Ballet Aligned, in partnership with Dance Illusion hosted Ballet West star and Principal Artist, Emily Adams, and her husband, former Ballet West Fist Soloist and current Company photographer and videographer, Beau Pearson for a Master Class and Q&A on Saturday, March 15. The class was for intermediate to advances students, but the Meet and Greet was open to students and parents of all ages. Pearson also did a thirty minute Q&A session with attendees interested in dance photography.
Steffanie Casperson, Ballet Aligned director, said, “This is the first time that Cache Valley has hosted a Ballet West star of this magnitude…which the students have seen, and will get to see performing leading roles on stage. I want every student who is aspiring to a professional career not only to have access to training from people in those careers, but also to have the students see these dancers as real-life people, and ask questions about what their lives are really like.”
Paige Gurney, age 16 and student at Ballet Aligned, who attended said, “[Emily] is so kind, gave such useful corrections and visuals, and made sure to tell everyone what they were doing well. This was one of my favorite classes of the year!”
Ashley Young, a Ballet Aligned photographer who attended the Photography Q&A, said, “It was amazing to meet Beau and the other photographers that came, and to learn. I feel like I learned so much. It was an amazing experience.”
Lisa Preece, owner of Dance Illusion, has hosted similar events for Broadway & Film stars. “It was great to provide this kind of opportunity for those students who want more ballet exposure,” Preece said. “I am looking forward to working with Steffanie [Casperson] to make these sorts of master classes a regular occurance in Cache Valley.”
Information about Dance Illusion can be found at danceillusionutah.com. Information about Ballet Aligned events can be found at balletaligned.com/events/.