Small town, big achievments

By DAVE GUNTER

Feature correspondent

SANDPOINT — Dancers tend to dream big. How else can you explain the fact that they are willing to spend countless hours perfecting their skills, only to enter a field of the arts with a reputation for being one of the most competitive of all?

On a recent visit to Sandpoint’s Studio 1 Dance Academy, that passion was in full view, as leotard-clad toddlers took some of their very first, rhythmic steps in a small rehearsal room on one side of the rambling building. Farther back in the studio, about a dozen girls warmed up at the barre, monitoring their posture in mirrors as they waited for another class to begin.

And assembled in a break area situated in the middle of those two dance spaces, a group of dancers ages 11-18 made ready to share personal examples of why lofty dreams, combined with hard work, can pay big dividends.

Some of them wore tights and leotards, others sported jeans and sweatshirts, but all had pleased expressions as they shared news of the elite dance camps and, in one case, highly regarded art colleges that had accepted them as students.

The names they rattled off might be lost on those who don’t move in dance-related circles. For those who do, it was a roster that included some very big players, including Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Master Ballet Academy, Eisenhower Dance Detroit, ArtÉmotion in Cleveland and the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.

“I tried out for a Joffrey summer intensive and got into the pre-professional school with them,” said 14-year-old Amanda Steiner. “I told my mom, ‘Don’t worry — I won’t get picked.’ But I did.”

Greeted with a huge turnout of other applicants for the famed dance organization, Amanda couldn’t help but notice that the other dancers seemed to have an edge in both age and experience.

“I was the youngest person there,” she said. “But people were really nice to me. I expected them to be super mean.”

Along with a summer intensive in the Joffrey jazz dance program in Los Angeles, she also was accepted to take part in a term at the pre-professional school. Having survived the insane level of competition it took to get that nod, she now is working to raise the $40,000 needed to pay for the training.

While we’re on the topic of training, 18-year-old Sara Savage took that discipline very seriously when she planned a year away from academic subjects after graduating from Sandpoint High School to focus exclusively on dance. Two years ago, she attended a summer dance intensive at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and felt, even then, that attending the private art college was within reach.

“But I knew I had to train more — I didn’t feel like I was ready yet,” she said of the decision to spend the post-graduation year in the studio.

With modern and jazz styles as her strong suits, Sara arrived at the auditions to find about 30 other skilled dancers vying for acceptance at Cornish.

“I had to think about it as just a regular dance class,” she said. “If I thought of it as an audition, I’d be too nervous.”

Her mental preparation paid off, as the private college not only accepted her, but also gave her a full scholarship for all four years of schooling.

Sara’s younger sister, Megan, has been dancing since she was 6 years old. Now 11, she, too, had a success story to share about what the summer has in store.

“I auditioned for the American Ballet Theater in New York and the Master Ballet Academy in Arizona,” she said. “And I got into both of them.”

Altogether flattering on one hand, the acknowledgment presented a dilemma, since the young dancer was forced to choose between the two. In the end, it came down to where some of her favorite dancers were to be found, as she had been following several Master Ballet Academy students on Instagram for some time and ended up going in that direction.

Her immediate interest is in lyrical ballet — an amalgam of jazz and ballet styles — and her long-term goal is to follow her dream all the way to the top.

“I want to be a professional dancer in a professional company,” Megan stated plainly. “Probably either American Ballet Theater or Pacific Northwest Ballet.”

Arriving a little later — but no less excited — to the conversation were teenagers Alannah Kees and April Radford. Alannah will be attending the summer program at Eisenhower Dance Detroit, which concentrates on contemporary ballet, jazz and hip-hop. Her video audition paid off with an invitation to train in those styles. At less than two minutes in length, the footage of her showing her stuff was scrutinized extensively by the young dancer before she sent it off.

“I watched it many, many times,” said Alannah. “You have to look professional — leotards and tights with no rips and your hair up in a nice bun.”

April, meanwhile, also will be spending part of her summer in the Midwest, as she travels to Cleveland for intensive training in contemporary ballet at ArtÉmotion.

“It was really kind of an accident,” she said, explaining that she originally had gone to Missoula, Mont., to audition for Ballet West in Salt Lake City and found herself in a combined audition that included judges from the Cleveland dance company.

“I got accepted for ArtÉmotion and I didn’t even know what it was until I did some research,” she added. “I just got lucky, because it turned out to be my favorite summer program I ever looked into.”

“Luck” is not a word that dance instructor Laurie Buck would likely use in describing what these young ladies have accomplished. Instead, she lists qualities such as motivation, discipline, work and training. As the owner of Studio 1 for the past 35 years, she has seen previous students go on to realize careers in the dance world.

“During that time, I have had the honor of seeing some of my former students become professional dancers, own their own studios, get on the dance teams at universities and become part of teams like the Seattle Seahawks and the Spokane Shock,” she said. “I have had the privilege of watching my students get chosen out of hundreds of girls auditioning for special programs.

“Last year, we had three girls attend the Joffrey camp,” the dance instructor went on. “I was very surprised and pleased, because I didn’t realize our level of dancing could compete with students from larger cities with many instructors in their dance schools. I don’t think most people understand what goes into our students’ training programs.

“When they are recognized by professional schools and get into these elite camps, it shows that, even in a small town like ours, you can develop skilled dancers that can be accepted at the level of a much bigger school.”