ORLANDO, Fla. – Some local dancers recently took the stage performing for panelists from around the country at the Orlando Ballet RISE Symposium. RISE is a community enrichment program that partners with Performing Arts Dance Magnet Programs, helping to prepare students for careers in the performing arts.
Charmaine Hunter is Orlando Ballet’s director of Community Enrichment. She tells News 6 more than 200 students from Orange County Public Schools middle and high schools took part in the symposium. Dancers ranged in age from 10 to 20 years old.
“This is access to the arts who would normally not have access to various universities, professional contemporary companies, and ballet companies as well as ballet companies,” Hunter said. “We’re giving our young people the opportunity to audition for various companies. We have 24 different companies that are presented here today. So this is basically helping them carve out a path to their future.”
Students took part in master classes, including Afro-Fusion, and performed in a showcase.
Catherine Sistrunk is a dancer with Orlando Ballet’s Academy III. She was on hand to assist at the symposium. She tells News 6 she began ballet at 16, which is considered a late start. Now she’s starting with the English National Ballet next summer. She offers this advice for aspiring professionals.
“The biggest thing they look for is your love of dance. Every person I’ve ever talked to, directors, teachers have said that the number one thing to show is how much you love dance and your passion. Because if you can’t show that they don’t really care about anything else after that point,” she said. “If you don’t have the love, then it doesn’t matter how good you are. You can’t really portray that to the audience through a story and that’s the number one thing in dance.”
Hunter tells us the event was able to expand this year thanks to support from the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation.
“I am so excited for all of these students because this is the first time anything like this has ever happened in our area, particularly for our students. So to be able to bring all of these people here so our students can audition for them is just the best thing ever because when I was dancing we didn’t have this opportunity and I wish we would have,” Hunter said.
You can learn more about RISE here.
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