Alumni & Success Stories

Danielle Horochowski
Senior Dance Major
Belhaven College, Jackson MI

  I transferred my dance studies to the City Ballet School to pursue a more professional level of training at the age of twelve. After graduating from high school, I studied at the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park College, Ballet Magnificat!, and the Dance department at Belhaven College. Although I am still performing, I plan to pursue a career in dance research and pedagogy. I am currently engaged in a study on the correlation between dance and academic achievement, in an effort to add dance programs to public school curriculums.
  The City Ballet School provided a safe, nurturing environment with the highest caliber of technical training by educated and knowledgeable faulty. Under the artistic direction of Lauran Clowser, The City Ballet School sets a standard of excellence through discipline and artistry, empowering students to pursue many avenues of professional careers in Dance. I will always be indebted to the City Ballet School for giving me the opportunity to pursue my passion for dance.

Karen Dunn
Sophomore George Mason University
Williamsport High School Graduate

    From the first time I stepped out of a dance classroom I always to feel like my hard work was going to take me somewhere. When I auditioned for "The Nutcracker" at The City Ballet School when I was nine, I met Lauran Clowser, the director, for the first time. After my mother and I spoke to her I knew that the City Ballet School was where I needed to be to get that feeling fulfilled. After first seeing me perform she could not stop commenting on how well I danced. Even though I was new, it really made me feel really special; after all compliments are part of every dancer's diet whether a serious dancer or not. Once I was old enough I was accepted into the Potomac Classical Youth Ballet Company and introduced to the feeling of being in a pre professional company. This is not something that many children who dance get to take part in living in a small town. Working with other girls around the ages 12-18 is an eye-opening expedience as well as a tough life to live. However, without the long hours of training I have put in, I would have never been one of the girls picked to travel to Scotland, Michigan, and Vermont. Nor would I now be going to George MAson University on a scholarship from the university's dance department and in part by the Lauran Clowser Scholarship Fund. As I am a sophomore at GMU, I am spreading my wings as an aspiring choreographer. Lauran Clowser gave me my first chances to choreograph as I taught for the ballet school. She also gave me the chance of a lifetime to choreograph a piece on the beautiful dancers of the Potomac Classical Ballet Company in 2003. I can only be grateful to Lauran Clowser and other teachers at the City BAllet School for helping me get to where I am today. Without the opportunities provided through the school, I would most likely not be where I am today; let alone the person I am today. Thank You.

Justin Leaf - Soloist
James Sewell Ballet

  I was invited to attend dance classes at the City Ballet School when I was 13 years old. For the five years that followed, I found myself in a supportive, friendly, and creative environment in which to learn and grow as a young artist. Performing great masterworks of the classical repertoire ignited my passion for classicism, while dancing in new, original ballets led me to see how the fundamentals of ballet could be used to express contemporary ideas. From these experiences, I have been inspired to continue my dance training beyond high school and to pursue a professional career in the art form. Since graduating from the Juilliard School in 2001, I have been a featured dancer with the James Sewell Ballet of Minneapolis. Whenever possible, I return to the City Ballet School as a teacher and choreographer. Invariably, I see a light in each one of those students that has been lovingly nurtured, and I experience a renewal of inspiration that I bring with me into my dancing where ever I go.