Seeking a Calmer Existence Back Home : San Diego Dancer Will Hang Up His New York Shoes

Barry Bernal, who left his native San Diego five years ago to find quick success as a dancer in New York City, is coming home for a refresher course in humanity.

“I’m giving it up,” Bernal said in a telephone interview from his New York apartment. “I went from a cat to a train. After a while, you have to be human again.”

Bernal was referring to his leading roles in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s two smash Broadway hits “Cats” and the still-hot “Starlight Express.”

Why is Bernal walking away from one of the best dancing roles in theater?

“I’ve reached a point now where I’ve done two shows, and even though I’m only 25 years old, my body feels old,” Bernal said. “For the sake of my body and my sanity, I needed to leave. My whole reason for leaving was just to get back to a calm setting.”

There were other personal concerns, too.

“My family, of course, was part of it,” he said. “I’m a romantic, and I need to keep working off my family and my love. I’ve had love here, but not sex. It’s time now for me to be intimate, and there was no time to really develop relationships like that.”

In any event, Bernal said, he is not coming home with any feelings of regret.

“I feel very lucky,” he said. “I’ve made enough money in New York, so that I still have options. I don’t want to work that hard. It’s very manic in the city. There are so many emotions here, especially for an artist. You experience every situation--stress, happiness, everything. It’s difficult to slow down here. But I’m still that crazy kid from San Diego who enjoys life.”

Bernal said he wants to use some of what he has learned in New York to help young dancers here.

“I want to help (local dancers) grow,” he said. “I want to do lecture demos. . . . I would like to do some of my own work. I have ideas for things San Diego hasn’t experienced yet. I have aspirations about writing a play and writing music. The city is so energetic, you can’t help being inspired.”

Bernal said he doesn’t fear switching gears at the apex of his career.

“I have a few options. I’m trying to find work in commercials, TV, and film. The possibilities are endless. But there are no more big shows for me right now. This will be enough for me, and I can fly back to New York anytime. . . . I never have to turn up at a cattle call again.”

Still, he said, it’s hard leaving a show and the people working in it.

“They’re like family. Some people stay on not because it’s gratifying, but because they can’t give it up, and they’re making good money.

“But there are thousands of dancers in New York, and most of them can’t get a job because there aren’t that many jobs. I went to auditions where there were 40 people left after the eliminations. But show business is a business, and if people are uncomfortable with that, they should get out.”