Lauren Janeway is heading to grade 6 on Sept. 2, just like hundreds of other girls her age.
But unlike those girls, Lauren will be boarding in Toronto and attending the prestigious Canada National Ballet School. She was accepted in the professional division this summer after two auditions.
Established in 1959, Canada’s National Ballet School is one of the world’s foremost training institutions for aspiring young dancers and teachers. It attracts students from across the country and around the world, and it is the only ballet academy in North America to provide elite dance training, academic instruction and residential care on the same campus.
The school’s alumni include some of the best dancers ever produced in Canada, like Karen Kain and Veronica Tennant.
Lauren’s mother, Audrey, said in an email, “CNBS accepts about 165 students from the 1,500 that audition at 20 cities across Canada. Those 165 students attend a summer program that acts a four week audition for the full-time ballet and academic program.
“Lauren was one of 15 girls invited to join the full time program (at grade 6 level) starting Sept. 2.”
Lauren said in an interview Monday that her audition took place in January, and then she had the four week audition in July, and recently learned she was accepted.
“It’s kind of scary, the audition. It’s just the waiting to know – for a really long time,” she said summing up how she felt about the process.
For the four weeks, she lived at the school’s Maitland Street residence, and she will live there starting in the fall.
Lauren has been dancing since she was 4, and said that was a product of an early experience.
“I think I watched a ballet with my mom, and I wanted to take ballet classes. We were in Berlin.” Since then, she has seen numerous ballet productions in Toronto, and dancing at Grand River Dance Academy since 2001 with Monica Hildebrand. Her summer teacher at the NBS, coincidently, was Teresa Randall, a former resident of Fergus.
But while her former classmates at James McQueen Public School in Fergus are released from the classroom around 3:30pm every day, Lauren will be undergoing a much stricter regimen of study, both academic and in dance.
Her day will start with three hours of school, two hours of dance practice, an hour of academics, and then two more hours of dancing and other classes. Her school day will end at about 6pm.
Lauren admitted to feeling a little homesick once during her four weeks at the school in July, but going back in September seems easier because she met lots of new friends during the four week audition.
“I already know most of the people in grade 6,” she said.
Students at the school can stay there until they are ready for post secondary studies – if they earn their way.
Lauren said there are two auditions to get into the school. Once she is there, though, the evaluations will continue.
There is unlikely to be any homesickness for another reason. The students can come home for the weekends when they do not have extra classes, and are encouraged to do just that.åby David Meyer
fergus – Lauren Janeway is heading to grade 6 on Sept. 2, just like hundreds of other girls her age.
But unlike those girls, Lauren will be boarding in Toronto and attending the prestigious Canada National Ballet School. She was accepted in the professional division this summer after two auditions.
Established in 1959, Canada’s National Ballet School is one of the world’s foremost training institutions for aspiring young dancers and teachers. It attracts students from across the country and around the world, and it is the only ballet academy in North America to provide elite dance training, academic instruction and residential care on the same campus.
The school’s alumni include some of the best dancers ever produced in Canada, like Karen Kain and Veronica Tennant.
Lauren’s mother, Audrey, said in an email, “CNBS accepts about 165 students from the 1,500 that audition at 20 cities across Canada. Those 165 students attend a summer program that acts a four week audition for the full-time ballet and academic program.
“Lauren was one of 15 girls invited to join the full time program (at grade 6 level) starting Sept. 2.”
Lauren said in an interview Monday that her audition took place in January, and then she had the four week audition in July, and recently learned she was accepted.
“It’s kind of scary, the audition. It’s just the waiting to know – for a really long time,” she said summing up how she felt about the process.
For the four weeks, she lived at the school’s Maitland Street residence, and she will live there starting in the fall.
Lauren has been dancing since she was 4, and said that was a product of an early experience.
“I think I watched a ballet with my mom, and I wanted to take ballet classes. We were in Berlin.” Since then, she has seen numerous ballet productions in Toronto, and dancing at Grand River Dance Academy since 2001 with Monica Hildebrand. Her summer teacher at the NBS, coincidently, was Teresa Randall, a former resident of Fergus.
But while her former classmates at James McQueen Public School in Fergus are released from the classroom around 3:30pm every day, Lauren will be undergoing a much stricter regimen of study, both academic and in dance.
Her day will start with three hours of school, two hours of dance practice, an hour of academics, and then two more hours of dancing and other classes. Her school day will end at about 6pm.
Lauren admitted to feeling a little homesick once during her four weeks at the school in July, but going back in September seems easier because she met lots of new friends during the four week audition.
“I already know most of the people in grade 6,” she said.
Students at the school can stay there until they are ready for post secondary studies – if they earn their way.
Lauren said there are two auditions to get into the school. Once she is there, though, the evaluations will continue.
There is unlikely to be any homesickness for another reason. The students can come home for the weekends when they do not have extra classes, and are encouraged to do just that.
