BalletX, Philadelphia's premiere contemporary ballet company, has picked up a new recruit.
As Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean recovers from a knee injury he suffered during the playoffs last season, he has taken up ballet to become lighter and more agile on the football field.
"There's way more flexibility, of course. Way more mobility," Dean said of the results of his ballet training. "It's definitely something that's helping with my rehab."
"You just feel a change immediately. After you stretch, you're not as tight or as sore," he added.
Keelan Whitmore, the rehearsal director of BalletX, said the ballet exercises will help improve Dean's muscles and muscle memory.
"Any sort of cross-training is good for his muscle memory, his muscle build up," Whitmore said. "Anything that is going in one direction, if he goes against that grain, then he's going to be even more stronger and more agile."
But don't worry, Dean is not quitting his day job.
"I'm not interested in ballet, I'm in it for the mobility work and the stretching," Dean said.
However, Dean did say that his ballet training has made him more interested in the performances.
"I'm more interested in the performance, looking at it... but I'm a football player through and through," Dean said.
"My whole thing is trying to be the absolute best version of myself. For me, that's greatness," Dean added. "If I'm striving to be that everyday, and doing whatever it takes to be that."
As for BalletX, the group will resume its summer series at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre in Center City from July 16 to 20.