Review: Ajkun Ballet Performing In New York
Let me start out by saying that Ajkun Ballet Theater's "Performing in New York" (PINY) is not for everyone.
It is not for people uncomfortable en pointe, since all classes and rehearsal are in pointe shoes. It is not for people who have never learned a ballet before, since learning a full length ballet is the focus of the program. It is also not for people who are not used to pas de deux work. I would also recommend that participants dedicate more energy to Ajkun--though the intensive is late in the summer, it should be approached with focus.
Much of it was overwhelming and stressful. Most of the scenes were taught by junior artists/unpaid interns who were themselves unsure of the choreography, which was unfair to both parties learning the ballet and did not foster a professional atmosphere. The lectures on company life and crosstraining were 30 minute sessions on the orientation day and were not expanded on further, which I found to be the most disappointing part of the program. Additionally, the lectures were rather asinine or outright misleading, giving harmful suggestions. I would encourage future participants to not invest interest in these lectures and rather focus on the experience of learning choreography, since some promotional materials (maybe out of date) put a lot of emphasis on the seminars and lectures.
I am very grateful that I was offered the opportunity to work with Ellen Sinopoli and her dancers--the modern dance classes and choreography allowed me another opportunity to learn about another facet of dance and also to understand how much I really do love contemporary dance. I thoroughly enjoyed the modern dance portion of Ajkun Ballet Theater's intensive.
In the end, I did not perform in the ballet, leaving rehearsal and not thinking twice about it. Most of my motivation in giving up came from the feeling I got in rehearsals that the company wasn't necessarily professional enough to care. Both Chiara Akjun and Brittany Larrimer (the artistic director and prima ballerina) taught every class and they taught them with vape in hand, constantly being used. Additionally, despite auditioning and being successfully accepted to the program, I was not cast to dance in the ballet itself, rather asked to walk across the stage once and then act as a background character. While I find this absolutely acceptable in a company setting, in a Summer Intensive (with astronomical tuition and fees upon fees upon fees), I think it is absolutely ridiculous. With some hindsight, I know that it was an odd choice for me to stop attending the ballet portion of the intensive, but I firmly believe that Akjun Ballet Theater in no way met me in the middle in any aspect.
Additionally, I don't believe that Akjun has much concern for dancer health--the first day, I approached one of the chaperones to discuss my chronic Achilles tendinitis, and when I said "my Achilles has been hurting..." she cut me off mid-sentence and said aggressively "Yeah? Me too;" not even giving me the opportunity to ask for potential Ajkun connections to doctors they had worked with before. When I finally got my point across, she said that there were no doctors they knew (every other program I've worked with has happily handed over a list), and that if I were going to have an appointment, to schedule it in order to not interfere with their schedule, which was 9:30am to 7pm. Aside from this, they encourage an absurd amount of turnout--not a classic Russian 180 degrees, heavily enforced, but an almost physically repulsive (and undoubtedly harmful) 200 degrees
In the end, I would recommend PINY to a more intermediate or more levelheaded dancer; someone who is not just embarking on their journey, and definitely not someone who takes everything their teacher says to heart. It is a very small group (12 people for my year) and the emphasis is on a full production. If one is in the right stage in their training, I can absolutely see how well this program will work, and I believe that it did a lot of good for one of my roommates--a beautiful dancer--who was able to learn soloist parts and enjoyed every day of the intensive.
It is not for people uncomfortable en pointe, since all classes and rehearsal are in pointe shoes. It is not for people who have never learned a ballet before, since learning a full length ballet is the focus of the program. It is also not for people who are not used to pas de deux work. I would also recommend that participants dedicate more energy to Ajkun--though the intensive is late in the summer, it should be approached with focus.
Much of it was overwhelming and stressful. Most of the scenes were taught by junior artists/unpaid interns who were themselves unsure of the choreography, which was unfair to both parties learning the ballet and did not foster a professional atmosphere. The lectures on company life and crosstraining were 30 minute sessions on the orientation day and were not expanded on further, which I found to be the most disappointing part of the program. Additionally, the lectures were rather asinine or outright misleading, giving harmful suggestions. I would encourage future participants to not invest interest in these lectures and rather focus on the experience of learning choreography, since some promotional materials (maybe out of date) put a lot of emphasis on the seminars and lectures.
I am very grateful that I was offered the opportunity to work with Ellen Sinopoli and her dancers--the modern dance classes and choreography allowed me another opportunity to learn about another facet of dance and also to understand how much I really do love contemporary dance. I thoroughly enjoyed the modern dance portion of Ajkun Ballet Theater's intensive.
In the end, I did not perform in the ballet, leaving rehearsal and not thinking twice about it. Most of my motivation in giving up came from the feeling I got in rehearsals that the company wasn't necessarily professional enough to care. Both Chiara Akjun and Brittany Larrimer (the artistic director and prima ballerina) taught every class and they taught them with vape in hand, constantly being used. Additionally, despite auditioning and being successfully accepted to the program, I was not cast to dance in the ballet itself, rather asked to walk across the stage once and then act as a background character. While I find this absolutely acceptable in a company setting, in a Summer Intensive (with astronomical tuition and fees upon fees upon fees), I think it is absolutely ridiculous. With some hindsight, I know that it was an odd choice for me to stop attending the ballet portion of the intensive, but I firmly believe that Akjun Ballet Theater in no way met me in the middle in any aspect.
Additionally, I don't believe that Akjun has much concern for dancer health--the first day, I approached one of the chaperones to discuss my chronic Achilles tendinitis, and when I said "my Achilles has been hurting..." she cut me off mid-sentence and said aggressively "Yeah? Me too;" not even giving me the opportunity to ask for potential Ajkun connections to doctors they had worked with before. When I finally got my point across, she said that there were no doctors they knew (every other program I've worked with has happily handed over a list), and that if I were going to have an appointment, to schedule it in order to not interfere with their schedule, which was 9:30am to 7pm. Aside from this, they encourage an absurd amount of turnout--not a classic Russian 180 degrees, heavily enforced, but an almost physically repulsive (and undoubtedly harmful) 200 degrees
In the end, I would recommend PINY to a more intermediate or more levelheaded dancer; someone who is not just embarking on their journey, and definitely not someone who takes everything their teacher says to heart. It is a very small group (12 people for my year) and the emphasis is on a full production. If one is in the right stage in their training, I can absolutely see how well this program will work, and I believe that it did a lot of good for one of my roommates--a beautiful dancer--who was able to learn soloist parts and enjoyed every day of the intensive.
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