• HILITE NEWS HAS BEEN NAMED A NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION ONLINE PACEMAKER FINALIST
  • HILITE NEWS HAS BEEN NAMED THE HOOSIER STAR WINNER FOR NEWS SITE
  • HILITE NEWS HAS BEEN NAMED A COLUMBIA SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION GOLD CROWN WINNER
Your source for CHS news

HiLite

Your source for CHS news

HiLite

Your source for CHS news

HiLite

Raising the Barre

By: Lily Zhao <[email protected]>

Describe how you got the scholarship to Joffrey Ballet.
“My dance company, Central Indiana Dance Ensemble, is part of a Regional Dance America company, which is like a festival where all the companies get together and take classes and perform for each other, and they held a scholarship audition and a theatre audition for summer intensives or just money, and I auditioned for summer intensives, and they gave me a full-ride scholarship to Joffrey Ballet in New York City.”

Talk about your experiences over the summer with the program. What did you learn?
“It’s really neat to see how so many different dancers can just come together and take classes…you can just learn so many different things just by watching the different dancers, and the teachers explain their experiences and give analogies to better help yourself. It was just a really neat experience.”

When did you decide to go for the year-round program?
“At midnight…August 25.”

How do your parents feel?
“They’re nervous, sad to see me go, but they’re excited for me. They know that this is what I want to do, and to do that, New York is the place to be.”

How will you finish high school?
“I’m doing the online Indiana University (IU) High School program.”

What’s so special about ballet that you would want to pursue a career in it?
“It’s a really emotional art and you have to love what you’re doing in order to do it well. It’s just fun. I never get sick of it.”

How did you feel when you heard that you had gotten the scholarship?
“I was so excited. I was not expecting it at all, at all. My parents were a little shaken by it. It was a really exciting and an important moment.”

Your tuition (through the scholarship) is paid, right?
“Yes, the scholarship was worth $4,000, but the year-round program that I’m going to go to is about $13,000.”

How was your first day in New York City and Joffrey?
“It was really fun; it was scary riding the subways at first, though. It just felt professional when you walked into the studio, you know, walking down the street to the building, it’s like a three-story building, and there are big windows, so you can look outside while you’re dancing. It was so exciting and thrilling.”

Can you describe the atmosphere in Joffrey compared to the atmosphere in Performer’s Edge?
“Well obviously (there were) different teachers, different people, but also different dance styles. Performer’s Edge has a neutral beat, or tap, jazz, modern, all that stuff, and Joffrey has ballet and point and they’re also really focused on modern, jazz, pas de deux, which is partnering between a guy and girl, and there’s yoga and character. Yoga and character aren’t offered at Performer’s Edge.”

Were you at all intimidated when you first got there with all of those dancers around you?
“Yes, oh my gosh, it was so nerve-wracking the first day, ‘cause you feel like you have to be perfect and ‘cause you want to impress them and you don’t want to give off a bad impression. I find that I tend to do better when I’m under pressure like that in auditions, I don’t know, my adrenaline or something, I end up doing better. It’s very nerve-wracking, but they give a lot of insight on things in general.”

What new things did you learn at Joffrey?
“The placement of the body, that’s like the key in dance. You have to be in alignment, and (Joffrey taught you) different ways of getting into alignment and holding yourself in a certain position and like lifting yourself out of your hips and again, (the teachers) gave great analogies, and you were like, ‘Huh, that makes sense.’”

How did going to Joffrey help you personally?
“It definitely helped boost my self-confidence. (It shows that) a small city girl like me can make it out there and succeed in the dance world.”

Any plans for college?
“As of right now I’m planning on dancing first, so I’ll graduate and then I’ll go out there and hopefully get a job and once I don’t feel like dancing anymore, or injury prevents me from dancing more, then I’ll probably go to IU and major in physical therapy.”

What advice would you give to aspiring young dancers who want to pursue a career in dance?
“Never take ‘no’ for an answer and always keep trying and go to different places and different people. You never know who will like you or not and you can’t let one person get you down because it might not’ve been your dancing, it might’ve been your hair color or the leotard you were wearing. It differs for each person so you have to find the company and people that best fits you.”

How long does it take a girl to physically and mentally mature to pursue a career in dance?
“Most dancers that go professional start dancing when they’re around four or five, and then it’s hardcore from there. I started kind of late, I mean, I started in third grade, but that was more for fun and I really didn’t get serious about it until like the sixth or seventh grade. So, I’m kind of a late bloomer.”

Leave a Comment
Donate to HiLite
$20
$500
Contributed
Our Goal

Comments (0)

All HiLite Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *