Reimi Akin is a sophomore at Rancho Bernardo High School. She is currently preparing for the Advanced II Cecchetti professional exam and has been studying ballet for 10 years. Her recent roles include Fountain Fairy in Aurora’s Wedding, Mirliton, Spanish and Flowers corps in The Nutcracker, and a Fanny Cerrito solo. Ms. Akin has been nominated by her high school to attend the 2012 National Student Leader Conference in Washington D.C. During past summers, Ms. Akin has attended the Marin Dance Theatre Summer Intensive in San Francisco and received a scholarship to the Cecchetti USA’s International Summer School in Santa Barbara. She will be returning to Marin Dance Theatre this summer.
Emily Carter is a junior at Mission Hills High School. She has been studying at Black Mountain Dance Centre (BMDC) for 11 years and is currently preparing for her Advanced II Cecchetti professional exam. Her past roles include Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, Rose Fairy in Aurora’s Wedding, and Harlequin Doll and Mirliton in The Nutcracker. Ms. Carter currently is teaching “Introduction to Dance” at BMDC. She is a member of the National Honors Society (NHS) and the California Scholarship Federation (CSF). Ms. Carter is a chemistry tutor and is in the top 1% of her class with a 4.67 GPA. Her past summer dance experiences include training at the California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) in Valencia. This summer she is applying for the Life Sciences Summer Institute program at the Salk Institute in La Jolla. She will also train with BMDC’s summer intensive program.
Alexandria Davis is a freshman at Del Norte High School. She is currently preparing for the Advanced I Cecchetti professional exam and has been studying dance for 13 years. Her past roles include Flowers corps, Snowflake corps, Doll and Mirliton in The Nutcracker. Ms. Davis has attended the Bolshoi Ballet’s summer intensive in Connecticut twice on scholarship, and last summer she studied at The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida. This summer she will be attending the summer intensive program at the School of American Ballet in New York with her twin, Nicole.
Nicole Davis is a freshman at Del Norte High School. She is preparing for the Advanced I Cecchetti professional exam and has been dancing for 13 years. Ms. Davis has performed as Clara and Mirliton as well as in the Snowflake and Flowers corps in The Nutcracker. Alexandria has attended the Bolshoi Ballet’s summer intensive in Connecticut twice on scholarship, and last summer she studied at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida. This summer she will be attending the summer intensive program at the School of American Ballet in New York with her twin, Alex.
Sira Olivia Edwards is a junior at Valley Center High school. Her next Cecchetti exam will be the Advanced II professional exam and she has been dancing for 11 years; three of them at BMDC. Her recent roles include Clara, Arabian, Chinese and Spanish Lead in The Nutcracker. Last summer, Ms. Edwards studied with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in New York and at The Juilliard School Summer Dance Intensive. Ms. Edwards will again be studying this summer with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in New York and she hopes to also be selected for the Bolshoi’s “NSLI for Youth” program. If selected, she will travel to Russia to dance and learn the language and culture. Ms. Edwards also received an early acceptance to the 2012 Kirov Ballet Summer Intensive.
Natalie Estrada is a senior at Rancho Bernardo High School. She passed her Cecchetti Advanced II professional exams with Honors and has studied at BMDC for 13 years. Her recent roles include Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Snow Queen, Sugar Plum Fairy and Waltz of the Flowers lead in The Nutcracker and Sapphire Fairy in Aurora’s Wedding. Ms. Estrada has attended summer programs with the Royal Ballet School in London, BalletMet in Columbus Ohio, Cecchetti USA in Santa Barbara and the Boston Ballet. Ms. Estrada has been auditioning for professional and university programs and has been accepted into the Houston Ballet’s summer intensive program. She will be attending a four year university on a dance scholarship.
Ayaka Hachisuka is a senior at Rancho Bernardo High School. She has completed her Cecchetti professional exams and her Cecchetti Teaching Certificate I exam, and is preparing for her Teaching Certificate II exam. Ms. Hachisuka has studied at BMDC for the past 12 years. Her past roles include Canary Fairy in Aurora’s Wedding and Viviandre, Waltz of the Flowers lead and Mirliton lead in The Nutcracker. Currently, she is a Teaching Assistant for the Grade 4 ballet class at BMDC. Ms. Hachisuka also plays the flute and has participated in numerous San Diego Flute Guild festivals. Ms. Hachisuka plans to attend a four year university and major in Neuroscience. She plans to keep dance in her life, as a performer and as a teacher.
