STARTING OUT: Alexis Branagan ’11

Dancer with New York Theatre Ballet. Director of public relations and communications at American Repertory Ballet (ARB). Princeton major: English, with a certificate in dance.

What she does: Branagan spends at least six hours rehearsing each weekday and per­forms up to six shows on a weekend. For ARB, she writes press releases and e-newsletters, updates the company’s website, and handles its social media. “You can’t dance professionally forever, so it’s good to have another job ­constantly simmering on the back burner.”

On stage: She has performed in Antony Tudor’s masterpiece “Dark Elegies,” Richard Alston’s “A Rugged Flourish,” and Keith Michael’s “Nutcracker.” “Performing gives me an energy like nothing else,” says Branagan, who joined the company in August 2012.

Challenges: “You need to calculate every step and gesture, but you can’t look calculated. You need to act, but your interpretation of a role needs to be natural and believable rather than affected.”