Growing up in Tulsa, Okalahoma, Donald Sales spent most of his time in high school on the football field. He played defence, and the muscular youth was a natural. Yet before he had even graduated, he inadvertently discovered that he had an innate skill for another, albeit completely different, physical activity: dance.

On a rehearsal break at Ballet British Columbia's offices, Sales explains that one day after football practice, he was asked, in a pinch, to step into a role for a local dance recital. Pliés came as easily to him as blocks. Others noticed his potential immediately, and he preferred the classical-ballet stances to huddling. And so came the end of his sports career.

"I got in so much mess with my coach," Sales says. "But it wasn't a hard decision for me. I don't care what people think. Dance is a lot more challenging than football. All those years of getting injured..."

Sales immersed himself in training, taking group and private classes with the best instructors he could find. At 19 he landed his first job, with the New York City--based Dance Theater of Harlem. Although it was what many would consider a dream gig, Sales admits that the demands of such a supercharged, high-profile organization were overwhelming.

"It was difficult; I was young," says Sales, now 23. "It's a big company, and there were a lot of different personalities....I couldn't handle it."

After six months with the NYC troupe, he spent the next year as a performer on the high seas. "When you're on a cruise ship, you're not really dancing," Sales says. "It's all flash. I like to express my emotions through my dance. That was cheesy. I need real emotion, real dance, real technique. I didn't want to do back flips on-stage."

His experience on ocean liners led to a relationship with a woman from Vancouver, and although that ceased, his connection to our fair city did introduce him to Ballet B.C. He got in touch with artistic director John Alleyne, who hired him last year.

Sales is currently preparing for his role as Demetrius in Alleyne's magical The Faerie Queen, which revisits the Queen Elizabeth Theatre from November 4 to 6. He says he thrives on the intricacy of Alleyne's choreography.

"His dance is very expressive," Sales explains. "There's a lot of partnering, where you really get to interact with someone....It's not like I just pick up a dancer and put her down. Here, it's organic; it's up, down, in, out, around. John makes every move make sense; there's meaning to every step. He has brought me to a whole new world."

Sales is also working as an understudy for Mark Godden's Conversation Piece, which the company remounts in February. It's another task he finds so much more rewarding than playing D.

"In football, all I had to do was pump a couple of weights, eat a couple of protein shakes, and ram my head against someone else's head," Sales says. "In dance, you have to control every single muscle in your body; there are muscles under muscles that you never use in everyday life. I like the challenge. You're always striving to be perfect. And since you'll never be perfect, you're always working hard. I love it."

Sales is clearly pumped about being part of Ballet B.C., and for dance fans, his joining the troupe has all the sweetness of a game-winning touchdown.