New Year, New Classes, New Performances!

Our All- Youth production of The Nutcracker, performed by Scripps Ballet Theatre and dancers from the Academy was a wonderful success and was enjoyed by over 2,000 audience members this past season!

In true Scripps Performing Arts Academy fashion, where we recognize the value and importance of performance in any young thespians life, we're moving right from the Nutcracker into our Spring season.  This year that includes our 6th annual American Girl Fashion Show, the Scripps Ballet Theatre's 3rd annual Ballet in the Box performances, School House Rock Live, Jr., Creativity en Tap, our 1st annual Tap AND Jazz show, and our original All-School performance of Thumbelina!

And January marked the beginning of our fantastic partnership with [the] movement initiative, bringing Adult Fitness Classes to our Torrey Hills studios!

Nadia, 15, at the Scripps Performing Arts Academy Intermediate Intensive Program

 Towards the end of the school year I saw an invitation to the Intermediate Intensive at Scripps Performing Arts Academy.  I became so happy and started counting down the days until it started. Until then, I took open classes in July to keep up my technique throughout the summer.  The last day of open classes, I was told that I would have the wonderful opportunity to attend the Pre- Professional Intensive for the first week. After I was told this news my excitement went out the window.

Nadia working on her own choreography in Contemporary Class

At the Pre- Professional Intensive I had the chance to work with Amanda Kofsky, Ryan Beck, and Miah Nwosu. Each teacher inspired me to do better, and to be better. I grew so much in just that one week. I don’t think I had ever been so sore before. Ms. Kofsky taught us ballet and contemporary, during ballet we incorporated floor barre which really helped me with my turnout and helped with placement. We also had the chance to do our own choreography, which was something that I never thought I could do. With Mr. Beck we focused on jumps and turns, he also helped me a lot with placing the head and arms in the proper place to make the movement gorgeous. We did pre- pointe with Ms. Miah and by the end of the week I could feel a difference. Being in the Pre- Professional Intensive for only one week helped me to improve so much.

Nadia in Ballet Class during the Intermediate Program

Thankfully I had the weekend to let my body rest after the first week and then I was off to the Intermediate Intensive. Our instructors were Robyn Shifren, Teresa Wells, Caryn Glass, Miah Nwosu, Lori Katz, and Audrey Bondoc. In these two weeks we had Ballet, Yoga, Pilates, Modern, Pre- Pointe, Jazz, and Choreography. I was glad to be doing this intensive because I got to work on the little things and trying to perfect movements. Yoga was a fun class for me because all though a lot of the movements were familiar to me it was nice to be able to relax and focus on how I was moving and my breath. I would have to say that my favorite class overall would have to have been jazz because it something so familiar and comes the movements come very naturally to me. Unfortunately, I was unable to do the performance at the end of the intensive, but I did learn all of the dances and they were amazing and I was very happy to have learned them. I will always remember those three weeks of my summer, and they were by far the best weeks and I was happy to spend them with all of my closest friends, the best teachers and at the perfect studio.

Kaylee, 14, at The Scripps Performing Arts Academy Pre-Professional Intensive Week #2

Kaylee in Technique Class with Ms. Brik

Ah, summer. The time in which our rigorous dance schedules are no longer challenged by equally demanding schoolwork. This year, I chose to spend this precious time at the Scripps Performing Arts Academy Pre Professional Summer Intensive as a means of improving both technically and artistically.

We began each day at 9:30am with a ballet class and a pointe class immediately following. 

Taught by talented guest teachers such as Talin Kenar and Brik Middlekauf, these classes provided wonderful opportunities to gain strength and additional technical insight through helpful corrections. In a daily variations class after lunch taught by Talin Kenar, we learned many challenging yet fun solos from several well known ballets. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, a pilates class came next. Instructor Stephanie Harvey gave us a great workout while emphasizing proper body placement and bodily awareness. She was sensitive to our bodily needs in terms of soreness and incorporated beneficial stretches into the class. 

