Graduating VAB students reminisce about their experiences and soak up their final weeks before they jeté into their professional careers
Photo courtesy of Lilly Powell.
While exam season has concluded for UVic students, the students of the Victoria Academy of Ballet’s Bridge Diploma Program face their final performance of the season, “Take Flight,” in less than two weeks’ time.
At the Victoria Academy of Ballet (VAB), dancers of all ages embrace the love of dance with student-focused programs, split into open and vocational divisions. The Post-Secondary Bridge Diploma Program, part of the Vocational Division, is three years and designed for dancers over 19 or with a high school diploma who want to further their dance training and education.
In an interview with the Martlet, graduating Bridge Program dancers Sydney Mix and Natalia Hidalgo shared their experiences with VAB and talked about their upcoming performance, “Take Flight.”
Mix and Hidalgo both started dancing at a young age, inspiring them to continue pursuing dance after high school. Mix started dancing in her small town in Alberta around age six and Hidalgo, who is originally from Mexico, began dancing at three years old.
Mix and Hidalgo explained that an average day of training for Bridge Program dancers begins even before their 9 a.m. ballet class with a self-led warmup, and their classes and rehearsals can sometimes go as late as 6 p.m. They train up to six days a week, including a shorter conditioning day on Sunday. Luckily their class schedule changes each day, offering the dancers some sense of variety.
Mix and Hidalgo had numerous surprises over the course of their three years with VAB. “I feel like transitioning from ballet to contemporary really surprised me,” Mix said. “I didn’t grow up with traditional modern classes … and I think I was just surprised at how much I loved it and how much I loved getting into that movement style.”
“I think it surprised me how much I like contemporary and how comfortable I feel –– and everyone feels –– doing really weird things in improv class,” Hidalgo said. She added that what they have learned in contemporary can also be applied to their ballet technique.
Bridge Program students focus primarily on classical ballet, including pointe, while also training in contemporary dance and contemporary ballet. Many graduates go on to join companies around the world.
Mix and Hidalgo have gained a lot through the Bridge Program. They explained that, beyond the technical dance training, there are also major life takeaways from the program like time management and balancing work and social activities.
Hidalgo described the close-knit community they have built over three years. “I feel like we’ve become like sisters in a way,” she said.
Mix shared similar sentiments. “I’ve met such like-minded people,” she said. “The connections that you make doing something that you love and that everyone around you loves… there’s nothing else like it.”
For Mix and Hidalgo, dancing is an incredibly meaningful experience. “I love being in something where you can be completely yourself,” Mix said. “I also just love to be on stage and know that I’m making someone in the audience feel something. Especially in a very dramatic piece, it’s very gratifying to feel that you have an impact on the people that are watching you.”
VAB is currently preparing for the Vocational Division’s final performance of the year, “Take Flight.” The performance, which features a combination of ballet and contemporary works, will include selections from classical nineteenth-century ballets like “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Coppélia,” and “Sylvia,” as well as original pieces by Alysa Pires and Angela Mousseau, two internationally acclaimed choreographers.
Take Flight is particularly significant for the dancers graduating from the Bridge Program as they take their final bows before diving into their professional careers. “We’ve rehearsed [these pieces] so much, I’m excited for the audience to see how much we can play with our roles in [them],” Mix said.
“The piece that comes to mind is ‘Summer.’ We all have very different roles in that piece, and I feel like every time I do it, I can really play with the timing, obviously while still staying with the group,” she continued, “but I can play with the timing, the narrative, and the story, and really dig into that character.”
As they enter the weeks leading up to their final performance, Mix and Hidalgo have mixed emotions. “We’re very excited about what’s coming, but we also have a lot of anxiety, because now everything’s changing again, and it took us a long time to adapt to Victoria,” Hidalgo said.
Hidalgo recently returned from an audition tour in Europe, where she will be returning next year for an apprenticeship with a company in Germany.
Mix, on the other hand, will be staying in B.C. for now. Following a series of auditions in Canada, she will be furthering her contemporary training with Lamondance in Vancouver. “I came into first year wanting to be a ballerina, and that’s the only thing I wanted to do, but then I really fell in love with modern dance and contemporary as I was here,” Mix explained.
Hidalgo told the Martlet her goals and view of a successful career have shifted during her time with VAB. Originally set on being a principal dancer, Hidalgo now just wants to perform consistently. “It would be sad if I get into a company and then I’m always not dancing,” she said, “so I feel like I would just feel successful if I’m able to make a living off something I love.”
“I feel like my most successful career is just somewhere that I feel very comfortable and happy, and have a bunch of performance opportunities,” Mix said.
“Dance brings me so much joy that doing it as a job … that’s successful to me.”
You can join VAB and the graduating Bridge Program dancers as they “take flight” into their final performance of the year on May 14 at the McPherson Playhouse.
