St. Albans student joins elite ballet program in New York at 17 | News









Anna Anderson is a busy 17 year old.

The St. Albans resident hopes to become a professional ballerina, and in a month she plans to leapfrog that dream by moving to New York to train with American Ballet Theatre’s elite training program, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.

To be accepted into the school, she trained five to six days a week at the Ballet School of Vermont. And to help pay for training and travel, she worked two part-time jobs – one as a licensed practical nurse at St. Albans Health and Rehab and the other at a creemee stall in Swanton.

She also takes college classes at CCV and doubled her course load at BFA St. Albans to complete her junior and senior years early after being home-schooled for most of her college career.

“Ballet is really intense, but I want to be busy,” Anderson told The Messenger this week. “It’s a big load, but setting a schedule and committing really helps.”

Mary Ellen Vickery, Anderson’s ballet teacher, told The Messenger that she noticed Anderson’s talents when she was 12 and encouraged her mother to let her teach him.

“I thought she had a special gift for ballet.” Vicky said,

Before that, Anderson joined the Ballet School of Vermont at age 10 after watching her sister perform with her ballet school. She soon found herself skipping more grade levels over the next two years and auditioning for various out-of-state ballet crash courses.

She also started pointe in the second year, a year earlier than most students. Pointe involves supporting the full weight of the dancer’s body on her toes, and to prepare for this, Anderson would press her toes on a block of wood in her shoes.

Anderson also trains in other types of dance, including modern dance and jazz, to improve her overall dancing abilities.

Ballet requires strength and flexibility, as well as discipline, Vickery said.

“Class structures are 150 to 250 years old, and it’s about doing it methodically over and over again,” Vickery said. “It’s also about listening, because not all students listen and apply.”

When Anderson was maturing as a young teenager, she also had flexible joints that moved back and forth. This led to an injury when she was 12.

At her school’s end-of-year performance in June, her knee sprained, requiring surgery and a four-month recovery period.

She lost strength and had to work hard to get back to where she started.

“It was in the air whether I would be able to dance again, which was devastating because that was around the time I knew I wanted to make a career out of it.” Anderson said. “It made me realize how precious this art is, how much I really wanted it because I almost lost it.”

Although her family was supportive, the opportunity to train in New York caused them financial worries. Neither the school nor the housing program in New York offers financial aid.

Anderson and his family and friends try to raise money for the trip.

“We’re trying to get corporate sponsors,” Vickery said. “There have only been a few Vermont residents who have become professional dancers.”

Vickery lamented the difficulty for elite dancers to be recognized for their skills.

“If it was a sporting or athletic event, people would know its name, but it’s an art that’s not as popular,” she said.


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