Juggling ballet and a second job isn’t unusual, but Cassidy Cocke has taken her part-time side gigs to next-level mastery. The Los Angeles Ballet dancer is responsible for a variety of creative production tasks as assistant to the editor-in-chief of BASIC magazine, a luxury fashion publication headquartered in Beverly Hills.
You might say it’s in her genes. Cocke’s mother studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, in addition to working for a French couturier and the brand Fossil. When Cocke was a ballet student in her hometown of Dallas, Cocke’s mother sewed many of her costumes for recitals and for Youth America Grand Prix.
Cocke remembers thinking her mother’s career in fashion was glamorous. “I always looked up to that side of her,” she says.
That interest in style never wavered for Cocke, even as her ballet career took off. She moved to Seattle in 2018 to join the Professional Division at Pacific Northwest Ballet School before COVID lockdowns forced her to return home in 2020. A year later, she joined Los Angeles Ballet and quickly realized she’d need a second job, as her contract with the company was, at that time, 26 weeks. (It’s now 28 weeks.)
She randomly applied for a part-time position at BASIC, despite having no experience. When she told her now boss that she danced at Los Angeles Ballet, the interview almost didn’t continue. Cocke says she advocated for herself using the skills she’s mastered as a dancer—tenacity and toughness—as well as a good old-fashioned thank-you note.
“[My boss] said that I was the only one that followed up with her afterwards,” Cocke says. “She told me I was the one to take the initiative. So, that’s what got me the role.”
At BASIC, a quarterly print publication, Cocke wears multiple hats: She’s assistant to the editor in chief, but she’s also the production coordinator tasked with booking photographers, stylists, hair and makeup, and locations for the magazine’s editorial spreads. Alongside the editor, she puts together a collaborative mood-board to define the theme and tone of a shoot, and she oversees the shoots to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Cocke’s also responsible for the magazine’s social media presence and website—a true multitasker in a bustling, creative environment. “When I started, I did a lot less,” she says. “But at almost four years now, I’ve taken on a lot more. I’ve learned so much. It’s crazy to think back to when I wasn’t qualified for it!”
With so many new skills under her belt, she’s even acquired a second gig as a production assistant with Schön!, a global fashion magazine based in Germany. As with BASIC, she produces the publication’s celebrity shoots for print and digital, working remotely with teams in New York City and Los Angeles.
When asked how she manages three jobs, Cocke says she relies on being organized and being in constant work mode: sending emails an hour before company class at Los Angeles Ballet, opening her laptop on breaks and at lunch, and wrapping up her day with another couple of hours at the computer when rehearsals are finished.
As busy as she is, she wouldn’t have it any other way. She credits both publishing and ballet with making her the artist and producer she is today. “There’s a certain way that a ballet dancer’s mind works,” she says. “And that professionalism and determination that we have to have every day in the studio really comes across in other fields of work and in our work ethic.”
Cocke realizes how lucky she is to have days filled with creativity and passion, both onstage and behind the scenes. “Some people never find one job that they love, and I’m so grateful that I get to do two, three that I love, every day. It’s a really cool feeling, and I’m very proud of the work that I do.”
The post Meet Cassidy Cocke, the Dancer Flexing Her Creative Muscles in Magazine Production appeared first on Pointe Magazine.