Next-level opportunity

A piano recording plays from a speaker in the center of the dance studio as a class of five ballet students lines up at the bar mounted to the wall at the Moscow Movement Arts Center.

After they’ve warmed their muscles, the dancers take positions along the blue masking tape on the floor. They are practicing their ballet for a show.

The students in Rachel Dodson’s ballet class meet three times a week for at least two hours at a time and the amount of time her students put into practicing is starting to pay off, as three of her students who applied to intensive summer programs have been accepted.

Jubalee Vandenbos, 14, of Moscow, has been doing ballet since August of 2018. She has been accepted into the Joffrey Ballet summer intensive program in San Francisco.

Grace Lee, 13, of Pullman, has been dancing since she was about 5 and enjoys performing. She was accepted into Ballet West Young Dancer and will be heading to Park City, Utah, this summer for a two-week program.

Nina Berkman, 14, of Moscow, was accepted by the Ballet West program in Salt Lake City. She has been dancing since she was about 3.

Summer intensives are weekslong programs, held over the summer months when local dance programs might slow down. Students in these programs have the chance to meet dancers from all over the world and work with professional dancers.

The programs are not easy to get into, Dodson said, and ballet company auditions don’t happen closer than a five- to six-hour drive from the Palouse, most often in Boise or Seattle.

Dodson said she had auditioned twice before she was accepted into a program when she was younger, and while getting in on your first audition isn’t unheard of, it is a mark of a good dancer.

“It requires an immense amount of bravery, and preparation both inside and outside of the classroom, and commitment by both dancers and families,” Dodson said.

Vandenbos and her mother made a five-hour drive to Seattle for her auditions. She said she first felt intimidated but when she got to her audition, everything worked out.

“I love performances we get to be in and I just love ballet because I’ve always loved dancing, and so I feel happy when I’m dancing,” Vandenbos said.

Lee and Berkman did video submissions for their auditions, which included a recording of them in a class session and photos of the dancers in different positions.

“(I like) the whole experience of performing and getting to be with other dancers and it not being like a competition sport,” Berkman said.

All three dancers agreed they are looking forward to making new friends and continuing their dance education.

Nelson can be reached at knelson@dnews.com.