There are a lot of ballet dancers at Lafayette that spend hours in the studio and in school. The Times interviewed dancers that attend Bluegrass Youth Ballet (BYB) close by on Southland drive. They have classes five to six days a week and some days they are even dancing for five hours or more.
Julia Voskuhl is a sophomore at Lafayette and has been dancing since she was three years old. She is taking two AP classes and maintains having all A’s while dancing almost every day. Voskuhl told The Times, “It’s definitely taught me to be a more resilient person and has provided me with great friends and a great support system. Ballet has also caused me to sometimes question my worth because sometimes it can feel so degrading.” Dancing can give you so much but it could also make you lose all your confidence.
Another student dancer is Carsyn Watts, she is a freshman and has been dancing since she was four and also majors in ballet at School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCAPA). She is a very good student and she does all of BYB’s productions and all of SCAPA’s showcases. Watts told us, “It is so good for when I need to clear my head but it does take up like most of my life so I have no free time.” Ballet can drain everything out of these kids, but they still can’t replace the positives with any other sport.
Freyja Knudsen is a sophomore at Lafayette, a ballet major at SCAPA and has been dancing since she was three. She has had many main roles in BYB’s productions including being Clara in the Nutcracker, 2023. She told us, “Dance taught me discipline, hard work, and dedication, but dance has also affected my mental health. Body image and body dysmorphia in the dance world is very common and hard to deal with as well as eating disorders.” These teenagers have to stare at their bodies every day in a mirror and have to see other kids that have different shapes than them which can give them a negative view of themselves at a very young age.
Jasper Steele is a sophomore, has been dancing since she was three and also dances with Allegro dance company. Allegro is an organization started by Jeana Klevene that is made for kids with special needs to dance and also get to see older kids and adults that are a part of the company perform. Many people like Jasper, dance with this company and get paid while also helping kids with disabilities and building relationships with them along the way. Steele told us, “The discipline and the community at BYB are positive and some negatives are the expectations, the stress, and the injuries and I’ve pushed through.” Steele has struggled with many injuries that she has been expected to push through which is definitely where the harmful side of the Ballet world comes out.
These dancers have exhausting lives with ballet and trying to balance a social life and school on top of that. The community at BYB that their director, Adalhi Aranda, has created from the ground up is irreplaceable. She has created a space where kids can go to cry, laugh and dance their hearts out. Aranda has provided resources for lesser fortunate families and helped kids in so many ways like providing rides, dance education, and even food. Bluegrass Youth Ballet is like a second home for many Lafayette students and has taken up their time but made it worth spending.
