Northeastern master’s student balances a professional ballet career with mentoring the next generation of dancers

by Heidi Happonen

Between performances of The Nutcracker at Boston Ballet, Sage Humphries finds time to do something that once seemed impossible: earn her master’s degree. On any given week during the holiday season, she alternates between eight different roles on stage, from her favorite, Dew Drop in the Waltz of the Flowers, to various other parts in the iconic production, while simultaneously completing coursework in organizational leadership at Northeastern University.

“It’s a lot of juggling. It is a lot of discipline,” Humphries admits. But the 10-year Boston Ballet veteran has developed a rhythm that works. “I’ve become quite good at categorizing the different sectors of my life, and I work quickly.”

Humphries is one of many Boston Ballet dancers who have taken advantage of the company’s partnership with Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies. The collaboration allows professional dancers to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees through flexible, online programming designed specifically for working professionals.

“Without this program, without the scholarship through Boston Ballet, I wouldn’t be here, and I wouldn’t have all of these opportunities and potential career paths in front of me,” Humphries says. “It’s provided so much value to my life other than just dancing.”

From Psychology to Purpose

When Humphries first joined Boston Ballet, she knew she wanted to pursue higher education. She started as a psychology major but quickly realized it wasn’t the right fit. It wasn’t until the pandemic in 2020 that she had time to truly contemplate what she wanted to do beyond her ballet career.

“I landed on business leadership because I wanted to learn more about the behind-the-scenes, executive administrative side of what the leadership in my company does,” she explains. The decision felt right immediately. “I’m kind of a natural-born leader. I’ve been told that my whole life.”

Her undergraduate degree in business leadership flowed seamlessly into her current master’s program in organizational leadership. “Everything has kind of helped me and prepared me for my master’s,” she says.

After graduating with her bachelor’s degree, Humphries took a year off to ensure she wanted to continue. “I found myself at a point where I was like, yeah, I think it’s time for me to continue my education. And I’m so glad I did.”

Building Better Mentorship

What drives Humphries isn’t just personal advancement. It’s a commitment to transforming the dance industry for those who come after her. Early in her career, she experienced firsthand what can happen when mentorship goes wrong. Those difficult experiences, often faced by others in highly competitive fields such as dance, shaped her understanding of the critical importance of ethical leadership and proper mentorship structures.

“Without this program, without the scholarship through Boston Ballet, I wouldn’t be here, and I wouldn’t have all of these opportunities and potential career paths in front of me. It’s provided so much value to my life other than just dancing.”

Sage Humphries

“I’m very passionate about the next generation of ballet,” Humphries says. “I had experiences very early on in my career that shaped me as a person. Some of them were quite negative, quite difficult experiences, making my transition from a student into a professional dancer really difficult.”

Now, for her master’s capstone project, she’s creating an official mentorship program that pairs Boston Ballet apprentices with main company dancers. The goal is to fill the gap she experienced by providing young dancers with guidance from more experienced company members, without any strings attached.

“I don’t want that to happen to anyone else,” she says of her early career challenges.

Humphries isn’t waiting until graduation to implement her vision. She’s already working with Boston Ballet board members to pilot the mentorship program, with the hope that, if successful, other dance companies around the country might adopt similar frameworks.

The Balance Between Art and Academia

For Humphries, school serves another crucial function beyond career preparation. It provides balance to the intensely subjective world of professional dance.

“When you are overwhelmed with dance, having something outside of dance to focus on is a wonderful outlet,” she explains. “People can have lots of different opinions on the way you dance. Some people will love you and some people might not. With school, it’s a lot more tangible. If you put in the effort and you do a good job on something, your grades kind of reflect that.”

She’s applied skills from dance to her academic work and vice versa. “Teachers and rehearsal directors can give you a correction, but you have to sort of read between the lines to get to how to apply it. The quicker you can do that, the faster you can improve.” This ability to quickly get to the core of information and apply it, has made her an effective student who doesn’t procrastinate or get overwhelmed.

The leadership programs have also been transformative in ways she didn’t expect.

“All of my professors have really encouraged me. You have to learn what kind of leader you are first before you can learn how to lead,” she says. “All of the self-reflection that I’ve done through this program has really stuck with me.”

Even personality tests assigned in class affirmed her path. “One of my classes actually had me take different personality assessments like the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs. I learned that I’m an ENFJ – an advocate — and it kind of affirmed what I believed about myself.”

A Vision for the Future

As Humphries approaches graduation this May, she’s thinking beyond her own career trajectory. While she still hopes to perform Sugar Plum in The Nutcracker at least once before hanging up her pointe shoes, her long-term vision extends far beyond the stage.

“As long as my body has good years left in me, I would love to keep dancing because I think it also informs how I want to lead the industry,” she says. “I think it’s important to be a part of it, to know what’s surfacing, what the new problems are.”

Eventually, she sees herself in a higher leadership position, perhaps as an artistic director of a ballet company or leading a dance department at a college.

But she’s not waiting for retirement to lead. The leadership program has empowered her to step into that role now. “I’m not waiting until I finish the degree. I can do it right now. I have the tools. I’m learning the skills. I’m adding vocabulary to things that I’m observing in my daily life.”

Advice for Others Considering the Leap

For working professionals in any field wondering if they should pursue higher education, Humphries has clear advice: “It’s worth it. It’s really worth it. You don’t have to have the path all figured out. Just say yes to start.”

When she decided to go back to school in 2020, she didn’t know where the journey would take her. “It’s found me along the way,” she says. “I think that if you can find something you’re passionate about, even just the subject, the program will take you on a journey itself, and you’ll learn what’s possible just by saying yes to it.”

She acknowledges the intimidation many people feel about starting later in life. “A lot of people get really intimidated about going back to school and especially starting a little later, and you just kind of think, well, maybe I’ve missed the mark and maybe it’s too late.”

But the Northeastern program proved that college was achievable even with a demanding performance schedule. “I never thought that college was a possibility with a dance career. It’s just so time consuming, and being on campus was never going to be a possibility for my lifestyle. So, without this program, without the scholarship through Boston Ballet, I wouldn’t be here.”

“I never thought that college was a possibility with a dance career. It’s just so time consuming, and being on campus was never going to be a possibility for my lifestyle. So, without this program, without the scholarship through Boston Ballet, I wouldn’t be here.”

Sage Humphries

This May, Humphries’ latest educational journey will come to an end when she joins hundreds of other graduates as she walks across the stage at Leader Bank Pavilion to receive her second degree from Northeastern and join the elite ranks of “double Huskies.”

For those who love learning, like Humphries, the rewards extend beyond career advancement. “If you’re a nerd like me,” she laughs, “it’s the best thing ever.”

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Sage Humphries will graduate with her Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies in May 2026. She is currently performing in Boston Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker through December 29. Other Boston Ballet dancers currently enrolled in Northeastern include: Daniel Rubin, also graduating with a master’s degree in May, along with two undergraduate students: Haley Schwan and Schuyler Wijsen.