Young, determined, and far from home

Jacqueline Matskiv sits on the floor with her legs stretched in front of her, back ramrod straight, feet pointed. Her hair is tied back in a neat bun and she’s dressed in a black leotard and pink tights. Her face is pale, but composed.

In one graceful movement, the 12-year-old bends in half, laying her upper body along her outstretched legs. Royal Winnipeg Ballet School faculty members Johanne Gingras and Scott Andrew scrutinize her flexibility.

It’s a Saturday morning in late January at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal’s east-end studios, and Jacqueline has come from Thornhill, Ont., to audition for the Royal Winnipeg’s intensive summer school program.

If Jacqueline shows the necessary flexibility, body proportion, musicality, personality and intelligence, she will be asked to attend the four-week session in Winnipeg in July.

The summer school acts as an extended audition for the school’s full-time Ballet Academic Program. It is a seven year program – Grades 6 through 12 – with a one-year post-grad option called the Aspirant program, which helps graduates prepare for dance-company auditions. Students from out of town stay at the school’s resident facilities.

Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto and Montreal’s Ecole Superieure de Ballet Contemporain are two other ballet schools that offer yearlong ballet/academic programs. and have boarding options for out-of-town students.

If Jacqueline impresses the teachers at the summer school and is accepted into the full-year program, her four weeks away from home could stretch into eight years.

Leaving family and friends behind is a big step. But the passion for dance can be a powerful thing, even at a young age.

Serious training for youngsters who show dance talent begins early, while the body is still at its most supple – ideally, before puberty sets in.

"For us professionals, it’s a case of, the earlier, the better," Gingras tells a group of parents during an information session between auditions at Les Grands’ studios.

"The work is very intense. If the child starts early, it gives them a longer dance life because their bodies learn how to work at a high level of intensity."

The children who join an elite ballet academy and stay in residence are not parachuting into a vacuum. The staff at all three schools keep a close eye on the mood and physical health of each student.

"We recognize that it’s not easy to be involved in training at this high level," National Ballet School junior-school manager Deborah Bowes said. "But there are strategies to help students cope and decide whether they should be in this world."

The schools have a battery of health professionals on call, including nutritionists, physiotherapists, massotherapists, psychologists and sports psychologists.

"Keep in mind, it’s not just the child missing the parents – it’s the parents missing the child," Bowes said. "We talk to them all the time. They get tons of support."

Debra Zoerb, director of business operations for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, agrees that, often, it’s the parents who have the toughest time with the separation.

"Long-distance parenting is a unique situation," Zoerb said. "But we remind them that there is a reason the child is here with us: She has a special talent that the faculty has recognized."

"I remember one little girl who seemed deeply homesick, but didn’t want to go home," National Ballet School head of residence Susan Leslie-Berkis said. "We finally listened to her talking with her parents on the phone, and we realized they were trying to be cheerful and tell her all the news from home, but what she was feeling was that they were moving on without her.

"When we realized that, it was relatively easy to resolve. We work through all the issues."

During the school year, dancers manage a full academic load on top of their daily dance training.

Students get the usual academic/ballet breaks in the spring and at Christmas, plus another week before summer school begins. Those with family close by, or with the financial means to travel a greater distance, go home.

International students who can’t make it home for Christmas spend it with a close dance friend, at his or her home. August is vacation month for everybody.

"The young people who come to us are already unique little people," Zoerb said. "You don’t see delinquents auditioning to come here. These children are achievers."

At 12, Jacqueline has already been training for eight years, most recently at the Victoria Ballet Academy in Thornhill, Ont.

"I think it would be interesting (to attend the summer school)," Jacqueline said after her January audition. "I love ballet. I love taking class. And I think the school has a smart program."

Jacqueline was training in a Russian method of ballet at the Victoria Ballet Academy, and she’ll be able to continue training in that style at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School.

Is she worried about being homesick?

"No," Jacqueline said.

And her mother thinks she’d do just fine.

"I know how important it is for a child to be able to express herself creatively," Svetlana Galkin said. "My biggest worry is that she be happy and believe in herself. I tell her to always look up to others who are better than she is, because she can learn from them.

"And I want her to be picky in terms of choosing her friends. Little girls are not always what they appear to be. They can be jealous."

Summer schools at these ballet academies not only introduce a student to the physical rigours of elite ballet training, but they also allow the student to test his or her emotional waters.

Is the student comfortable with being away from home for an extended period of time? Will his or her new family of dance friends and residence staff offer enough comfort and support to stick it out?

"We have the students call home regularly, every day for the young ones," Zoerb said. "But they also have other ways they keep in touch these days: video conferencing, Skype, email, texting. If we see that someone is off on their own a lot, we engage them, get them involved in an activity."

"Because the dancer is surrounded by so many other dancers, it’s easier to move away," John Beales said.

Beales is a former professional dancer who, with his teacher/fiancee Joanie Moreau, now take in boarders from the Ecole Superieure de Ballet Contemporain.

Beales, who now designs websites, also worked as a floor counsellor at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School.

"The transition would get more difficult (for students) when the parents were too clingy," he said.

The dancers share a purpose. Everybody wants to be the best dancer possible.

They understand each others’ physical stress and emotional exhaustion. Deep bonds are forged. And because they all go to school, they don’t miss out on school milestones like graduation. If fact, they have two graduations: one academic and one ballet.

But there are no guarantees every dancer will make it through the program.

Full-time students at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School must attend the summer session to be re-evaluated every year, as is the case at the National Ballet School and the Ecole. A student is not invited back if he or she has not shown steady improvement in both technique and performance ability. The rigid truth is that classical ballet requires a particular body line, flexibility, and strength, and some dancers may reach their physical limit before graduation.

"Some may not make it through the entire program, but there is always something they can take away with them that will enhance their futures," Zoerb said.

One week after her January audition, Jacqueline hears she has been accepted into the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School summer program. She will pack her bags after school ends in June and move away from home.

"You’re not sending your child away. You’re helping your child pursue a dream," Zoerb said.