Ballet Cd'A dances circles around the competition
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 11 years, 7 months AGO
<p>Isaac Sanders, Elliana Kirk (middle) and Chelsea Thronson pose for a photo in the Ballet Coeur d’Alene studio. The trio performed well during the Youth America Grand Prix in Seattle, which took place Jan. 9-11.</p>
<p>Ballet Coeur d’Alene student Chelsea Thronson prepares to enter the stage during the Youth America Grand Prix earlier this month.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Ballet Coeur d'Alene stunned this year's award ceremony at Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in Seattle from Jan. 9-11, earning major honors for every one of its competing students, along with best school, best teacher and best choreographer.
Even artistic director Brooke Nicholson was surprised, bouncing onstage 8 months pregnant to accept the accolades while the announcer asked for help pronouncing "Coeur d'Alene." This was Ballet Coeur d'Alene's first time at the competition, which included 124 teachers from 55 schools, some quite large, in cities in Canada, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In all, 681 students participated in the competition, which boasts the honor of the largest student scholarship competition in the world.
Klaire Mitchell and Elliana Kirk, two rising young stars of Ballet Coeur d'Alene, placed in the top 12 of hundreds in their respective divisions - junior classical variation and pre-competitive classical. They have been invited to a week of intensive dancing, which accompanies the international YAGP event. Klaire also placed in the top 12 in the junior contemporary solo category.
Ballet Coeur d'Alene's tour de force also included two students who will compete in the international finals in New York. Isaac Sanders won first place in the senior contemporary solo category and third place for senior classical variation. Though only 15, Isaac leapt and spun the title role in Ballet Coeur d'Alene's "The Nutcracker." Chelsea Thronson, 16, who will compete next month in the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, took second place in both senior contemporary solo and senior classical. Both Chelsea and Isaac were offered two of the three full scholarships offered as prizes to Houston Ballet School's Summer Intensive Training Program.
Best choreographer Melissa Hough, Nicholson's longtime friend and former colleague, worked with Coeur d'Alene students via Skype from Oslo, where she lives and dances with the Norwegian National Ballet, to plan and coach their contemporary pieces.