NEW HAVEN BALLET SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

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Here are 10 things you may not know about Sydney in her own words!

1. I am 17 years old and a Senior in high school.
2. I have been dancing since I was 3 years old.
3. What many people do not know about studying ballet is the amount of hard work and dedication that you have to put into it. In ballet, you use almost all your muscles, some of which you don’t tend to use in everyday life. If you take off a week or even a couple of days from class, you will most definitely be sore. Therefore, it helps to always be stretching and working your muscles when you take time off.
4. I have suffered a few injuries that adversely impacted my ability to dance. The most recent is my Achilles tendon. While I was attending my second summer at the School of American Ballet Summer Intensive, I wound up having Achilles tendonitis during my second week of classes. For the remaining three weeks, I was resigned to observing classes and taking notes on the critiques the other dancers received. This injury also prevented me from fully participating in my NHB classes in the fall. For the months to follow, I worked through bi-weekly physical therapy visits and daily exercises. By strengthening my Achilles and surrounding muscles I was able to perform as Dew Drop in last year’s Nutcracker.
5. What I enjoy the most about ballet is the versatility. I love being able to hear a piece of music and express my movement to the emotion of the music as it allows me to perform such diverse roles.
6. My favorite steps to perform are big jumps. Even though it takes so much power and energy to do a single big jump, I love the feeling and the look of it when I reach the top of my jump.
7. After I graduate from high school I hope to attend a university where I can achieve a double major in dance and science/physical therapy. My goal is to continue to dance as well as concentrate on my academics.
8. In 10 years, I see myself helping other dancers with injuries through physical therapy and of course dancing, maybe in a company or even on Broadway!
9. I really love to dance. Not only do I love ballet, but every moment — from dancing with friends to times when I am sitting in the kitchen listening to music while I imagine myself dancing to the rhythm. Being able to spread joy through movement gives me much inspiration to keep dancing.
10. My advice to younger students is to continue to do what you are passionate about, whether it be ballet or something else. If there is a chance for you to do it as a career, then keep doing it because what’s better than being able to pursue something you love than going to a job every day that you aren’t happy with.

Gillian is 17 years old and a senior in high school.

Here are 10 things you may not know about Gillian in her own words!

1. I started dancing when I was three years old and am a Level 8 student at New Haven Ballet where I train and rehearse nearly every day.
2. My favorite performance is, and always has been, New Haven Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker.
3. I still feel butterflies in my stomach before I perform. Yet when I step onto the stage I feel a rush of pure bliss, which is something I experienced from my very first role as a little lamb and continue to feel today. The feeling is indescribable.
4. Something special I do before each performance is put my right pointe shoe on, then my left, then tie my right, and then tie my left. As silly as it sounds it has become an essential part of my routine, as though something is “off” if I do not do it like that. My favorite little secret is that before I perform a solo role I put “good luck pixie dust” on, because a little sparkle makes all the difference.
5. Something that most people do not know about studying ballet is the amount of commitment it takes. By commitment I not only refer to the endless hours of classes and rehearsals, but also the commitment to better yourself. At the end of the day the only competition you have is yourself. Like anything there are off days. Days where your leg isn’t super high like the girl in front of you, or you couldn’t get that extra rotation in your turn like the girl beside you, and even days where you simply just fall down. But you cannot let that stop you. By studying ballet you commit to bettering yourself. You must use your off days as motivation to make the next day better. If you want your leg higher, stretch. If you want to do more rotations in a pirouette, practice balancing. Not everything is always as put together or perfect as the pink tutus you watch leap across the stage. That perfect leap takes years of failing. It is not about how many times you failed, though; it is about how many times you got back up and told yourself, “I am going to get this.”
6. I have injured my Achilles tendon, fractured my ankle, broken toes, dislocated my knee — you name it, I have probably injured it in someway. With each injury I learned new ways to improve my warm up before class, something that is essential. I also learned how to strengthen not only the injured body part, but the muscles around it to prevent further injury. Similarly, I also learned how to listen to myself. When I feel pain I no longer tell myself to push through it as this may only make it worse. Recovering from a lengthy injury helped me realize there is pure truth in the saying that we do not know how much we love something until we no longer have it. Not being able to do what I love with my friends destroyed me. In that same period of time I faced a lot of doubt. I wondered if I would ever return to dance the same again. To a 14 year old aspiring ballerina that thought was petrifying. However, I remembered that I made a commitment to this art and I was going to take each day at a time to get myself back where I wanted to be. As a moral to this brief story always listen to your body. Had I listened to those early signs of pain my injury may not have been as severe as it was. By the time I took action the pain was unbearable.
7. My favorite steps to perform are are big jumps, or a grand allegro. I love soaring across the stage and as an audience member I always admire dancers who can give the illusion that they may never come down from that jump. I think it is beautiful. I also love to perform fouette turn sequences, although they may not always go as planned. Still I always try to rise to the challenge. I love the satisfactory feeling of landing a sequence and knowing you are leaving the audience with a good impression.
8. My advice to younger students is to recognize that there are going to be times when it is not easy. There are going to be times when you are sore and exhausted. There are even going to be times when you feel defeated. That is just part of the journey. However, you have the option of accepting that defeat and walking away, or confronting it and telling yourself that it is not the end. I promise you it is never the end. In ballet there is always room for improvement and there is always room to make yourself better. The most important thing to do is to stay humble in both your failures and success. There is always going to be a dancer who is stronger than you, and always a dancer who is weaker than you. Take that realization as a learning experience. Use it as your inspiration to always push yourself a little bit harder. Moreover, do not make it a competition between you and your peers, make it competition between yourself, you are only as good as your last performance. Listen to the song within your heart and let the music guide you to your own greatness. The only thing in the way of your success is yourself, so take some risks, and put up a good fight and you will find your artistic self along the way. Always remember why you’re doing what you do and let that spark your flame… and of course, always stretch before class.
9. After I graduate high school I hope to continue dancing in some way for as long as possible. My goal is to pursue my Masters in Physical Therapy. I would love to be able to give back in a sense. The people who have worked with me have helped make me a stronger dancer, despite being injured, and I would like to make that possible for another dancer or athlete somewhere down the road.
10. My younger sister, Charlene, is my biggest inspiration. From the time she started to dance at age two years old, she has always looked up to me, as both a dancer and a person. Knowing that with every plie and tendu her little eyes are watching me closely always inspires me to do my best. She has encouraged me to push myself both onstage and in the studio. Whenever I want to give up, or I feel as though I have had enough, I remember that she’s there, taking in everything I do and wanting to be just like me. Naturally, I want her to excel and know that if I give up, I am only teaching her that it is okay to quit. I am so fortunate that I get to spend my final year at New Haven Ballet with her in the same classroom. I know that this year I am going to push myself to be even better because I am hopeful the Charlie will do the same.