Students from the Fraser Valley Academy of Dance are spending another summer training at prestigious dance schools across North America after being accepted at every audition they attended this year.
These students will train for four weeks at some of the best facilities in the world, taught by former professional dancers, some of whom were dance colleagues of FVAD’s artistic director John C. Carney.
Priscilla Gubiotti, 14, and Marin Greenan, 15, are in Toronto at Canada’s National Ballet School. Elle Penner, 11, is at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, and Ann Li Jie Vennes-Ouellet, 14, has travelled south to the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance.
FVAD alumna Kaylie Conner is enjoying summer at the Royal Ballet School in London, UK.
Other students accepted but who opted not to attend include FVAD’s Selah Lyons, 13, who was invited to the School of Alberta Ballet, and Tiffany Reitsema, 13, who earned a place at Montreal’s L’École Supériore de ballet du Québec.
Carney’s main goal has always been to prepare his students at the right age for entry into international dance company schools and performing arts colleges, the best step towards a professional career.
After only eight years in Mission, his students have already been accepted into the full-time professional programs of Canada’s National Ballet School, Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Joffrey Ballet School (New York City), School of Alberta Ballet, Randolph Academy for Performing Arts, and the Rambert School of Ballet & Contemporary Dance (London, UK), as well as numerous international summer intensives.
FVAD is located at 33219 First Ave. in Mission. For more information, visit fvad.ca or call 604-826-0097.