I got the chance to catch up with three of our Canterbury Ballet and Hagley College students after their summer intensive ballet experiences in New York in July.

Belle Switalla, Chelsea King and Felicity Drysdale all experienced a summer programme at different ballet schools in New York in July and it was so nice to hear about their experience, how they manage dance and school and what their dreams and aspirations are for the future.

Chelsea, I met because she was introduced to me as Chelsea from Mosgiel. That brings me great joy as a proud born and breed Mosgiel person. Chelsea came to Hagley in Year 9 and is now in Year 11. She initially stayed with a home stay so she could manage school and her training with Canterbury Ballet but her parents have since moved up to Christchurch. Hagley has a partnership with Canterbury Ballet due to our location and flexibility.

Belle also found out about Hagley from Canterbury Ballet and lives with her parents in Christchurch. She is currently in Year 10.

Felicity’s experience is the same as Belle’s.

All the girls have individual programmes depending on what year they are in and school fits in around their ballet commitments. The time commitment for ballet is a lot with afternoons, evening and Saturdays. It really does require motivation, commitment, a love of it and strong work ethic. It was clear to me that these girls love what they do. They might get tired but the love it.

They all have big ambitious goals, which I loved. Chelsea can see herself going to a professional dance school and joining a company maybe in the USA or Europe. Belle and Felicity share these goals too, and it did make me realise how the experience of going to NYC for the summer intensive and being part of a school had shaped these aspirations. It is so important to be exposed to the possibilities…

So now to the intensive experience in NYC – they were all part of different schools and the experience differed a bit depending on the school. Chelsea and Belle went over together and got this opportunity via video auditions. Chelsea went to the Ellison ballet school summer intensive where she stayed in a dorm alongside mostly American students. Her day started late (like midday) and started with technique and pointe then moved into partnering, character and contemporary and then this was followed by conditioning. It generally finished around 7pm, she would take the subway home, eat and sleep and then repeat! There were hang-out spaces but generally she was pretty tired with the day's classes.

I asked all the girls for their two highlights. Chelsea’s ballet highlight was watching ABT ballet perform Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet. Her tourist highlight was seeing all of the New York attractions like the Statue of Liberty, which looks like it does in the movies. She didn’t really have a lowlight but on the way home they were taken off a flight and went home via Paris. It took 30 hours but it was an adventure! Chelsea summed up the experience by saying that the best part was getting an idea of where you might want to go to dance school. She is considering returning in 2026 to get an idea of a different school before she actually has to decide.

Belle attended the Alvin Ailey summer intensive for four weeks. Her day began at 10:30am with ballet first and then she had contemporary before she had a break. Next was repertoire and they learnt a dance over this time that was then performed at the end. The Ailey dance school, according to Belle, is great. It’s flash and big.

Belle’s dance highlight was learning from all of the teachers and the actual company members trained on floor 6 and Belle could see them and think how cool it would be if that was her one day! She is really keen to belong to that dance school.

Belle had a food and drink highlight which was mac and cheese and Raising Cain’s which is a fast food sort of like KFC but with a thick sauce.

Her outside of ballet highlight was watching the Yankees at Yankee stadium. Very jealous, how cool is that!

Lowlight was the same as Chelsea as she was also on that flight that went home via Paris.

Felicity attended the Joffrey ballet summer intensive for four weeks. She flew over with Mum and Dad at slightly different times to Belle and Chelsea. Her experience was a bit different too. Instead of being in a dorm she lived like a local and stayed in an airBNB a bit out of the hustle in an apartment. She had an hour or so commute to dance school and had a 9am start! Her first class was classical ballet, followed by pointe. After a break she had two classes of repertoire and finished about 4pm. After travelling in and out to dance school with Felicity, her mum and dad had a great chance to look around NYC!

Felicity’s dance highlight was when she saw the end show and watching all the different styles come together and it was really nice to go into that show with confidence.

Her food highlight – Chic-fil-A!

Felicity’s non ballet related highlight was going to see the White House, Baseball game, New York and Yankee stadium.

Her lowlight was walking for ages when they went to see the White House as something was on and her family couldn’t get get a good view. It took ages and a lot of walking to get to the front!

What talent and what an amazing opportunity for these three students. I often say that meeting and talking to our students about the cool things they are doing is one of the best parts of this job and this is absolutely evidence of this. How lucky am I for these three to share their experience and goals with me. Loved it! All the best with your very bright futures.