SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. — While some students throughout Schuylkill County are sitting in classrooms, dancers at the Artists in Motion Performing Arts Pre-Professional Day Program are here in the studio.
Iley Polston from Schuylkill Haven says she dances for seven hours every day and loves every minute of it.
“I've just always loved dance, and I just want to be able to do more of it, so the day program is the next best thing that I could do so I can do what I love every day,” she said.
The Pre-Professional Day Program is structured like many vocational schools. Where dancers throughout Schuylkill County go to classes half of the day and spend the second half at the ballet barre.
Brianna Ryan graduated from the program and is so passionate about it that she came back as an instructor.
”There's no other program like this where you can come here for half of your day and train. Learn so many things you couldn't learn anywhere else,” she explained.
And their hard work has already paid off. The instructors at Artists in Motion Performing Arts say 100% of their students in their Pre-Professional Day Program have gotten into prestigious summer intensives all over the country.
“It makes me really proud because I see how much time and effort these kids put into dance, and they work so hard,” Ryan added.
Fifteen dancers will travel to programs like Joffrey Ballet in New York City this summer.
Others are getting a head start on their professional dance careers. Like Eliza Kline from Schuylkill Haven, who will dance full-time with American Music Theatre.
“You can go out there and get all of that experience, but if you're constantly performing and not training and working really hard in your developing years, you're going to kinda fall behind when you're older and miss that training. But we're definitely getting here, and it shows,” Kline mentioned.
The program is giving students of all ages options when it comes to planning their future.
“We really help them grow and help them understand they don't need that, and they can follow their dreams, and we're here to help them achieve that,” said Ryan.
Artists in Motion is looking to expand its Pre-Professional Day Program, inviting new dancers to their open house on June 12.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel.