Congratulations to the following students for receiving Robin Awards over the past three weeks! Keep up the good work!
Marie Bougher (2)
Amelia Brinker
Lauren Dini
Paige Hazelett (2)
Chloe Heaton (4)
Grace Klimek
Olivia Kruse (2)
Hailey Meert
Allie Paton (3)
Shannon Phillips (2)
Hollie Rudolph
Sydney Serban (2)
Marnee Shaffer
Morgan Shumaker (2)
Kramer Snead (2)
Schyler Straessle (3)
Julia Vergon (3)
Rachel Ward (2)
By: Megan Dini
Wolfie Bischoff felt his second year at NAYB was a success. As a Stage Three dancer, Wolfie has improved greatly in a short period of time. He also looks forward to what the future has in store. During the year, Wolfie enjoyed learning and performing his part in The Secret Garden. He also loved taking men’s class with Mr. Moffat. Due to his hard work, he was able to better his turn out, extension, and double tours throughout the year. Wolfie will be attending PNB’s summer intensive where he received a half scholarship. He hopes to improve in all of his technique while he is away and is excited to be going to a new intensive. In the future, Wolfie hopes to grow as a dancer so he can move up into Stage Four and perform lead roles in future ballets. He wants to master his double posse tours and eventually join a top company. We congratulate Wolfie on his achievements and look forward to seeing where he ends up!
By: Catherine Cummiskey
The Stage One dancer spotlight is Jayda Hazelett. She is ten years old and has been dancing here for one year. She is very happy about how this year has gone and feels like she learned a lot this year from her classes with Mrs. McLeish. Jayda is excited to continue her learning at NAYB this summer and in future years.
By: Shannon Phillips
The dancer spotlight for Stage Two is Alexis Eicher. Alexis is thirteen years old and this is her first year at NAYB. She was felt like this year has been a success by improving tremendously. She is most looking forward to learning exciting new pieces and improving her dancing even more. This summer she will be dancing here at NAYB and going to see as many ballet performances as she can.
By: Shannon Phillips
Schyler Straessle is a sophomore this year in stage 4 of the conservatory program. She is looking forward to performing in the Mazurka piece for the Spring Concert because it is a piece that she has not yet performed. This summer, Schyler is attending Carlina Ballet’s summer intensive for 5 weeks. She is very excited about attending because she received a scholarship for the program. Next school year, she is looking forward to Nutcracker casting. Being a junior next year, Schyler is anxiously waiting to find out the casting. She can’t wait to hear what else we are performing during the next school year as well.
By: Grace Klimek
Last week I had the chance to interview Mrs. Smith about her plans to move into a new home. The story began at the Fall Ball. Mrs. Smith was speaking with Mrs. Bly who was hosting an event for a charitable organization The Silence of Mary. Although Mrs. Bly could not attend the event due to a death in her family, Mrs. Smith attended the event and ended up volunteering and washed dished for about four hours. The Directors of the organization saw that Mrs. Smith was hard worker and asked her if she would be interested in moving into a home that would be a Pilot home in Ft.Wayne.
Mrs. Smith and her family will be moving sometime in June when their current lease is up. When they move into The Silence of Mary house located on the Southwest side of Fort Wayne, they will responsible to run the home that is an outreach for the homeless and poor. They will have food and hygiene packages available for those in need.
They will also grow food in a garden to help with the food supply.
Congratulations to Mrs. Smith on her new home! And Happy Gardening!
If you would like to learn more about the Silence of Mary organization please check out their website @ www.thesilenceofmary.org
By: Hailey Meert
Congratulations to everyone who earned a ROBIN award during the month of January and the beginning of February! The students that recieved an award are Olivia Kruse, Sydney Serban, Sierra Serban, Morgan Shumaker, Ambrosia Hauser, Chloe Heaton and Allie Paton. Continue making the effort to help the school and those around you! Great job everyone!
By: Ambrosia Hauser
Sometimes auditions can be kind of daunting and can make you really nervous. But once you know what to expect from an audition they are a lot fun and can be great learning experiences. The number one thing to keep in mind is to just have fun and do your best.
Make sure that in preparation for your audition you have every thing you need. Make sure that before you leave for the audition you have all shoes and anything else you will need for your audition, like pictures or resumes. Before leaving you might want to check the website of the school that you are auditioning for to make sure you bring everything that is needed.
Many times audition sites are out of the Fort Wayne area. They are normally in places like Chicago or Indianapolis, and therefore take awhile to get to. You want to make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to get to your audition in case of complications. Another good idea is to arrive at your audition at least a half hour before your audition is scheduled to start. This will give you time to stretch and get signed in.
A lot of the time the audition atmosphere can be kind of intimidating, from the different teacher to the super flexible girls and everything in between. I have noticed that while warming up some girls will try to scare the others there by doing crazy stretches or showing off their best moves. Try not to focus on these girls, and just focus on yourself and what you can do. Another thing that is kind of nerve raking about auditions is the class itself. Sometimes the style is not quite the same as what you are trained in or the auditioner is trying to push your limits with confusing or hard combinations. When this happens don’t let it get to your head, really pay attention to what the teacher is showing and try to do exactly what they are asking for.
Overall just have a great time. If you are having fun and smiling then the auditioner will notice. Its better to have a pleasant clam look on your face that looks like you enjoy ballet than a face that is seared to death. Have a great audition season everyone and best of luck!
By: Hailey Meert
The Friday before break was the upper school’s formal dance. It was a huge success! Everybody danced the night away to their favorite songs. The Masquerade Ball theme was beautiful and the masks that were made were so elaborate and stunning. This year we had an amazing selection of delicious desserts, featuring an enormous chocolate fountain. Everybody had great time and good luck to the formal committee next year!
By: Shannon Phillips
Congratulations to everybody that received a ROBIN Award for December and beginning of January! The students that received ROBIN’s were Wolfie Bischoff, Marie Bougher, Amelia Brinker, Catherine Cummiskey, Lauren Dini, Hannah Dorion, Chloe Heaton, Brandon Hensel, Grace Klimek, Olivia Kruse, Jordan Myers, Allie Paton, Shannon Phillips, Bailey Riggs, Destanie Rogers, Sierra Serban, Sydney Serban, Morgan Shumaker, Kramer Snead, Julia Vergon, Rachel Ward, and Sarah Witchey. Many of these people received more than one award and have really gone above and beyond what is asked of them. Great job and keep up the great work!
By: Shannon Phillips
Conservatory Footnotes 