Small Town Ballerinas Earn Seven Scholarships
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Ballet is not just about tutus and satin shoes. It's about determination, dedication and sometimes a little endurance.
The girls of Ballet Yuma proved that at the recent four-day Regional Dance America National Festival in Pittsburgh.
Seven of the 19 Ballet Yuma girls who traveled to Pittsburgh, ranging in age from 13 to 18, excelled in group and individual dance and choreography, earning scholarships to some of the most prestigious dance companies in the United States, said Steve Hennig, business manager for the dance company.
"All the scholarships are for dance-intensive summer programs. Some scholarships pay for tuition, some pay for housing and tuition, some even pay for transportation as well," said Keely Misenhimer. The 16-year-old junior at Yuma Catholic High School received a full tuition scholarship to Atlanta Ballet's advanced level.
It takes years of training and practice to achieve the endurance and strength to perform for hours on end, these girls said, and they credit their strong showing in Pittsburgh to years of training and practice.
Emphasis is on building strength mostly in the lower body, particularly the legs, and the core (also called your center or stomach), as a strong core is necessary for many movements in ballet, especially turns, and on developing flexibility and strong feet for going "en pointe," or standing on one's toes. Ballet dancers must appear to defy gravity while working within its constraints.
"There are some girls who get minor knee problems, tendonitis, stuff like that but we just wear a brace and dance anyway. We just take some Tylenol and push on through," said Kyndra Ricker, 18, who received a scholarship to Atlanta Ballet's professional level dance company.
Ricker, a senior at Cibola High School, has previously studied with Atlanta Ballet's professional program as one of only 20 dancers accepted from around the country.
Their devotion to method and strict execution of movement enable the girls to dance together in graceful, fluid and precisely
synchronized motions. These young dancers receive a rigorous education in their school's method of dance, which begins when they are as young as toddlers and ends with graduation from high school.
"We stretch a lot and take class six times a week so if you count it up, it's like 21 hours of class time weekly," Rickers said.
Hennig said, "The secret to all these accolades is the hard work from these girls and the artistic direction of Kathleen (Sinclair) and Jon (Cristofori) ,who just do fantastic jobs from the time these girls are small on through to the end of high school."
All seven girls have been dancing for 10 or more years, starting around the age of 3.
"Dancing like we do is a job, except we don't get paid for it," said Rebecca Sorenson, giggling and making the rest of the girls erupt in laughter.
Sorenson, a 16-year-old honor roll student at Cibola, received a full tuition scholarship to Utah Regional Ballet's summer intensive program in Orem.
These girls say they plan to dance for a professional dance company, though they don't all know what styles they will pursue in the future.
"That's why the summer programs are so good. You get experience with all different styles of dancing." said Amelia Gandara, a 18-year-old at Yuma Catholic High School. "You get a feel for the company. It's a nice chance to see what it's like. If you like the director, it's a nice chance to try out the companies that you might see yourself dancing at after high school."
Gandara received a full tuition scholarship to St. Louis Ballet and the first alternate, emerging choreography award for her original piece titled "Cerise Variations."
Brooke Frandsen, a 14-year old freshmen at Yuma High School, also received a full tuition scholarship to the Utah Regional Ballet's summer intensive program.
She said, "Ballet is like the base of all dance. So without good ballet technique, it is really hard for you to do any other kind of dancing. You need to know that to be able to perform well with other dances, the classical technique is very helpful."
Catherine Middaugh, a 16-year-old junior at Yuma High, received a full scholarship to the Craft Choreography Conference in Seattle.
She said that at first it was difficult to get accustomed to the satin pointe shoes but, "you get used to wearing them. It's a dull pain in the back of your head, it actually hurts more when you're not dancing, like when you're having a long break and you go back and dance, that's when it really hurts, but you do get used to them."
Taylor Owens, 13, the youngest of the seven girls, received a full scholarship to the Craft of Choreography Conference in Seattle. She also performed the role of Clara in "The Nutcracker" in 2004 and 2005. She said she plans to pursue her dancing professionally in the future. Owens attends Gila Vista Junior High School.
"RDA is an organization consisting of 92 dance companies across the country that are divided regionally. Ballet Yuma is in the Pacific Region, and every year they meet regionally, but this year we met nationally in Pittsburgh. This has only happened once, 10 years ago," said Hennig.
The majority of festival, he added, is going to classes with teachers from all different disciplines. "They talk about nutrition, all sorts of different things.
"But another part of what they do is audition with different companies, in front of hundreds of different girls, and it's just amazing that these girls won this many scholarships. Not only that but at this festival they honor choreographers from around the country, and they had five honors, and three of them were Ballet Yuma alumni."
ON STAGE
Yumans interested in seeing these dancers, as well as others from Ballet Yuma, will have the opportunity at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 2nd, when the company will present "Etudes and Excerpts," at Snider Auditorium, 400 W. 6th St. For more information, call (928)314-4762.
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By:Stefani Guerrero Soucy can be reached at
ssoucy@yumasun.com or 539-6857.