Staying on pointe: Young dancers strive for professional careers | Arts & Culture

While many high school students might feel pressured to balance school, work and play, the boys and girls training to become professional dancers at Kirkland’s International School of Ballet are stretching more than their limbs as they train to join the best dancers in the world on stage.

A typical day for 16-year-old Rina Shimizu means class at Mercer Island High School from 8 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. and ballet rehearsal from noon to 6 p.m. To keep up with her studies, Rina takes her elective classes online.

“The hardest thing is to keep balancing school and dance so you have back-up options,” Rina says.

The routine can be stressful, but it’s all part of being in the International School of Ballet’s Professional Division.

The International School of Ballet was founded in 2001 by Vera Altunina, a ballet master from St. Petersburg, Russia who studied at the world-famous Vaganova Ballet School, where legends like George Balanchine and Mikhail Baryshnikov graduated.

“We have a reputation as one of the hardest schools but it’s definitely rewarding,” Altunina said. “Even if the (graduates) don’t continue careers as dancers they succeed so well in life. They become strong very, creative people.”

Each year, students are invited to audition for the International School of Ballet’s Professional Division, a 4-year program for dancer ages 14 to 18 who hope to dance professionally one day. Altunina looks for long-limbed, well proportioned bodies with good, arched instep, turn out and a light, strong jump.

When Rina got accepted into the program 2 years ago, she was thrilled. One day, she wants to join a professional company in Europe, Russia or Japan.

“I was really excited because it made me feel like someone believes in me and now I know where to start to reach my dreams.”

Despite the fact that she is a pretty, thin girl by anyone’s standards,18-year-old dancer Melanie Anderson, of Kirkland, was initially self-conscious about her body when she joined the International School of Ballet. But today, she dreams of becoming a professional modern dancer.

“Vera was willing to work with me even though I don’t have the best ballet body,” she said. “She could see I was willing to work on my technique. Now, I know if I work hard and I show that I love what I’m doing I can still make it.”

Altunina also considers the dancers’ mental state during auditions, because she knows the life of a professional dancer is difficult.  

“You have to train when you’re young because you have a very short period of time to perform. When you’re 40, you’re already retired.”

The professional programs strict training schedule aims to prepare the dancers for the professional lifestyle.

“Sometimes it can get a little overbearing but it’s usually very fun,” said Maxine McDade, a 14-year-old dancer from Bothell. “Miss Vera pushes you to make you work harder until you reach the next level.”

While it may not have the deep history and vast fundraising network of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the International School of Ballet has proved incredibly successful at getting its dancers into professional companies. Last year, 28 students graduated and today 14 are working as dancers, teachers or choreographers.

In 2007, International School of Ballet grad Miles Pertl was invited to join the Stuttgart Ballet Company in Germany. Pertl came from the Pacific Northwest Ballet because he felt the training was better and there were more performance opportunities with the Kirkland school.

In March of this year, former student Natalie Berry competed in the Youth America Grand Prix – the world's largest student ballet scholarship competition – in New York City. She received three full scholarship offers for The Rock School for Dance Education in Pennsylvania, The Harid Conservatory in Florida and Ballet West in Utah.

“It’s such a great community and the teachers have such a great attitude,” Rina says. “Everyone wants to work hard which makes you want to improve too!”

You can see students from the International School of Ballet perform “The Nutcracker” alongside professional Russian ballet dancers beginning tonight at Maydenbauer Center. Here's a preview of the fun, festive show: