On Pointe By Joe Ann Hinrichs

            Watching Taryn Wolfe dance as a ballerina is like watching her float through the air.  She moves like a gentle, fluttering butterfly, dancing on her toes as though she is holding onto the air.  She makes it look so easy and so beautiful, twirling, jumping, and spinning on her toes.  Eighteen-year-old Taryn is a student of the School of American Ballet in New York City.  She has been dancing since she was 4 years old.

            Every spring, all over the United States, more than 2,000 8-year-old boys and girls audition to become students at the School of American Ballet in New York City.  Of those, 200 will be invited to a five-week summer program at the school. Only 15 to 20 of them will be invited to stay for the next school year.

            In New York, many ballet students live in a residence hall-a home-away-from-home for those students whose families don’t live nearby.  Students go to special schools with flexible schedules that allow them to take their ballet classes in the morning and afternoons.  In the ballet classes, students learn to jump and twirl, do toe-strengthening exercises, and train with weights to strengthen their arms and legs.  Then they practice, practice, practice.

            The advanced students take three hours of ballet classes a day, six days a week-plus many hours of rehearsals for performances.  After years of study, about 20 students each year are asked to join a big dance company, such as the New York City ballet.

            Becoming a ballet dancer takes hard work and dedication.  “You have to love to dance more than anything else.  You have to be willing to give up everything else to be your best.  If you are willing to work hard and follow your dreams, you can make them come true,” says Taryn.