"I just want to acknowledge how amazing my experience has been with Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education. I have been with Atlanta Ballet for five years and I feel as though those five years have really shaped me to feel comfortable and graceful in my technique. None of it, however, would have been possible without the Atlanta Ballet Alvin Ailey Dance Camp, then receiving the Decade 2 Dance scholarship to attend such an amazing and principal dance school. I appreciate all my teachers who were able to support and guide me through the years. From the B4 level when I first joined with Mrs. Shirley and started Pre-pointe, she helped and corrected my posture, my articulations, and the boldness of my arms, which was much harder to control than I thought. I want to thank Ms. Penny for her ways of teaching that excited me the most because she was the first teacher to introduce character dance and variations to me, of which I had not been accustomed. I want to thank Ms. Harmony, who offered me support in a way that I can’t even describe. I had her class for the C1 level and she pushed and pushed for my audition for Academy, and her belief in me and my skills in dance made me want to commit even more than I had in the beginning.
"My experience only grew stronger in its thrill and motivation to me once I was accepted into Academy. Rising from Academy 3 to Academy 5 meant I had to keep putting in more and more work, but that work felt like a breeze because my teachers made me love the art of dance even more because it made me feel like I was living my own nature. Even in the most rigorous combinations of Ms. Natalya’s, Ms. Serena’s, or Ms. Penny’s classes, I kept wanting to persist until I could master the combos. Mainly because it felt like I was on top of the world when I beat the challenge to move up to the next level. Atlanta Ballet has honestly made me feel at home, my dance mates became fast friends with me, and the warmth from dancing and laughing with them made me want to come back more and more.
"I plan to keep growing and developing in all aspects because greatness never ceases or stops. I will take all the knowledge and guidance that I have been offered and hone it in as I take my next steps into a new chapter in my life. I plan on attending Kennesaw State University in the fall with a major in architecture and a minor in dance. I want to thank Atlanta Ballet and its Alvin Ailey Dance Camp for all the opportunities that they provided me."