Marisa Hanson is a junior at Canyon Crest Academy. Ms. Hanson has successfully completed her Advanced II Cecchetti Professional exam and she is preparing for her Cecchetti Teaching Certificate I exam. Ms. Hanson has danced for 14 years; nine of them at BMDC. Her recent roles include Lead Fairy in Cinderella, Silver Fairy in Aurora’s Wedding, and Mirliton lead and Flowers lead in The Nutcracker. Ms. Hanson was one of eight students selected to represent the USA in the 2011 International Cecchetti Ballet Competition last summer in Manchester, England. She also was chosen as one of 60 students to attend her school’s Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) youth conference. She is also a talented artist and one of her paintings received First Place at the Del Mar Fair in 2010. During past summers, Ms. Hanson has attended summer intensive programs at BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio and Marin Dance Theatre in San Francisco. This summer she will attend the Boston Ballet Summer intensive program and she plans on auditioning for professional year-round ballet programs in the coming year.
Karli Holman is junior at Scripps Ranch High School and is preparing for the Advanced II Cecchetti professional exam. She has studied dance at BMDC for thirteen years. Her past performances include the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland and Bonbon lead, Snowflake lead and Mirliton corps in The Nutcracker. Ms. Holman is an AP student and member of the National Honor Society. She is a tutor for middle school students who struggle in math. She also works as a student aide at Gateways Summer School. This summer Ms. Holman will be training with the summer intensive program at BMDC. She will start applying for colleges next year, and plans to major in Biochemistry.
Kathryn Kang is a sophomore at Westview High School. She is currently preparing for the Advanced II Cecchetti professional exam and has been studying at BMDC for 12 years. Her recent roles include Woodland Fairy in Cinderella, Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland and Soldier Doll and Mirliton corps in The Nutcracker. Ms. Kang is an excellent pianist, and has placed high at various piano competitions and festivals. She has passed her level 10 Certificate of Merit piano exams. She is taking two AP classes this year and is a member of CSF and several clubs at school. During past summers, Ms. Kang trained at CSSSA in Valencia and Marin Dance Theatre in San Francisco. This year Ms. Kang’s summer plans include preparing for her SAT exams and attending the BMDC summer intensive program.
Shaina Oppenheimer is a junior at Del Norte High School. She is preparing to take her Cecchetti Advanced II professional exam and has been studying dance at BMDC for 12 years. Past roles include Clara, Chinese lead, Columbine and Viviandre in The Nutcracker. Ms. Oppenheimer was one of eight students selected to represent the USA in the 2011 International Cecchetti Ballet Competition last summer in Manchester, England. She is an Honors student and is president of her school’s peer counseling group. During past summers she has attended the BalletMet and Boston Ballet summer intensive programs. This summer, Ms. Oppenheimer will be returning to the Boston Ballet’s summer intensive program.
Kristin Warren is a junior at California Virtual Academy. She has successfully completed her Cecchetti Advanced II professional exam. She began dancing at age six in New Jersey and received a scholarship to the Dance Theater of Harlem, where she studied under Arthur Mitchell, Robert Garland and Robert Perry. Ms. Warren has trained in ballet for 11 years and has studied at BMDC for four years. While at Rancho Bernardo High School, Kristin sang with the RBHS Madrigals Choir. Her recent roles include Spanish Chocolate and Soldier Doll in The Nutcracker and Fairy of Passion in Aurora’s Wedding. Ms. Warren is on the Dean’s list of her high school with a 4.0 GPA. Her past summer dance experience include CSSSA in Valencia, and last summer she attended the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Summer Program in San Francisco. This summer Ms. Warren will be a youth camp counselor, and she will dance abroad at a summer intensive program in Dubai, United Emirates.
Lauren Worley is a junior at Canyon Crest Academy. She is preparing for the Cecchetti Teaching Certificate I and also her Diploma exams. She has been at BMDC for eight years and recent roles include Cinderella in Cinderella, and Sugar Plum Fairy, Spanish Chocolate, Flowers and Arabian leads in The Nutcracker. Lauren was one of eight students selected to represent the USA in the 2011 International Cecchetti Ballet Competition last summer in Manchester, England. She has been a classical flute player for seven years, and completed the level 9 Certificate of Merit exam and the Panel exam in 2011. This summer Lauren will first be attending the BalletMet summer intensive in Columbus, Ohio. She will then attend The Juilliard School Summer Dance Intensive. Lauren has been accepted into BalletMet’s year-round pre-professional division and will be completing her senior year of high school away while training with BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio.
