Ballet: keeping these three on their toes

Fine-tuning their arabesques, chasseing across the floor and practicing graceful turns are just a few moves that these three ballerinas have been executing throughout their dancing careers. From being a part of various high-level dance intensives throughout the United States during the summer and dancing up to 20 hours a week during the school year, sophomore Katie Waldvogel, junior Priyana Acharya and senior Sarah Mateer dedicate every moment they have to perfecting what they have grown to love over many years–the art of ballet.

Katie:

At the age of 3, sophomore Katie Waldvogel was signed up for her first ballet class at Dancenter North, located in Downtown Libertyville. As she got older, Waldvogel branched out to jazz and tap, changing her perception of dance.

Throughout her dance career, Waldvogel has participated in the “Magic of the Nutcracker” for eight years. As a freshman, Waldvogel had the honor of being the lead role, Clara. This winter, she will perform as Snow Queen or Beauty Rose.

Waldvogel has also attended a number of dance intensives throughout the United States. She has gone to one at the Boston Ballet School at Newton along with one at Joffrey, a professional ballet company located in Chicago, a few years ago. This summer, Waldvogel took part in the Joffrey International Dance Program and an intensive at the California American Ballet Theater

At Joffrey, a normal day would consist of about five and a half hours of dancing with some 15-minute breaks. The morning would kick off with technique and they had an hour for lunch. “It wasn’t too much that we couldn’t really handle…but it was still a lot of dancing,” exclaimed Waldvogel. In California, similar to Joffrey, she took four classes that were an hour and 45 minutes each.

With a rigorous dance schedule of hours on end for three weeks in California, to five weeks at Joffrey, Waldvogel was able to practice new techniques and grow as a dancer. Taking a character class and learning about what ballet meant to others was something that made these intensives that much more interesting, she said.

Her extensive schedule doesn’t stop there. Waldvogel takes upwards of around 14 hours of classes a week at Dancenter North. As a dedicated dancer, “it’s difficult sometimes to balance it with homework,” she explains. She tacks on more to her daily routine by being involved in Orchesis, the dance company at LHS.

“Katie is extremely dedicated to dance, and her commitment definitely shows. Her ability to balance all the aspects of her life and still thrive as an amazing dancer is a true testament to her drive to succeed,” Waldvogel’s older sister, Kelly Waldvogel, a Class of 2016 graduate, expressed in an interview over Facebook Messenger.

Dancing six days a week, Waldvogel has one free day, Friday. Saturday is her rehearsal day and Sunday is also a day filled with dance.

Through 13 years of dance, Waldvogel has grown to love the sport, and she hopes to continue participating in intensives to broaden her horizons and visit other dance companies.

Unsure if she will continue in college, all Waldvogel knows is that she would love to see what else is out there. Being a professional dancer was once a dream of hers, but now seeing the determination it takes, Waldvogel is unclear if that is something she really wants to pursue.

Priyana:

Ever since her mom signed her up for “Mommy & Me” dance classes at Dancenter North when she was just 2 years old, junior Priyana Acharya fell in love with dance and has continued on with jazz, contemporary, lyrical, and mainly ballet.

In her past 14 years of dance, Acharya has been a part of the “Magic of the Nutcracker” for eight years, in which she played the role of a Beauty Rose last year. She also participated in the Youth America Grand Prix, the largest international student dance competition, when she was 14, where she placed in the top 25 for classical dance, and performed on the local daytime talk show, “Windy City Live,” last year.

“Ever since I can remember, Priyana has been able to independently draw inspiration from her experiences and her passion for dance and convert them into beautiful artistic performances,” Acharya’s mom, Mrs. Vaishali Shah Acharya, stated in an interview through Facebook Messenger.

Acharya has also been a part of many intensives throughout the past years, emphasizing her dedication to dance.

