James Whiteside ruptured a tendon on stage last year during a performance of the Nutcracker. An injury that could have ended his career.

“I could barely move my leg at all I could not bend it I had a machine that bent my knee for me.” Whiteside, a principal dancer at American Ballet Theater, said. “It bends your knee on a motor that was excruciating for me.”

Now, he’s about to perform in the same ballet where his injury almost cost him his career.

“I’m incredibly anxious frankly because the Nutcracker is one of the most notoriously difficult ballets,” Whiteside said.

Whiteside knows about difficulty. NY1 documented his struggle throughout the pandemic shutdown when a lack of shows meant he was out of work.

He returned to the stage earlier this year, and now he’s returning to the Nutcracker, thanks to a patellar tendon repair, he’s the one documenting his journey on social media on his page called the “Kneecap Recap.”

“I definitely feel like I built a sense of Community around injury and the emotional baggage that comes with recovery and the uncertainty. I get a lot of messages from a lot of down and out injured people and I tried to support them in any way I can,” Whiteside said.

His physical therapist Jonathan DeMatteis says his prospects of going back to dancing full time didn’t look good originally.

“Someone like James the performer he is, the amount of power and strength that he needs for his legs is different than the average person,” Physical Therapist at Professional Physical Therapy, Jonathan DeMatteis said.

DeMatteis said the blood flow restriction therapy Whiteside used to regain strength was a success

“By decreasing the oxygen to the muscle you’re training at a low load but getting the effects as if you are training at a higher intensity,” DeMatteis said.

 Whiteside says he approaches dancing differently since his surgery.

“I’m still recovering so I feel it still feels dangerous and I’m still trying really hard to regain strength and confidence and abandon that I once did.”