IU ballet program helps students achieve dreams

Many children dream of becoming ballerinas as they dance in front of their bedroom mirrors in pink tutus and ballet slippers. For most of them, this dream amounts to only a happy memory as time goes on.\nBut some pursue their dream until it becomes a reality. IU is home to one of the finest ballet programs in the country. World-renowned dancers, such as Jacques and Virginia Cesbron, instruct ballerinas who desire to dance in the country's most famous companies. When dancers arrive here, they are challenged with an extremely rigorous schedule that demands early-morning classes and hours upon hours of ballet practice. \nIU's ballet program accepts only 15 students each year. Its reputation attracts dancers from all over the country, most of whom have been ballerinas the majority of their lives.\nSenior Amanda Callison has been dancing for 16 years. She was in last weekend's Spring Ballet production of "Daphnis et Chloe."\n"I had to wait several months before knowing that the dance department had accepted me," Callison said. "But there was no question about coming here when I got the call."\nA typical day for ballet students is very different from a day in the life of most other students at IU. Many students loathe the idea of an 8 a.m. class. After freshman year, they are generally avoided at all costs. Those majoring in ballet don't have any other option. They rise early in the morning and usually attend academic classes from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. Then they go to ballet technique classes until 1 p.m., enjoy a 30-minute lunch break, go to another ballet class until 2:30 and then attend rehearsals for upcoming performances until 5:45. Many of them also teach ballet classes and might not get home until late in the evening.\nBecky Erhart, a junior who performed in "Daphnis et Chloe," said her struggles to balance dance, schoolwork and her social life takes planning.\n"As far as schoolwork, I usually try to get ahead on the weekend when I am not dancing or else I use any breaks I have in rehearsals to get things done," she said. "Some of my closest friends are the people I dance with, so my time spent at ballet is also a social time."\nThough it is no easy task, these devoted students budget their time so, somehow, everything fits in.\n"Daphnis et Chloe," choreographed by the renowned dancer and choreographer Jacques Cesbron, was part of the spring repertoire for the ballet department. Cesbron has been an instructor at IU for 14 years. Before coming to IU, he danced with the Paris Opera Ballet and was an instructor for the Joffrey Ballet (now in Chicago) and the Dance Theater of Harlem. He was also awarded an Indiana Arts Commission Fellowship for Choreography for Carmina Burana.\nCesbron said he loves choreographing.\n"People know the music to many of the ballets," he said. "It is so wonderful to help them visualize it."\nHe said "Daphnis et Chloe" is a performance that many dance companies could not afford to produce. It requires an enormous orchestra, and the music is exceedingly difficult. He said IU is privileged to have access to such a gorgeous performing arts complex like the Musical Arts Center, as well as so many talented music students.\nAlmost all of the ballerinas will agree that the experience of dancing here has been worth it.\nAmanda Jesse, a senior performer in "Daphnis et Chloe," is one of them.\n"In a professional company," she said, "it would take years of understudying and waiting before I could perform what I get to dance here"