When she was 13, Acharya attended the Milwaukee Ballet’s six-week intensive program. At 14, she went to the Bolshoi Ballet academy in Connecticut for six weeks. Bolshoi Ballet is one of the world’s oldest ballet companies; it comes from Russia to America yearly to train ballerinas from all around the United States. During the summer of 2015, Acharya received a scholarship to attend Bolshoi Ballet in New York, and this past summer, she participated in Joffrey Ballet’s International Summer Dance program for five weeks in Chicago.

While Acharya was at Joffrey over the summer, she was asked to be a part of their pre-professional program at their highest level, level 6, without an audition. She instantly took up the offer, stopped taking classes at Dancenter North, and has been attending Joffrey everyday since early September.

On an average day, Acharya will attend school until 1 p.m. because she has an early release and is excused from gym. She takes the 1:21 train from Lake Bluff to get to Union Station around 2:30 then walks about 20 minutes to Joffrey. Classes normally start between 4:30 and 5.

The dancers normally start with a technique class and then delve into practice variations, pointe, or repertoire. They’ll also have a contemporary class about twice a week. On most days, Acharya will take the 8:30 train home and get back around 10.

“I guess over the years I’ve been able to manage [school and dance] pretty well. It’s tough sometimes, [and] this year has definitely been different, I mean it’s junior year…it’s crazy hard,” Acharya expressed.

On Saturdays, Acharya has to be at Joffrey by 10 a.m. and is normally done with classes around 2 p.m. This year, Joffrey is performing a variation of the “Nutcracker Suite,” choreographed by contemporary ballet choreographer and Tony Award winner, Christopher Wheeldon. Acharya was one of the six who were selected for the “teen worker girl” part. She spends most Sundays rehearsing for the “Nutcracker” from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

As for the future, Acharya sees an ideal world, continuing with dance as well as her academic career. She hopes to join a dance company, while also attending night classes at a college.

Sarah:

Senior Sarah Mateer was signed up for her first “Mommy & Me” dance class at the age of 2.  Her mother hoped that this class would get her to appreciate dance the way she did for many years. Little did she know Mateer would fall in love with it.

In her career as a dancer, Mateer will have performed in the “Magic of the Nutcracker” 10 times. Performing as the Sugar Plum Fairy and a Diddly, this will be her second year in each of these roles. Mateer stated that performing in the same roles is “exciting because I get to change my variation.”

However, Mateer does not only dance at her studio. She has attended multiple intensives at Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, each lasting two weeks long. “That was a really local program which was great just to get a little bit of experience,” Mateer explained, while also stating that she was able to work with Michael Vernon, the head of the ballet department.

Mateer also attended intensives at Indiana University last summer for two weeks and Ballet Chicago later that same summer for two more weeks. These intensives are what introduced her to Balanchine, an expressive, musical oriented dance technique, and a newfound love for Mateer.  

This past summer, Mateer had the opportunity to go to Seattle for five weeks and work with Pacific Northwest Ballet. There, she danced from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-4 p.m. every Saturday. Having Sunday off lent time for the dancers to explore the city.

On her normal weekdays, Mateer dances from 6-9:45 p.m. Her classes during the week are filled with technique, jazz, and company rehearsals. Each weekend is taken up by ballet company rehearsals for the Nutcracker. Being in the LHS musical, Mateer’s schedule becomes even more packed, adding rehearsal from 3-6 p.m. every day of the week and on the weekend. Mateer often has to leave musical rehearsals early to make it to her normal dance classes and often misses the weekend musical rehearsals completely for the Nutcracker.

Balancing school and extracurriculars is a difficult task for most, but especially with a week as jam-packed as Mateer’s. “It can always be challenging to get my schoolwork done,” she expressed.

As for her future, Mateer plans to continue into college and join a dance company later. Her hope is to continue with ballet and find a school that also lets her perform other styles of dance, such as contemporary, modern, and jazz. One of Mateer’s dreams is to become a member of Pacific Northwest Ballet, the intensive she attended over the summer.

“I can honestly say that [watching her dance] makes me very proud to see how far her dedication to dance has taken her, and I can’t wait to see how far she will go,” Mateer’s brother, Austin Mateer, a Class of 2015 graduate, stated in an interview through Facebook Messenger.