says. Inside the box is one of her favorite costumes from a Balanchine ballet. One night, the wardrobe department simply left it in her dressing room as a gift, a rare gesture in the world of ballet. The costume is hand made and hand stitched just for Patricia’s body. It is worth about $10,000.

More elegance emerges from Barker’s closet, as she reveals her beloved, fur coat collection. Barker models a blue chinchilla that looks and feels like a sweater. “It’s a great blanket on a plane,” she coos. “I bought it in Alaska, and I want to go back to Alaska just so I can look at more furs.” We take in the lamb coat with mink, which was her grandmother’s, circa 1920. It’s still in amazing condition. She models a full-length mink, a staple for covering up big dresses and making a statement. Her funkier side comes out with a wildcat coat from England with fox trim. Barker tells us that she has a “lipstick in every coat pocket”. Makes sense to us.

Despite the decadence we’ve just seen, Barker gets equally as excited about her street clothes. She can’t get enough of Lucky Brand jeans (there’s a whole drawer of them) and scarves (there’s a whole drawer of those too), because ballerinas always get cold and want to keep their necks warm. She likes thin, silk scarves, because she can always tuck those into her purses.

Toward the end of our tour, Barker pulls out a diversion from the satin, sequins and luxury: a pair of white leather boots with pink fur trim and a spunky lining that might be cuter than the boots themselves. Casually, she says she got them in New York, in “some store”.

We could continue absorbing this closet, a snapshot of an amazing ballerina life, but the curtain calls on this visit. Having shown us Act One of her life, tucked away into her closet, we can’t help but wonder what Act Two has in store for Patricia Barker. Somehow, we know it will be beautiful and magical. We only hope we’ll be invited back to delight in the charm of the fairy tale, once again.

Patricia is presently the artistic director at the Grand Rapids Ballet Company and her artistry and creative spirit has taken it's dancers to a new chapter of excellence and enjoyment!