Local ballet dancer shines
17-year-old joins prestigious school in Winnipeg
When Quintin Cianci was nine years old, his mother Kim Reeve asked him if he would like to take a dance class and he said, why not?
Cianci was already involved in acting and art classes, gymnastics and speedskating. He walked into a hip-hop class at the 8 Count Dance Complex in Dollard-des- Ormeaux and it was fun.
He began to think dance was more than just one hour every week after signing up at the Dollard-based Sheila Parkins Academy of Dance and Music where he continued with hip-hop but also was exposed to other dance styles. He took to them all — tap and jazz and contemporary — and then, when he was 12, it was suggested he start taking ballet class. Ballet training provides dancers with the solid technical framework they need to move smoothly from one dance style to the next.
Five years later, and Cianci has been accepted into the professional division of the school of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. The school auditions hundreds of students across the country and beyond every year. Not only was Cianci accepted to the summer session — considered the second stage of the audition for the profession division — he was given a scholarship.
The 17-year-old from Kirkland and his father Sandro fly to Winnipeg at the end of the month and dad will spend the week helping set up an apartment that Cianci will share with a dance buddy he met while attending the RWB school’s summer session.
For many ballet dancers, it’s a rite of passage to audition for a summer session at one of the country’s ballet facilities — the three most prominent being Canada’s National Ballet School, the school of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Montreal-based École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec.
“All my teachers at the Sheila Parkins are so wonderful, so supportive,” Cianci said in between a rush of appointments as he prepared for his trip.
“We emphasize the development of a well-rounded, versatile dancer,” Sheila Parkins said. “Quin has a great career ahead of him.”
Parkins said television shows like So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars and World of Dance have helped shift public perception of male dancers. But nothing works better than for boys to see someone like Cianci forging a successful career path.
“The other boys get inspired watching Quin dance,” Parkins said. “He sets an example for them.”
Cianci said he was a bit overwhelmed at the start of the summer session, but he settled in quickly.
“When you’re in a summer intensive, you spend all day with the same people. You make friends,” he said. “It’s so exciting.”
Cianci was one of 10 students who received an Investors Group National Scholarship to pay for the summer session, which lasts four weeks. At the end of the session, Cianci learned he had been accepted into the division and he had received another Investors Group National Scholarship to pay for his first year.
“We are so proud of all his hard work,” Sandro Cianci said. “He’s always put the hours into his school work and his dance, and now he is being courageous and taking the next step.”
Cianci graduated from CollégeSte-Anne-de-Lachine in June, but plans to continue his academic studies and complete Grade 12 during his first year in Winnipeg.
He will spend two years with the professional division after which he has the option to join the aspirant program, which helps prepare graduates for the rigours of the professional dance world.
“It’s quite an honour for Quin to be accepted into the program,” Reeve said. “To get where he is in five years is quite the accomplishment.
“But we will miss him around the house. He’s such an interesting young man.”
Mom and dad are also about to say goodbye to older brother Coleton, who is leaving for Ottawa where he will study at the University of Ottawa while playing junior A hockey. Younger sister Savana is still at Collège-Ste-Anne and is also a hockey player.