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Teen heads to top ballet school September 15 , 2006 While other 3-year-old boys were playing with toy trucks, Phoenix's Joseph Gordon, 14, was learning how to glissade, plié and relevé. He is a ballet dancer who is now dancing at the School of American Ballet in New York. Other teens, including Anastasia Bez, 13, of Phoenix, Emma Fazzuoli, 15, of Scottsdale, and Matthew Poppe, 15, another Valley teen, also were accepted into prestigious ballet schools in New York and Canada. All of them danced at the School of Ballet Arizona. "I was so excited when I found out (I got in)," Joseph said. "I went psycho!" The school visits 22 cities throughout the world to look for dancers to participate in its five-week-long summer program. In those cities, recruiters see about 2,000 students. They pick about 200 to come back to New York for the summer session, said Amy Bordy, director of public relations for the school. Those 200 dance in New York and are evaluated throughout the session. At the end, 20 to 30 are invited to return for the 10-month winter session, which is the same as a regular school year, Bordy said. Joseph, who received a full scholarship, was accepted into the school shortly after attending the 2006 summer session. While attending the ballet school, Joseph will take general academic classes at Professional Performance Arts School. Joseph started dancing when he saw a production of the Nutcracker. During the performance he stood up and danced like the dancers on stage. When he was about 7, he became serious about dancing and realized he wanted to do it for the rest of his life. "My dream job is to be a principal dancer in a big company like the New York City Ballet (the company that is linked to the ballet school he is attending) or the American Ballet Theatre," Joseph said. If that doesn't work, he still wants to teach ballet. When asked if he was nervous or scared about going to the school, Joseph quickly responded, "I'm not nervous, I'm anxious and excited." But he did say he will "miss his family, friends and his dog, Coco." Fazzuoli was accepted into the School of American Ballet on a partial scholarship. Other Phoenix ballet dancers are attending schools, as well. Anastasia is attending the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Professional Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She learned that she'd been accepted in July and was "really happy" even though she did not receive a scholarship. The school visits 17 cities across North America and auditions from 600 to 1,000 students in an International Audition Tour, said Heather Saxton, the school's marketing coordinator. From that, about 90 students are selected to go to the school for a one-month summer session where the dancers dance with current students of the school, she continued. Once the session is over, students are accepted into the school based on number of openings for that year. This year, the school accepted about 30 students. While her parents will not be going with her to the school, they will keep in touch with her on the Internet. Her father, Ed Bez, purchased computers with Web cameras so they can videoconference. Anastasia started dancing when she was 3 but decided to make it her career when she was about 7. However, ballet isn't the only style of dance she has studied. In order to be a well-rounded dancer, she has studied tap, modern, character, jazz and flamenco so she can "do anything a choreographer wants her to." Anastasia said she will miss her family, and she will miss seeing the new production of the Nutcracker. She is excited to see snow but will miss the landscaping here and her friends. If dancing doesn't work out for her, she wants to explore art and politics. "I wouldn't mind being president some day," she said. Poppe, who will be attending the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at the American Ballet Theatre in New York, was unavailable for an interview. |