Junior Year

This year has been a real thrill so far and it is only February.  September brought Nutcracker Auditions and the opening of a season of late rehearsals and Christmas excitement.  I was cast as Clara's friend and a Flower this year and because of another dancer's injury I was also awarded an additional part as a soldier.  It was a great show, with beautiful costumes and a live choir and orchestra.

After Christmas break we returned to school for Intermester, a special time during Fall and Spring sessions where we focus on our something pertaining to our art or our interests.  I was selected to be in the Gina Patterson Project.  A choreography workshop combining the creativity of the singer songwriters, visual artists, and dancers to create an original work with costumes, music, and design.

The piece will be performed for our Winter Concert at Interlochen.

I have been busy training for Youth American Grand Prix ballet competition where I will perform a contemporary pointe piece called Pinocchio that I choreographed as well as a variation from various stagings of the "Grand Pas"  from Paquita. I am very excited about my first YAGP.

We are also busy learning Gerald Arpino's Viva Vivaldi that will also be performed this Spring.

Finally, auditions for Summer Intensives are in full swing.  So far I have been accepted to Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Carolina Ballet with a partial scholarship.  I am still awaiting response from a few more programs and am sure deciding from the various options will be difficult.  

July 2013

Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet Summer Intensive was an amazing experince. The six weeks provided time for exponential growth as a dancer.  We were exposed to many styles of dance, especially liked Brazillian and Flamenco. The teachers were fantastic and very helpful when it comes to tuning the finer points of technique.

The days were long and filled with dance, which I loved. In the evenings we attended lectures which were always interesting.  On the weekends we went on awesome excursions and I saw both NYCB and ABT perform and "Roadside Attraction" Third Rail Project came and put on a performance for us.  On Sundays, we had Master's Classes with industry leaders.  

During Session II, I was fortunate enough to be selected for a variation.  We were given our parts on Friday and performed Saturday. You can see the video on left along with a clip of our flamenco dance which was so much fun.
 

I hope to return to Kaatsbaan again.

June 14, 2013

These are all the dance clothes coming with me for my six week intensive at Kaatsbaan.

April 2013

Although they are far from technically perfect, I achieved a milestone today and hit 32 fouettes. I began practicing last November when I couldn't do a single one. I was cast as the Soldier Doll in the Nutcracker and for that part I needed to do 4.

This year's coveted lead "Clara" role will be shared by Goffstown's Laurel Armes and Derry's Nicole Jastrem, both highly trained young NEDE performers and students of Londonderry Dance Academy