Dancer excels in RWB program

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This article was published 17/02/2019 (1865 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Adrian Ramirez admits he felt a little nervous when he learned he had been accepted into the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s professional division last summer, but it didn’t take long for him to find his feet.

Ramirez, 11, spent three years in the RWB’s recreational division before he took the plunge and auditioned for the professional side in late 2017.

“He ended up being really good at it,” his mother, Candice Ramirez, said Monday around the family’s kitchen table in Steinbach.

PHOTO BY DOUGLAS PORTZ
PHOTO BY DOUGLAS PORTZ

Talent scouts were impressed, and awarded him a scholarship for a month-long summer session last July. Adrian lived in residence and met dancers from Japan and Australia.

His strong performance over the summer garnered another scholarship and a spot in the RWB’s prestigious ballet academic program, one of three full-time training streams in the internationally-recognized professional division.

Candice said her son jumped up and down when he heard the news.

The intensive training schedule required Ramirez to withdraw from Clearspring Middle School and enroll in Nordale School, one of two Winnipeg schools that partners with the RWB to accommodate the dancers’ schedules.

An average weekday sees Adrian out the door by 6 a.m. to get to school classes that run until 2 p.m. Then it’s straight over to the dance academy for nearly three hours of dance instruction. There’s also a Saturday morning rehearsal.

“Sunday he finally has a break,” Candice said with a smile.

The busy schedule was an adjustment at first.

“Sometimes, I felt really sleepy,” Adrian said.

The comprehensive dance curriculum covers movement, flexibility, strength training, music, and peer relations. There’s also a historical component—what Adrian called “old moves, back from the past.”

Candice said she’s noticed Adrian’s posture and strength improve along with his self-confidence. He also has a knack for remembering long stretches of choreography.

“When he was younger, he had a hard time expressing himself,” she explained. “It’s helped him focus a lot more.”

Male dancers are offered a subsidy, an incentive Candice said appears to be working.

“You see lots of boys dancing now.”

She credited Flippers Gymnastics classes in Steinbach for helping Adrian develop a foundation of flexibility and coordination that his RWB instructors have built upon.

Being a professional division student comes with more than a few perks. The school year builds toward Spotlight, the professional division’s showcase at the end of May.

Adrian has appeared onstage alongside other students in The Nutcracker and The Princess and the Goblin. He also helps hand out programs, and can watch company dancers rehearse from a special viewing area. He said he’s looking forward to Romeo and Juliet later this week.

“I wish I could be a company dancer someday,” Adrian said, when asked about his aspirations.

Natasha Havrilenko, the RWB’s communications manager, said the professional division currently has three other students from the Steinbach and Ste Anne area.

The annual audition tour, which concluded late last month, typically attracts 600 to 800 prospective students. Online applications are accepted until May 1.

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