A Snippet of A Dancer's Journey
School has just let out. I wander down the long hall that runs outside the dance studios at Ballet Arizona and pause at one of the open doors. Two of the company's star dancers are in the middle of rehearsing a challenging pas de deux (dance for two). With breathless amazement I watch as they execute a perfect lift. The woman hovers elegantly in the air, supported by the uplifted arm of the male dancer. In my mind, I can't help but wonder if I will ever achieve that sort of perfection.A few hours later, I am in the same studio practicing my variation (a solo dance within a larger ballet). As the music ends, I can barely hold my pose sur les pointes (on the toes). I am perspiring and exhausted, maybe even frustrated, and then I remember the adult level classes I took last summer. Some of the best people in the company were there, and imagine my amazement that they also occasionally wobble out of a turn or forget the combination (sequence of steps)!
I love to dance, I always have, and ballet happens to be the form with which I first fell in love. The grace, poignancy, other-worldliness, and even, at times, unutterable beauty, have me hopelessly hooked.
This summer is going to be the most exciting dance experience for me, yet. As one of only forty-four students selected from some 450 applicants from all over the world, I am going to New York City to study at the Juilliard School, one of the finest performing arts colleges in the world, for a three week summer intensive.
I chose to study at the School of Ballet Arizona because of its connections to a wonderful and evolving professional company, Ballet Arizona. The classes are intense and challenging. It has always been my dream to dance professionally, and the school is a huge step in the right direction.
A number of the faculty are still current company members. They provide their students with invaluable information that is valid in the here and now. The remaining faculty members, who are also all experienced dancers, not only provide us with their expertise and knowledge, but also share their longer term view of the entire process of being a dancer.
Traditionally, ballet students go straight into their professional careers right out of high school. I feel, however, that higher education is invaluable, especially in today's complicated world. Attending Juilliard this summer gives me a glimpse into one of the most competitive institutions of higher education in the country.
For me, the biggest thrill of the whole process of becoming a dancer is being on stage. This is where it all comes together, all the days of rehearsal and perfecting my technique, the magic hour. As the lights come up, my body tenses with apprehension. The music begins, and suddenly I am soaring above the problems of this world. I am dancing.
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