“What success looks like”: Arts Academy dance students share what it’s like to work with dance icons
Here’s what two sophomores had to say about taking master classes with greats like Gillian Murphy, Herman Cornejo, Peter Sparling, and more.
Peter Sparling (center right) works with Arts Academy dance students.
Camrynn Lockwood and Patrick Michaels might be just teenagers, but they’ve got their sights set on careers in dance. Through Interlochen’s Dance Division, they’re already meeting the professional dancers they’ve idolized for years.
Each year, Interlochen's Dance Division brings in 20+ world-class dancers, professors of dance at leading colleges and universities, and company representatives as guest artists. Students can meet and learn from these individuals right on their high school campus, gaining access to the kind of professional networks that typically take years to build.
“Having these people come in for instruction and auditions makes your chances so much greater of being in the right place at the right time and making connections in the dance world,” says Lockwood.
During a master class last semester, Lockwood gained valuable insights on how to avoid burnout from Herman Cornejo of the American Ballet Theatre. She also enjoyed learning new styles of hip-hop from Vicky "Skytilz" Mantey, who teaches at London Contemporary Dance School.
“ It’s great having so many different parts of the professional world coming to Interlochen: hip-hop, modern, ballet, and all kinds of different styles,” she says. “I think it will help me have something to base decisions on later, because I can learn from the industry experiences these teachers have had.”
Her classmate Patrick Michaels has found these experiences valuable, too.
“I really liked the master class with Herman Cornejo. He was a good teacher and it was great to get the male perspective on moves like the double tour,” he says. “We also had a really good class with Gillian Murphy. She showed us how to be more smooth and flowy within the structure of ballet.”
Michaels, who wants to be either a professional dancer or work in physical therapy, says that working with these professionals helps him envision his own future.
“It helps me see what success looks like because all of our guest artists were very successful dancers. I got to learn firsthand from people who used to be doing exactly what I am doing. It’s amazing to see how much they were able to grow.”
These master classes and audition opportunities are part of Interlochen's ongoing commitment to connect students with industry professionals in their arts disciplines. Recent and upcoming dance guest artists include:
- Kathleen Breen-Combes, Artistic Director of Ballet Rhode Island
- Herman Cornejo, American Ballet Theatre principal dancer
- Duane Cyrus, Director of the School of Dance at the University of Arizona
- Linda Denise-Fisher, Artistic Director of Hubbard Street Dance Company in Chicago
- Robert Fulton, dancer with Nevada Ballet Theatre and founder of Ballet Scout
- Willie Hinton, renowned contemporary dance instructor
- Vicki Mantey and Kate Price, London School of Contemporary Dance
- Nick Mullickin, Artistic Director of Nashville Ballet
- Gillian Murphy, former Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre
- Noelle Partusch, Professor and Chair of Dance at Mercyhurst University
- Pablo Hernan Piantino, Associate Professor in the School of Dance at the University of Utah
- Zalman Raffael, Artistic Director of Carolina Ballet
- Derek Reid, Professor of Dance at Butler University
- Angelina Sansone and Abigail Yager, Professors at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts
- Susan Shields, Director of the School of Dance at George Mason University
- Peter Sparling (AS 64-66, IAA 67-69, ICCA 06), former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company
- Jessie Stinnet, Artistic Director of Boston Dance Theatre
- Michael Vernon, Professor of Ballet at the Jacob's School of Music
- Karin Ellis Wentz, Director of Pre-Professional and Trainee Programs at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago
Recent and upcoming dance audition opportunities include:
- Ballet West summer program
- Boston Ballet
- Butler University
- Carolina Ballet summer programs
- Hubbard Street Dance Company summer programs
- Joffrey Ballet pre-professional and summer programs
- Nevada Ballet Theatre Academy Summer Program
- Sarasota Ballet Summer Dance Program
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts
- University of Utah
