When asked what brought her to Saturday’s audition, ballerina Kaylee Leclerc’s answer was simple: “I mean, it’s the U.”
Leclerc, a freshman at Salt Lake Community College, was among 38 students warming up in the Marriot Center for Dance at 8 a.m., waiting to audition for the U’s Department of Ballet.
Founded in 1951 as one of the first ballet schools at an American university, the department is among the country’s most prestigious. Between its history, its faculty and its strong ties to Utah’s world-famous Ballet West, it attracts students from all 50 states and various foreign countries.
Saturday’s crowd featured dancers from California, Iowa and Texas, among others. Students can also attend touring auditions in various U.S. cities or send in an audition tape. Most opted to travel to audition on campus, where they danced under faculty examination for nearly four hours.
The applicants’ backgrounds were as diverse as their hometowns. Though most were seniors in high school, educational experience varied. Wyatt Johnson, a junior at Alta High School, hopes to enroll concurrently next year while he completes his diploma. Miles Wolstenhome of St. George earned an associate degree from Dixie State University.
“We have a lot of people that try a ‘regular’ college route for a year and then realize that their heart is really with ballet,” said Allison Lapehn, a freshman in ballet from Ohio.
The U’s program is highly structured, with students spending three years in formal instruction before completing a year in the company-esque setting of Utah Ballet. The program is designed to prepare students for the rigor of a professional career in dance.
“It’s one of the best,” Lapehn said. “I knew it would give me what I was looking for in a ballet program.”
Eri Nishihara, who came to the U after training with professors at the Ballet West Summer Intensive, will finish her year with Utah Ballet and receive her B.F.A. this Spring Semester.
“It’s a program that teaches you versatility,” Nishihara said. “The program requirements themselves promote it, and the faculty are also really varied in their styles of teaching and their professional experiences.”
For Leclerc, the U’s audition was a pivotal moment in her ballet career.
“It’s what I love to do,” she said. “It’s what I’ve loved my entire life.”
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