Word: weiss
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Prior to daily one-on-one lessons with her coach, Weiss would take several adult classes at Manhattan's famous Steps studio. "The classes were open to the public," she explains. "So it was basically like 40-year old women and me!" Weiss chose a more conventional pre-professional path during the summers, attending programs at the San Francisco Ballet, the Pennsylvania Ballet...
...Though supportive of their daughter's commitment to dance, Weiss's parents were unnerved by the prospect of her not going to college. "They were very, very proud, but they certainly were not pushing me! I mean, my mom went to Yale and my dad went to Cornell. I think they always knew [my desire to go pro] was looming, and then it became very clear that this was what I was going to do, for at least a couple of years...
...seemed just as likely, however, that Weiss was on her way to an elite university. During her junior year, she managed to squeeze in four AP classes before her seven-hour jaunt into Manhattan for ballet rehearsal. Upon graduation, she was accepted by both Harvard and Yale, and chose to defer Yale's offer for one year...
...During that time, Weiss guest-performed with several companies in New York. Finally able to pay for her own pointe shoes, Anna's pirouettes caught the eye of American Ballet Theatre director Kevin McKenzie. "I was taking open classes in the evening at ABT," she says, "and I ended up getting along really well with the Ballet Mistress. She invited me to come take Company class in the morning. Kevin McKenzie would come in all the time and be like, ‘Who's that girl?', and that's how I ended up getting an audition." Networking holds...
...Having come so close to attaining her dream of professional dance, Weiss wrote Yale a letter explaining her situation. "I told them I'm not coming because I've worked so long for this, and I've just come really, really close to basically one of the most well-known companies in the world, and I want to see if I can do it. And they said, ‘You know that's perfectly fine, we absolutely understand—we're not holding your spot...