John Selya: xtreme dancer.

THE DAY AFTER THE TWYLA THARP/BILLY JOEL MUSICAL MOVIN' OUT OPENED ON BROADWAY, JOHN SELYA'S LIFE CHANGED AS DRAMATICALLY AS IF HE HAD WON THE LOTTERY. CLIVE BARNES WROTE IN

The New York Post, "Movin' Out is Selya's show ... he is absolutely riveting." Ben Brantley of The New York Times said, "Mr. Selya is extraordinary. A dazzling, athletic dancer." The Washington Post's Peter Marks noted that, "Selya is the discovery here; his presence is reminiscent of Gene Kelly." And Joan Acocella of The New Yorker simply declared, "John Selya is now a star."

One year later, during an after-show interview at a nearby restaurant, where he chows down on a juicy bacon burger and fries, Selya says, "It definitely put a lot wind in my sails, and it also meant I was going to be working. However," he adds, "My primary reaction was heart-felt validation of Twyla's vision. We worked so hard on this [show] that it was very gratifying and a great relief to be acknowledged." But he stresses, "The bar goes up and creates such high expectations, and I'm thinking, 'Can I do this every night?'"

The powerfully built, charismatic dancer bounds around the stage like Spiderman--climbing walls, scaling tall fences, spiraling in the air, and swooping across the stage. That he has done this six times a week for more than a year boggles the mind. Still energized, Selya admits, "It continues to be the most exhilarating challenge of my life."

Movin' Out brings Billy Joel's hit songs to life. It's a loosely knit tale, told entirely through dance, about five American teenagers caught up in the Vietnam War and its aftermath. Brilliantly conceived, directed, and choreographed by Twyla Tharp, the show melds ballet, jazz, and modern with a potent dose of hip-hop performed to perfection by a spectacular east of versatile dancers.

AS EDDIE, THE CENTRAL CHARACTER, Selya goes from being a carefree car-jock to a shell-shocked soldier who descends into drugs and degradation and reemerges whole through healing friendships. From the moment Selya, in jeans, motorcycle boots, and spiky hair, vaults out of his Mustang convertible and launches into free-wheeling Tharpian pyrotechnics, the audience is hooked on Eddie. In Act II, the showstopper "Good Night Saigon," performed in blinding oblique light, depicts a harrowing battle scene in which Eddie's gyrations express his pent-up rage. By the end of the finale, the pumped-up audience is on its feet, clapping, whistling (you can do that on Broadway), and shouting as he takes his curtain calls. Outside the Richard Rodgers Theater's stage door, Selya, surrounded by fans, signs autographs with a sheepish grin--as if to say, who me?

Born in New York City to parents who supported his yen to dance, Selya was accepted, at age ten, into the School of American Ballet, the official training ground for New York City Ballet. When he was 14, his family relocated to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he took up with a rough crowd and learned a new bag of tricks-break dancing-that were later tapped by Tharp for Movin' Out. Two years later the family returned to Manhattan, and Selya picked up his ballet training at SAB with Richard Rapp, Andre Kramarevsky, and Stanley Williams. He enjoyed the camaraderie and the competitive games like mock pirouette contests, and was inspired by virtuosos in class like Damian Woetzel and Peter Boal. "They would come in and blow your mind with what they were doing," says Selya. "I wanted a piece of that too." But he did not consider himself NYCB material because, he says, " I grew out instead of up."

In 1988 Mikhail Baryshnikov, then artistic director of American Ballet Theatre, hired Selya, and it was there that Tharp began casting him in her ballets. He says he feels fortunate to have been exposed to ABT's diverse repertory; he learned acting skills in character roles such as Dr. Coppelius in Coppelia, Gamache in Don Quixote, and the Head Fakir in La Bayadere. He was also given the opportunity to choreograph, and produced two works that premiered during ABT's season at City Center.

AFTER ELEVEN YEARS IN THE CORPS, however, Selya was burned out. He went to work for an Internet company editing instructional videos for dancers. A few months later, Tharp called and invited him to join her new troupe.

For the 2000 American Dance Festival held in Durham, North Carolina, Tharp choreographed one of her most successful and devilishly demanding ballets, Surfer At the River Styx. In the dual leads she cast Keith Roberts and Selya, an avid surfer whose sport inspired some of Tharp's moves. Touring Surfer for more than a year built up Selya's stamina, and conditioned him for what was to come.

In her book The Creative Habit (See "Dance Magazine Recommends," DANCE MAGAZINE, December 2003, page 67) Tharp explains why this group morphed into the leading cast of Movin' Out. "I had just started a new company for six marvelous dancers, so good, in fact, that I was dying to showcase them in something big and ambitious. A two-hour dance extravaganza to all the hits of a major American pop idol fit the bill."

In a recent phone interview, she effused about Selya. "John is one of the most talented dancers of his generation," says Tharp. She saw Selya's potential in Surfer, and lit a fire under him when she created Eddie. She says, "I could not have done Eddie without Surfer. John's physicality inspired the moves. He has a great sense of metaphor in what he does and who he is, and he makes these connections as Eddie."

There is no doubt that Selya is a natural in the Tharp vernacular, and he understands its dynamic. "Here's the deal with Twyla's choreography," says Selya, his intense brown eyes twinkling. "You have to have strong technique, and you have to mask it with a kind of innocence or naivete. I think that is where the beauty, charm, wit, and drama come in."

Selya spends his days preparing for the show. Most mornings he takes a rigorous ballet class at Steps from Wilhelm Burmann, whose energy he says inspires him. Burmann, an NYCB alumnus, says, "When John comes into class--tired or not--he looks committed. When he does something, his whole body is doing it. That's a wonderful turnaround from before. He was good but he wasn't as dedicated as when he started doing Twyla's work."

Selya supplements class with calisthenics that strengthen his upper body and arms to facilitate the break dancing. "I wish I had figured out sooner that if you have a strong upper body it is easier for your legs to get around too," says Selya. In the afternoon he takes a nap or watches television, trolling for inspiring new bits, eats a nutritional meal, walks his Jack Russell, and heads for the theater. In his dressing room Selya listens to rapper Eminem to get into that "confrontational frame of mind."

Make no mistake: there is a price to be paid for success. Selya is only human, and the nightly punishment takes a toll on his body. "Because of the workload," he says, "it's just a carousel of injuries." But he adds, "To Twyla's credit, because of the choreography I can easily adapt."

Selya, who has received a Fred Astaire award for best dancer and nominations for a Tony and a Drama Desk award for best actor in a musical, still indulges his passion for surfing. He takes vacations to Hawaii or wherever the "surf is up" and enjoys a home at the end of Long Island. For now Selya says he will stick with the show "as long as my body can do it." Looking to the future, he would like to act and choreograph Broadway musicals. "I don't premeditate things that I want to happen," he says. "But I make sure that I'm prepared to roll with the punches."

Astrida Woods, dance editor and critic for Show Business Weekly, has written for Madison, and Country Magazine.