The National Ballet of Canada has chosen one of Burnaby’s very own to be part of its upcoming apprenticeship program.
Jeannine Haller and nine others from across the country will start the 10-month stint this August, building their technical skills and learning to adapt to a professional schedule, all while making a decent buck.
“At the beginning, I didn’t really know you could dance as a career and make money,” 19-year-old Haller told the NOW in a phone interview from her Toronto residence, where’s she lived for the last three years. “Once I found that out and was accepted, and made the decision to come to Canada’s National Ballet School and move across the country from my family, I kind of decided, OK, I’m going to do this.”
Haller was accepted into Canada’s National Ballet School in Grade 11, at which time she had to pack her bags and move to Ontario.
“This is almost unheard of because the NBS likes to train its own students from a much younger age; 10 is the norm,” wrote Kate Lancaster, communications coordinator for Place des Arts, Haller’s former dance school in Coquitlam, in an email. “After two years at the NBS, Jeannine was one of only two students from the NBS accepted into the National Ballet of Canada apprenticeship program this year.”
Haller credits much of her success to her ballet teacher, Lucienne Anczykowski, who’s worked with her since she was 6 years old.
“She’s very dedicated to all her students. I would do private (classes) most days of the week, at odd times, like the middle of the afternoon, and she would come in and work with me and push me really hard,” Haller said. “She wanted us to be the best we could be.”
Anczykowski wasn’t at all surprised when one of her top students received the good news.
“As the years progressed, I knew what I had in my hands,” she said. “I knew she had tremendous potential, that she had a future and that she’s going to go very, very far.”
When Haller was just a kid, Anczykowski noticed she had great attention to detail and was very focused.
“She would be one of those students who would question why and what and how. If I gave out homework, she would be the only one out of the whole class would who go home and actually do it,” the dance instructor recalls.
Being selected as an apprentice is no easy feat, she added.
“It’s like the Olympics. Everybody wants to get in and everybody’s good, excellent. Everybody has what it takes, but then it’s what separates you from the top?”
During her studies at the national school, Haller took part in various dances, including the 2013 Assemble Internationale, Esmerelda and Grand pas de Fleurs. This past March, she was invited to guest star at the Semperoper Ballet in Dresden, Germany, where she performed in Swan Lake.
“That was an amazing experience,” Haller said. “It was so fun to be immersed in the culture, in the language, and the company was really amazing, too.”
Besides being a part of various company productions, NBC’s 2015/16 apprenticeship program also allows dancers to work with school children through You Dance, an education and outreach program.
“I’m just thrilled for her,” Anczykowski said. “This is actually an accomplishment for the community because it doesn’t happen that often, that somebody reaches the top.”
