The Third Book In The Ballerina Girls Series
will be available in November 2012


BALLET SCHOOL  ( excerpt from the soon to be published 3rd book in the Ballerina Girls series.)

Reflection 31, page 43, Willow Riley's Reflections on the Ballerina Girls

There Is An Energy Here

There's such a history here.
These walls, filled with photos of those who have passed through before, retelling, remembering those times when the world was made a little bit better, if only for a moment, because those who walked their walk here - at the Classical Ballet Academy of Minnesota - danced upon the stage

There is such a sense of heritage here, of coming from somewhere. So many feet, tiny feet, year after year, bright eyed and smiling, have grown into their dreams here, have walked these halls in pursuit of that most fleeting of moments - Dance.

And the tears? Yes. The tears have taken their toll, have found quite a home here, befriending those:
     Who wanted to but could not,
     Who wanted more but did not,
     Who dared to dream and became.

So many dancers learning to dance, learning to unravel themselves into the moment,
     Tadpoles, fawns and insects
     Trying to find their legs,
     Bouncing from one wall to the other.

There is an energy here, the pulse of so many hearts beating as one together, ever moving, leaping, gliding, weaving - Together.

There are fears, but you will never forget the smiles. the mounting sense that something grand is about to happen as performance time nears, the hearts pounding with the belief that they can.

This old train depot, its turn of the century bricks, great colossal columns, 'in-need-of-paint' window frames and crumbling joints. has found its heart again, has come to life beneath the struggling feet of so many children learning to dance. It has become a heartbeat once more which demands to be seen.

What feet will skip through these doors in the years to come, once we are gone, only time will tell. What pictures will hang upon these walls remains to be seen. For now, this is a good place of raw, pure, excited energy, its large empty rooms always at the ready, waiting to embrace yet another herd of tiny feet.

BALLET SCHOOL

choreography: Andrew Rist
music:Robert E Hindel
costumes: Cheryl Rist
book: Andrew Rist


24th MN Dance Festival
May 4-6, 2012
Fitzgerald Theater, St Paul



2012 CAST

Chloe: Maggie Selner

Juliana: Julia Heggernes-Morrison

Guest Artists: Erin Warn, Ben Olsen

Ballerina Girls:
Kayla Assimacopoulus, Erin Chase, Gretchen Gerlach, Jordan Jankowski, Christina Smith, Janie Rist, Katlyn Newman, Kayla Peterson, Emma Connors, Isabel Meyer-Mueller, Karly Lunda, Clara Koneschka

Boys: Elijah Heggerenes, Nik Nelson

Jazz Dance: Kayleen Dennison, Meghan Bueschler, Bailey McKenzie, Margot Keeler, Amber Nguyen, Anne Marie Underwood, Keilah Ilinykh, Angelina Swanson, Francesca Halverson, Molly Mullen