Local Ballet Students Win National Acclaim

Multiple local ballet and dance students competed last month at the Dance Showcase USA National Finals in Fort Worth held June 20-26. The students received an incredible reception and multiple high awards. Competing against over 1,000 contestants, and 30 studios from five states, this was On Pointe’s first time to bring a full group performance to a National Competition.

Participants included Cate Hooper, 8 of Schulenburg, who placed 1st Elite Platinum in Ballet Duet with her partner Raiden Jalufka, 10 of Halletsville, with their performance of “Little Red Riding Hood” which also placed 3rd Overall for their Age Group. Jalufka also teamed with Stassney Ahrens, 10 of Flatonia, in their performance of “Too Close” where they won significant national awards placing 1st Elite in Open Category Duet and 1st Overall for their Age Group.

Audrey Pietsch, 7 of La Grange, performed for her first time at a National level with her rendition of “Polka” placing 1st in ballet. Her sister Layla Pietsch wowed the judges with her performance of “Cupid Variation” placing 1st Elite in ballet, 2nd in her age group, and a Grand Champion 1st place for her Crystal Junior Solo division.

Grace Malinovsky, 14 of Shiner, performed two pieces this year placing 2nd in Ballet with her performance of “La Mal Gardee Variation” and 5th in Lyrical Dance with her performance of “I’m in here”.

Kamryn Kelly, 13 of Muldoon, again received extremely high accolades this year, competing for the first time at the Diamond level with her performances of Elegie and Esmerelda. She won 1st Elite in classical ballet, 1st Elite in Contemporary Ballet, 1st Overall for her age group, and Grand Champion 1st place for her Diamond Junior Solo division.

Finally the Studio entered two group pieces for the first time with “Welcome to Wonderland” and “Dance of Knights” pieces which were drawn from the recent recital. Olivia Garmoe, Madilyn Camarillo, Grace Green, Brinson Huette, Kamryn Kelly, Marybeth Krischke, Clara Magliolo, Grace Malinovsky, Layelah Martin, Sophia Mick, Layla Pietsch, Hayli Rodriguez, and Mia Westfall all performed amazingly. Winning 2nd place small group tap for Wonderland, and winning 1st place Elite large group ballet for Knights, 2nd place Overall in age group, and a Grand Champion 1st place in the Crystal Teen Large Group division for their performance of Knights. The studio was awarded the Judges award for Entertainment and also the Judges award for Choreography as well.

The students worked tirelessly over this past year and refined their talent through hard work and determination. Competing together not only as soloists and duets but also as a group. Because of these student’s dedication, On Pointe is proud to announce classes which will focus on Competition training starting this upcoming fall. These preprofessional classes will be open by audition and invitation only and will allow students to focus on the growth of their skills and talent.

The studio starts its 5th year of instruction this year, continuing to serve over 200 students from the region with World Class ballet and dance instruction based in the Vaganova instruction method. For more information please visit https:// onpointe.studio.