Alexandria Dancers to Perform at the Kennedy Center

(Editor's Note: This article was contributed by Sally Tierney, owner of Just Dance.)

Emma Feddo, Elena Pipkin and Sydney Webster will perform in the American Ballet Theatre’s (ABT) Le Corsaire at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., April 11 - 14. Le Corsaire is an "exotic fable of captive maidens, rich sultans, suspenseful abductions, and dramatic rescues," culminating in a shipwreck that’s "one of the most breathtaking spectacles in all of the ballet,” according to the Kennedy Center website's description.

The girls auditioned with approximately 50 other children and were cast as supernumeraries, or "supers," which are background roles similar to extras on a movie set. The girls, who have been rehearsing since January, will dance in the roles of Garden Boys in Jardin Anime in Act III. All three girls also performed as blue soldiers in Ballet West’s Nutcracker in December 2012 at The Kennedy Center.

Emma, 11, has been studying dance for six years; Elena, 12, nine years; and Sydney, 10, three years under Sally Tierney, owner and director of Just Dance in the Belle View Shopping Center off Fort Hunt Road. Tierney will attend opening night to support her students. She is thrilled the girls have this incredible opportunity to dance at The Kennedy Center with the ABT.

“I am so happy these young dancers are able to experience this," Tierney said. "They will never forget it as long as they live. We live in a great town, filled with opportunity. These girls work hard every day in class, love ballet, and now will be performing with one of the greatest companies in the world. What could be better than that?”

Attending a professional ballet performance for a young dancer is exciting, but how does it feel to be on stage with the ABT company dancers at the Kennedy Center?

“Watching the principal dancers is simply amazing, thinking you might be like them one day,” Elena Pipkin said.

"It's so amazing to be able to see how a professional ballet is put on. I love being a part of something so special!" says Emma Feddo.

And Sydney Webster said, “It has been an exciting adventure to dance at the Kennedy Center and to be a part of a professional ballet experience.”

All three girls will spend their summer training with the American Ballet Theatre's Summer Intensive programs. 

The following Just Dance students also were accepted into ABT summer programs: Francesca Almeida, Ava Dempster, Carrie Farson, Cait Hagan, Olivia Heck, Natalie Murphy, Kailey O’Farrell, Ellen Roberts, Fiona Walsh and Katie Whalen.

The purpose of the ABT Summer Intensives is to immerse promising dancers in classical ballet training through exposure to ABT's artists, history and varied repertory, with an emphasis on the guiding principles of ABT's National Training Curriculum. “The mission of ABT’s Summer Intensive is to cultivate a universal understanding of the art form at its highest level, emphasizing not only the importance of high quality and brilliant technique, but also dance as an expressive vehicle to create art,” ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie said.