So Your Child Wants to Perform, By Amy Pence-Brown Encourage Their Interests with Auditioning Tips and Opportunities Is there anything cuter than watching your wee ones twirl and leap on stage so proudly (or sometimes so shyly) in their pink tights or black bow ties? When my Lucy took her first ballet classes at Pat [...]
The first week at the intensive was just sort of adjusting to new classes, teachers, and habits. You take a placement class that’s just like the audition, so anyone who’s interested in coming here can just relax and take a technique class, like it’s no big deal (but of course look your best!) The first week [...]
The Wizards and Wands Summer Dance Camp sure put a spell on me. The two groups of dancers we had for each camp were truly amazing. Many of the dancers have never danced before and were completely in awe of the whole experience. The others who had taken dance previously found a new realm of [...]
I auditioned for the Jillana School of ballet on February 14 when Jillana came to Boise and was accepted. The Jillana School is in Taos, New Mexico in the ski valley. It was so beautiful and surrounded by mountains. We lived in condos during our stay and mine was called the Powderhorn. Some condos had up [...]
Jillana! I remember the first time I saw her name on a New York City Ballet poster and wondered, Who is this exotic creature with one name? This was WAAAAY before Cher or Madonna coined their own one-name celebrity status. As a collector of early NYCB memorabilia, I followed her name through foreign tours, premieres, [...]
The last week of Pre-Ballet camps could not have gone better. As an instructor it is always nice to end on a positive note, and that’s exactly what the week of Angelina Ballerina was for myself and the other instructors. The students were so eager to learn that we moved on to harder and more [...]
It’s been so exciting to hear the fun stories from our girls who are attending Jillana’s Summer Intensive. It’s also been rewarding to hear from their parent’s who are sharing their thoughts about sending their daughters away to a 4-week Summer Intensive. Julia Dunlop, Ballet Idaho Academy Student The flight down was typical, but the 3 hour [...]
A huge smile crept across my face and I am ever so slightly embarrassed to say a small tear appeared in my eye as I saw the parents join their budding ballerinas on stage for the finale of the end of camp performance. As they leapt into their parents arms or twirled around, smiles across [...]
First week of Pre Ballet Camps – what a journey! Every summer brings new excitement and new dancers to begin the love of ballet. This past week we had two camps for ages 2-3, as well as ages 3-5. Each one of these camps started out with a lot of excitement and nerves on the [...]
Ditch the Workout—Join the Party! On Tuesday June 22nd Ballet Idaho’s Natalie Gallegos Wickstrom and guest instructor from Seattle, Washington set up studio 1 at the Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy with live drummers and 30 guests for some intense, energy-induced Zumba! Natalie is high energy and an extremely talented dancer and instructor! She gets in [...]
This year’s Ballet Idaho Summer Intensive had a lot of interesting students from Idaho, Montana, New Jersey and British Columbia, Canada. In a previous blog you can read what Madison Cole’s mom said about their experience here in Boise at the Summer Intensive. Madison is going to be 12 years old soon and she comes [...]
When Durea and Heather from Ballet Idaho asked me to write a blog about our experience here in beautiful Boise, I was more than happy to do it! We are from New Jersey and this is our first time here and so far… so very good. My daughter is dancing with Ballet Idaho in their [...]
The Regional Dance America Festival is a breathtaking event! There are over 500 students from across the Western and Pacific states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Utah, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, who participate in classes and seminars, and who perform nightly for an audience [...]
Three teenagers, two mothers, two ballet teachers, Racheal Nole and myself and Ballet Idaho’s Artistic Director, Peter Anastos, take a road trip to Richland, WA. While the scenery was great, the purpose was a four day dance-filled adventure. I accompanied five young dancers, and three very supportive mothers, from the Ballet Idaho Ensemble to Regional [...]
The Ballet Idaho Youth Ensemble continues its 2009/2010 tour performing three shows at two Boise area schools last Friday, May 7th. It was a long day for the dancers who performed two shows of Moving Through Time, choreographed by Ballet Idaho Artistic Director, Peter Anastos, at Trail Wind Elementary. This Ballet shows the evolution of [...]
Ballet Idaho has a great Academy! So many of our students are traveling to prestigious schools this summer it’s a sure sign we’re on the right track. David Wilcox from Long Beach Ballet came to audition for his summer course in January. Part of that program is a 3-week trip to China and he invited [...]
I was so excited for Tuesday’s Family Series:Cinderella! We had a very welcome full-house at the Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy auditorium highlighting Act II of this Saturday’s production Cinderella, all in full costume and make-up. I watched curious kids learning about theater etiquette, Peter spoke about the choreography, we all saw highlights of the [...]
It was our first week of preparing for “Cinderella.” Music by Prokofiev and choreography by Peter Anastos, it is a story we all know and love. The dancers are working very hard and learning lots of new material. It’s nice to be back in the studio and put our bodies back together after the holiday [...]
What an amazing Nutcracker year this has been! Alex Ossadnik and I started on September 12 in Las Vegas, teaching the children’s parts to an entirely new group of kids. The Nevada Ballet Theatre will dance our production right after we finish in Boise. Then we went on to Billings, Montana, where we taught a [...]
I began dancing when I was three. I have vague memories of sitting in the backseat of the car captivated by my pink fairy like ensemble and dreaming of twirling and prancing around the studio. As time wore on I began to become disillusioned and found it hard to motivate myself. New passions pulled me [...]
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