Kaylee in Modern with Ms. Angela

Acting for Dancers and Musical Theatre classes, instructed by Sarah Hunter and Lorie Katz, also took place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Exploring the many methods of conveying countless emotions through fun acting games has been different, interesting, and enjoyable. While a bit embarrassing to execute for a shy individual like me, these exercises helped me to express myself more efficiently and comfortably while dancing. Additionally, the activities aided the development of my improvisation skills. 

Tuesdays and Thursdays consisted of modern and jazz classes after our daily ballet, pointe, and variations sessions. Modern class, taught by our very own Executive Director Angela Amoroso, stretched my body and mind in a unique yet beneficial way. It was very special to study with Ms. Angela, and her class ultimately increased my versatility as a dancer. Caryn Glass taught jazz class, which has also helped me think outside the box, work different muscles, and move in a variety of ways. Level A1, the upper level, ended each day at 5:30pm with the exception of Tuesdays and Thursdays, which came to an end at 5:15pm. Level A2 ended at 5:00pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and a bit earlier at 3:45pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  

Kaylee at the Beach

It is now the end of my first week participating, and the second week of the program. While working hard to strengthen technique and build muscle, I have also experienced the pure joy of dancing. It has truly been a blessing to learn alongside such amazing and kindhearted dancers as well, creating happy memories and concluding the week with a beach trip together. Looking back on this week, I feel as though I have become a better dancer already, while thoroughly enjoying the process. Just that thought excites me for next week and the awesome years of training to come!  

Oh Nutcracker...

...how quickly it sweeps us all up! As out last post was just three days prior to our first Nutcracker audition, I think it's pretty clear that we've all been bustling about in the whirlwind that is The Nutty season!

Our ballet students have spent the last four months preparing for our 23rd annual full length performance of The Nutcracker. Spend long days and nights in rehearsal, all while maintaining their academics and attending regular technique class.

 

Our musical theatre students have been busily working on The Best of Fiddler on the Roof, to be performed in January and The Little Dickens Holiday Chorus which will perform this weekend before The Nutcracker Holiday Teas at The Grand Del Mar.  

Our jazz and tap students (most of which are also ballet students) have been working on technique in class, and some, preparing for the Tap Show, Peter Pan, which will officially begin in January. 

With a special performance of our Nutcracker schedule to be performed by Scripps Ballet Theatre at Ronald McDonald House and our Winter Audition Preparation Workshop beginning December 26th, it'll be a whirlwind of a year, right up to the end of it!

Skylar, 13, at The Scripps Performing Arts Academy Pre-Professional Intensive

Skylar in Ballet Technique Class during Week 1

This summer I had an opportunity to dance my way through the SPAA summer intensive. My experience was absolutely perfect and involved training from experts from around the nation such as Michael Fothergill, Brik Middlekauf, Robyn Shifren, Jenny Gilmore, Khamla Somphanh, Audrey Bondoc and one of my great inspirations, Miah Nwosu!

        

In each class, I learned and grew from corrections that helped to build my core strength, technique, Pointe work, jazz, modern, character, choreography and ballet. I am also getting combinations down faster, and built muscle strength each week with hard work and determination.

        

The first week was 9:00-3:00 to help us get ready for the next 2 intense weeks. It was based on ballet and pointe with Michael Fothergill, Miah Nwosu, Robyn Shifren and Jenny Gilmore. Through the first week my technique as a dancer grew while paying attention to my placement, foot work, etc. When the week was done I was exhausted and sore, but that shows how much I grew in just one week.

Character Class with Artour Bajanov, Bolshoi Ballet

The second and third week was great! I was there from 9:00-5:00. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday consisted of ballet, pointe, choreography, character and Pilates. These days were definitely full with plenty to do and many opportunities for growth. Tuesday and Thursday was ballet, pointe, choreography, jazz, modern, and stretch class. This was my favorite day because it included not only ballet but also jazz and modern!

