Prestigious ballet program prepares students for dancing professionally

While other students are studying in the library, sophomore Grace Reeves is practicing her dance technique and reviewing for her next variation. Every day she pulls on tights and a leotard and walks to the Musical Arts Center for hours of rehersal.

Reeves is a ballet major at IU, which hosts one of the most prestigious ballet programs in the country, said Michael Vernon, chair of the ballet program at IU. In the future, Reeves may be a member of a company. First, though, she must be successful at IU and improve the skills needed to become a ballerina.

Even to get into the program, a dancer must stand out from the crowd as someone who has potential and the ability to succeed in such a competitive field.
Vernon said he looks for potential rather than strictly technical ability.

“We don’t always look for dancers with finished technique,” Vernon said.

The program accepts about 10 percent of those who audition, accepting about 20 dancers this year, he said.

Vernon and a committee of full-time faculty members look for prospects who show promise. Dancers must have a certain confidence and carriage indicating a good natural ability, he said. They must also have a quick mind in the audition so they can remember the combinations and perform them with accuracy.

In the future, Vernon said he hopes the dancers will find jobs in some kind of company. Some of the dancers will fit into a contemporary program, while others will find their place in a more classical setting, he said. Some dancers will fit into a small company and others into a large company. He would like to match each dancer with a choreographer from a company that fits the dancer’s style.

“There is such a high standard to be in the ballet program,” Vernon said.

He said the number of jobs available in a ballet company fluctuates, and many dancers will wait for the best job they can get. “We take dancers who look and seem as though they have the ability to be professional dancers,” he said of IU’s program.

The students have varying expectations for their futures, but all hope to continue dancing. Students said they hope their training at IU will prepare them for the future.
“I want to do it all,” sophomore Carly Brown said.

Others have more specific objectives.

“I want to dance in Germany or anywhere in Europe,” sophomore Paul Dandridge said.
The students must participate in dance classes, but they also must meet academic standards by taking classes in the music school. The students have ballet classes sandwiched between their academic pursuits. The program challenges the dancers academically as well as on a performance level.

“I go to a morning class or two, and then I dance until 5:45 every day,” Dandridge said.
Lauren Collier, who recently graduated from the program, said many freshmen begin the program to figure out whether it is something they want to stick with.

“The challenge is if you are not catching up, you are just keeping up,” she said.
The ballet program is run like a professional company. Some of the students come from small studios; as such, the transition can be daunting. They also perform more than 15 times a year, including the spring and fall ballets, the annual productions of “The Nutcracker,” and performances with the IU Opera program, Vernon said.

“I think of all the ballet schools out there, Indiana has the best repertoire. Come performance time, it’s probably the best all-around,” Dandridge said.