Promising dancers look to get a leg up in ballet competition
Adrenaline building, Campbell Willis busied herself with a bag of stage makeup and a tiny compact mirror as her dance teacher fixed her pointe shoes with last-minute stitches.
The 15-year-old from Dallas flexed her ribboned ankles in a final warm-up and smoothed a new tutu that would transform her into Dulcinea, the woman from Don Quixote’s dreams, in a variation from that famous Russian ballet. In minutes, she would perform for the third time in a competition that earns promising young dancers recognition from some of the world’s best ballet judges.
“I feel much less nervous,” she said. “I’ve been preparing since August.”
Willis joined more than 300 other dancers Saturday at the University of Houston for the Youth America Grand Prix regional semifinals, part of a global competition that offers ballet students professional feedback and the chance to earn scholarships to world’s best dance schools. Top competitors are invited to perform in New York in April for 40 judges.
The organization, established in 1999 with a relatively small competition, since has grown to tour 21 cities across the U.S and others abroad. Representatives from eight pre-
mier ballet schools and theaters gathered in Houston to assess this group of dancers, many of whom traveled from other states.
“We are growing quite fast,” said Alexei Moskalenko, assistant artistic director for the competition. “It’s unusual for a competition to bring such caliber.”
Hundreds evaluated
Most dancers had about two minutes to make an impression on the judges, who worked quickly to evaluate hundreds of entries. Claire Baulieu, a teacher at the Paris Opera Ballet School who judged contemporary and classical pieces, said she pays particular attention to expressiveness and artistry, regardless of skill level.
“To see all of the young dancers perform is always very moving,” she said.
Stanislav Issaev, ballet master at CityDance in Washington, D.C., circled the names of his students in the program as he wait- ed for them to appear before the judges. Once an acclaimed dancer who for years toured the world with the Moscow State Ballet Theater, he eventually retired from the stage and chose instead to mentor others in the pursuit.
“When you start teaching, you have to change your entire approach and focus just on your students,” he said. “Now, I live through my students.”
He fretted from a seat on the side of the auditorium as one of them, Lope Lim, prepared backstage for a demanding performance filled with jumps and turns. Lim typically practices on a far larger stage, and Issaev worried that the more confined space might throw him off.
If the stage was too small, Lim made the best of it. He leaped to its center for a variation from the Flames of Paris, leg muscles visible beneath gray tights as he propelled himself through the air.
“He was good, but he can be even better,” Issaev said as Lim finished, breathing heavily. “His movements are so much bigger than this stage.”
Balancing act
In the dressing room, Ricako Suzuki claimed a spot on the floor for the core exercises she completes before every show. The 16-year old moved from Texas to Indiana to train at the highly competitive Indiana Ballet Conservatory with a goal to join a professional company within the next several years. She began homeschooling to make more time for training.
“It’s what I have to do to,” she said.
On stage, she commanded attention with a dramatic maroon and black tutu and a tambourine held constantly aloft. Her legs, straight as arrows, lifted well above her head in her variation from La Esmeralda.
By early afternoon, Willis’ time had finally come. She appeared on the stage as a cloud of powder blue, sparkling as she twirled in the spotlight.
She returned to the dressing room with a smile, clearly pleased. Her mother and teacher rehashed the performance with pride.
As she packed up and changed into sweats, the conversation turned to how she would balance training and high school classes before her next show. At the end of the week, she will again compete in the Youth America Grand Prix regional semifinals when the judges arrive in Dallas.
“We’re weighing priorities, year by year,” said her mother, Jill. “But that’s when she really lights up, when she’s performing.”