Dance Scholarship Recipients. (Left to Right) - Back row: Anna Jankowski, Evangeline Bulick, Sophia Olechowski, Alexandra Nicolaus, Ava DuBoff; Middle row: Abigail Becker, Iris Weidmann, Tara Sweeney; Front row: Iris Yang, Cameron McKay, Ellery DuBoff, Iliana Swits; Not pictured: Annalise Marron. Photo by SuperSource Media, LLC.
Tears welled up in Abigail Becker’s eyes when she got the letter. Her application was approved. She’d been chosen to receive a scholarship from the School of the Arts (SOA) at the National Museum of Dance.
Hard Work Rewarded
The opera house was just five minutes from where Abigail was born in the Ukraine. She started ballet classes at just 3 ½ years old but the teachers were serious and rough on her, said her mother Tetyana Becker.
Then, in 2012, the family moved to the United States.
“Her life was already filled with ballet but here she fell more in love. American schools are so much more fun and her teacher was like a fairy to her,” said Tetyana.
In addition to taking lessons four days a week, Abigail has participated in the Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive training sessions and performed at the SPAC Ballet Gala this summer.
The SOA scholarship will allow her to add another point class to her schedule.
“It was a little expensive for us, so this is a big financial help in this regard. She wants to take ballet classes every day because that’s her life – it’s her world,” said Tetyana.
Abigail has two dreams: to dance in the New York City Ballet and to become a doctor.
“She’s just working hard at school and working hard at dance. So far, we are really happy. We really appreciate and we really welcome this opportunity. She’s really happy,” said Tetyana.
Making Magic Happen
Watching the PBS television series “Angelina Ballerina” inspired Emeline Hong’s interest in ballet. She begged her parents to let her begin taking classes. When she was four years old, her family (which includes four older brothers) moved to America from France, where she was born.
The following year, Emeline started taking ballet at SOA.
“She really likes her teacher. She gave her some really nice advice about the school, dance and about the life,” said her mother, Isabelle Prak.
At six, she became an understudy with the New York City Ballet, and now, at nine years old, she is the youngest dancer in the school to be awarded a scholarship.
Emeline is enchanted by the beauty and grace of dancers.
“She’s a fancy girl, a real lady although she’s only nine,” said Prak.
In her application, Emeline wrote about how inspiring watching the movie “Leap!” was for her. It is the story of a young girl who hopes to go to Paris and become a dancer.
“That is definitely my dream!” she writes.
“At home she dances all the time, she is the one who can't stay in one place even while eating! It is natural for her to always move. When she dances a magical thing happens,” said Prak.
Dedicated to Dance
Now a high school sophomore, Anna Jankowski has been dancing since preschool.
“She dances six days a week and wouldn't do anything else with her time,” said her mother, Lisa Jankowski.
For the last few years, she has been spending her summers in intensive training locally and last year added six-weeks of dancing in Boston to her schedule. The recognition of her hard work in the form of a SOA scholarship helps to further her goal of continuing to dance as much as she can and to one day be accepted into a company while also pursuing a college education.
“She is disciplined and dedicated. She was thrilled to receive the award since it allows her to take more classes!” said Lisa.
New Opportunities
This is the first year that the SOA Board of Directors reviewed scholarship applications in an official process based on an individual dancer’s passion and merit. The National Museum of Dance School of the Arts Dance Education Scholarship Program awarded 13 scholarships to a variety of dancers in order to promote students' disciplined study of high-quality dance instruction.
The program was an important addition to the other work that Laura DiRado, the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame’s new director, has been doing throughout the year.
“It provides a wonderful opportunity for our dancers to take classes they might not otherwise explore,” said DiRado.
While the School of the Arts does concentrate on high-quality ballet instruction, DiRado has also focused on expanding class offerings to include a large variety of disciplines. Hip Hop and Kung Fu for Dancers have just recently joined the program alongside the more traditional ballet, tap, jazz, modern, contemporary, Irish step, and Middle Eastern dance instruction, in addition to yoga and aerial yoga.
“We’re so excited to offer a wider selection of classes this year and plan to continue to expand as we move forward,” she said.
Unique Atmosphere
Laura DiRado started at the museum five years ago, was named Interim Director in September 2017 and Director in December 2017. The museum, a national historic landmark, is located in the elegant former Washington Bathhouse building within the beautiful Saratoga Spa State Park.
“We offer amazing programming in this gorgeous and inspiring space,” said DiRado.
As a living museum, having an affiliated dance school was part of the original vision. In this unique atmosphere, encouragement from the school’s 20 instructors helps its 200 students to blossom.
Students dance in the school’s annual Showcase and their renowned holiday performance of the Nutcracker, and make special appearances in Saratoga ArtsFest celebrations, the SPAC Ballet Gala, and other events throughout the area.
“The National Museum of Dance aims to celebrate, develop, and promote a lasting appreciation and understanding of dance. Our scholarship program is critical to this goal,” said DiRado.
Registration for classes is ongoing.
“We’ve added several new classes, so if you haven’t taken dance or yoga, come try one. It’s a lot of fun,” she said.
For more information, go online to dancemuseum.org/school.
