Hi everyone, My name is Daya and I live in Morgantown, WV. My son had no idea that he wanted to dance until 2011 when he was 14 1/2 and, upon a friends suggestion, took a dance class. He came home from that first class and said he loved it and wanted to become a dancer. He then took every class he could at our home studio. After 10 months his ballet instructor told us that if he was serious he needed to audition for a summer intensive. We didnt even know what a SI was! We quickly found out and he auditioned for 7 programs and got accepted to 6 of them, with scholarships. The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory offered him a large scholarship for the summer and also acceptance for their year round residential pre-professional training program. He was also pretty sure he would get accepted to at least one other year round program. After carefully evaluating the total package that went along with attending Nutmeg (housing, academics, supervision, training, performance opportunities, student life, etc) and upon the recommendation of one of his mentors in ballet he chose Nutmeg. So shortly before his 16th birthday he moved 500 miles away from home to CT. Because of the relatively limited dance opportunities near our home he needed to take this step in order to pursue a dance career. During this confusing and overwhelming decision making time I discovered Ninas blog and have found so much useful info and support there. My son has also attended summer intensives in NYC at The French Academie of Ballet (Francois Perron) and CPYB. I would be happy to share my impressions about any aspects of the programs we have had experience with. My son most loves classical ballet but has come to enjoy contemporary and modern as well, which is good because he is short. He has some other consequential challenges as well as his late start and height - injuries. Last year a stress reaction in his foot that was misdiagnosed became a stress fracture that required a cast and crutches. And now, just last week, he had surgery on his wrist for what seemed to be a simple sprain after a lift but turned out to be torn TFCC ligaments. He will be in a long arm cast until November and then begin rehab. Last year he bounced back better than ever - even got a guest artist job in June - and we will again support him however we can to do so again. Meanwhile, he is helping out with tech, running music, coaching, and gaining whatever experience and skills he can. It is not easy at all to watch his friends and have to wait until he can fully participate again. He has been given the opportunity to stay at Nutmeg and did not hesitate to do so, rather than wait it out back at home. If anyone else needs a Mother of Injured Dancer Support Group - I am here.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 22:42:09 +0000
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