This Summer Intensive I really bonded with all of the other dancers. Before this experience I was still great friends with all of them but I think this intensive brought us all together even more! So much so that at the end of the 3 weeks we all got together had a beach day and a sleepover, what a blast!

        

Skylar during Showcase Performance

On the last day of the intensive we had an amazing performance showcasing our talent within the dances we learned in intensives.  Every seat was filled with parents, siblings, teachers, friends and even people who just wanted to see our growth. The performance was amazing and I felt like I grew so much. With the help of the amazing instructors they fulfilled my dream of becoming a stronger and better dancer.

Even though I was sore, my toenails bruised, toes blistered, and had to use Ora-gel to numb my big toes, each morning I woke up excited to take on the day filled with dance and more opportunities to become even stronger!

Vivian at The Scripps Performing Arts Academy Pre-Professional Program

Vivian in a Technique Class During Week

Of all the ways to fill a summer day, dancing until every inch of my body aches is among my all-time favorites. Thanks to our SPAA intensives right here in San Diego, I've had the opportunity to do that for three, going on four, summers. It's always been a fantastic experience for technical and artistic improvement, as well as just having fun! This year is no exception.

The intensive started two weeks ago, with a technique class taught by Michael Fothergill, whom we had never met. At first, his combinations seemed really tricky and I could never seem to remember them or get them quite right. But right from plies, his combinations proved to be a lot of fun. By the time technique and pointe class were over, I was pretty close to exhausted. (Though I can probably attribute that to taking only a handful of classes in July and letting myself get a little out of shape!)
The exceptionally long adagios-- which include a fair amount of turns and quick movements as well as the usual, indulgently slow developpes and promenades-- are the highlight of Michael's classes. I also love that we nearly always finish off class with a zig-zag grande allegro! It's such an invigorating way to end. My absolute favorite thing about having Michael as a guest teacher is that he comes from a Balanchine background. This makes class fairly different, but it also means that we get the opportunity to learn some Balanchine choreography (a snippet from Symphony in Three Movements) as well as Michael's own Balanchine-influenced choreography. Both are an incredible amount of fun to perform, because the movements can be so exaggerated and dynamic!

Vivian in Variations/Rep. Class

In addition to Michael, we also have Brik Middlekauf as a guest teacher. So far, I've only gotten to take two of her technique classes, but both of them have been good opportunities to improve and gain new insight. Robyn Shifren also taught one of the classes in the first week-- it was a pretty challenging class, and Robyn gave a lot of helpful corrections (both individual and general). Jenny Gilmore taught class last Saturday and this morning. The first week, Saturday was a conditioning class with ballet barre immediately following. That really made my muscles sore! Our class with Jenny the second week was one of my favorites of the intensive thus far. We did an allegro combination that included what I think to be the most fun and exciting step in the ballet vocabulary (a sissone croise), and even revived a great piece of choreography that Jenny made earlier in the year during a Friday evening class.

Outside of ballet, I've also enjoyed taking Horton modern classes with Khamla Somphanh and jazz with Audrey Bondoc. We met Khamla at last year's intensive and really liked her style of modern technique, so all of us were looking forward to taking more classes with her this summer! Though modern class is tough, includes some awkward movements, and uses muscles that I'm really not used to working, it's a fun experience to try out new ways of moving. Jazz class with Audrey has also been a good opportunity to move differently than I do in ballet technique class, the way body is accustomed to move. I'm learning about letting go and putting more passion into my dancing, while also working on my technique with things like triple turns, fouettes, and barrels.

And of course it hasn't all been just learning and hard work-- though there's definitely been a significant amount of both! This year's intensive has also been full of memories and shared experiances with the amazing girls at the studio. We play children's board games, walk to Trader Joe's, reminisce about Nutcracker, and just have a great time together laughing and hanging out before and in between our classes.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this year's summer intensive at SPAA, and looking forward to the third and final week. Hopefully the years to come will be equally, exhaustingly fun!