Success of gradutes inspires ballet students

Regarded as one of the top schools in the nation for ballet, IU regularly competes with other outstanding schools, such as Julliard, for the nation's top ballet students and programs. \nLike Julliard, the IU Ballet Theater has sent its graduates to some of the best professional theater companies in the country -- alumnae Dori Goldstein, Sarah Smith, and Sarah Roth are now with the Washington, American and Boston ballet theaters, respectively. According to IU's Web site, the ballet department is the youngest department in the School of Music, but its placement rate is near 100 percent. The success of the ballerina majors at IU have made the program sought after among potential ballet students.Though becoming a professional ballerina can be a hard to win award, it does not stop ballet majors at IU from pursuing their dreams. \nThe IU ballet program has state-of-the-art facilities including a dance therapy area designed exclusively for ballet dancers along with prevention and care of dance-related injuries integrated into the program. Dancers are also provided a fully- equipped pilates studio with instruction by a pilates-trained staff.\nAllison Debona, a sophomore majoring in ballet performance, ended her application process after she was accepted by the IU Ballet Theater.\n"This is the best ballet school in the country," DeBona said.\nMegan Dickinson, a sophomore majoring in ballet performance, aspires to continue the trend of IU ballet students who decide to dance professionally.\n"I would love to dance with the Boston Ballet Theatre," Dickinson said.\nHowever, the transition from amateur dancer to professional is not without its sacrifices. The typical day for a ballet student is very demanding.\n"The typical day for us is very busy," Dickinson said. "From 8 to 11 a.m. we have classes like everyone else, and from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. we work on ballet."\nDebona also stressed the impact of such a rigorous schedule and the effect it has on a typical college social life. \n"We put a lot of work into this," Debona said. "We work so hard that sometimes we're too tired to go out on the weekends. People really don't know how tough it is."\nBallet students may work hard, but they seem to enjoy the atmosphere of the school. According to Doricha Sales, the director of the pre-college program, the freshman class for 2003-2004 school year was about 17 students, this gives ballet students an opportunity to build a more close-knit community than most students in other academic programs.\n"Everyone knows one another here," Dickinson said.\nThe IU Ballet Theater has performed several times over the past few years. The more recent performances include pieces performed to classical composers such as Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky. On March 26 and 27 the IU Ballet Theater performed three works to the music of Tchaikovsky before an audience at the Musical Arts Center. \nGraduate student Rachel Clark attended the performance and enjoyed the show.\n"The quality of the performance shows the diligence and talent of the IU ballet students," Clark said.\nAnother challenge current ballet students face as they transition from an amateur to a professional dancer is the disparity in the number of shows the ballet company performs each season.\n"Professional dancers perform about 40 shows each season, while we only do about eight," Dickinson said.\nBoth Dickinson and Debona also emphasized being a professional dancer is similar to the experience of an actress who is just beginning her acting career.\n"Professional dancers don't make as much money early in their careers," Debona said. "That's why some need to get a part-time job."\nDespite the challenges they will face, many of the current ballet students still hope to dance professionally. And the IU Ballet Theater will do all it can to make their dreams come true.\n-- Contact staff writer Josh Hamm at jodhamm@indiana.edu.