PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD

Caitlyn Mendicino is elegantly posed within an ensemble of 16 tall, slender dancers, all clad in midi-length, primarily pastel-colored skirts. Hers is black.

But as a member of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet, her synchronized movements seamlessly blend into the ensemble as it transitions through complex shifting patterns and configurations for this rehearsal of “The Nutcracker.”

Mendicino is a team player in the unit that frames and supports the 36-member troupe’s principal artists. A self-described perfectionist with a swan neck, long supple arms, lithe upper body and refined technique, she is more than a worker bee in the artistic hive.

The South Side Slopes resident is also a bee farmer and a budding entrepreneur who sells raw honey under her “Ballerina Bees” label.

Seated at a small, round table in the atrium of PBT’s Strip District headquarters, Mendicino smiles generously and her green eyes sparkle as she talks while simultaneously illustrating with fluid hand and arm gestures (as most ballet dancers do) about her loves — ballet, bees and Brian Dunning (her husband of one year and a retired dancer).

“I fell in love with ballet at a young age. There’s just so much artistry in it,” she says, noting that while it’s her job, it’s also a lifestyle.

Mendicino’s side hustle launched in 2018 after she devoured “Beekeeping for Dummies,” which introduced her to the democratic flying insects, known for hive hierarchy, age-appropriate responsibilities, sticky, golden output and choreography of their own. Mendicino’s fingers dance on the tabletop as she animatedly describes the “waggle dance,” a figure eight performed to point other bees toward sustenance; the similar “circle dance;” “fanning,” a bottoms-up pheromone release technique; and the foot-scrubbing movement known as “washboarding.”

Unafraid of bee stings — yet allergic to them — the outdoor enthusiast with hiking and fishing in her repertory learned bee basics (including how to carefully crack open hives) from a one-day course offered by Burgh Bees, an urban beekeeping advocacy organization. She then embarked on in-depth research before setting up an apiary on her parents’ wooded acreage in Armstrong County.

While Mendicino is predominantly a self-taught beekeeper who measures success in the number of her bees that survive the Pennsylvania winter, which annually decimates approximately half the state’s bee population, she developed as a dance artist through ballet’s handed-down tradition.

Solid early training from master teachers including PBT founding artistic director Nicolas Petrov led to studies at the prestigious University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she met Dunning. Following a two-year apprenticeship with Charlotte Ballet, she enrolled in PBT’s graduate program (as did Dunning). She joined PBT in 2018.

She is one of the few local artists to have gained knowledge and insights from four of PBT’s seven artistic directors. She credits Petrov with teaching her preparedness, Terrence Orr with introducing her to other facets of the profession, Susan Jaffe with underscoring that learning never ceases and current director Adam McKinney with refining her artistry.

In the apiary, Mendicino takes the lead, moving with grace, respect and calm demeanor among the hives to conduct inspections and maintenance tasks. Dunning, who has developed an affinity for beekeeping — and has learned to spot issues requiring his wife’s attention — assists with opening the hives and with moving the bees’ abodes, which can weigh up to 100 pounds.

With 200 pounds of honey to market so far, Mendicino’s hobby has blossomed into a profitable business. The sociable dancer relishes interacting with customers and selling her wares at farmers’ markets and other venues, including at PBT’s “Open Air” series.

The lifespan of a bee is short, as is a ballet career. For now, Mendicino, 28, is enjoying the euphoria that performing on stage gives her. Offstage, she has earned an associate degree from the Community College of Allegheny County in business management and is completing a second associate degree there in accounting. She also teaches ballet, and — inspired by former New York City Ballet star Judith Fugate, who sets works by the late George Balanchine — has developed a passion for staging ballets.

“I want to be her when I grow up,” she says.

For Mendicino, both ballet and beekeeping require finesse and refinement of procedure to achieve the best results. The artistic hive produces ballet performances. The beehive yields honey. She also draws a parallel between the Romantic ballet “Giselle” (1841), which she has staged at Seton Hill University for the school’s student dance company, and the bee life cycle. In the opus, the wilis, ruled by their queen, kill men who wander into their forest. Every fall, the all-female worker bees, who serve their queen, kill the drones.

“It’s very hilarious to me,” she laughs.