Press Release: Team Cecchetti USA
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release, July 24, 2017
Southern California Ballet dancers join "Team Cecchetti USA" to compete in international ballet competition in Florence, Italy
San Diego, CA — On July 29, three Southern California Ballet dancers will board an airplane to Florence, Italy wearing their Cecchetti Team USA jackets to compete in the fifth Cecchetti International Ballet Competition. Dancers Amy McMaster, Kalena Tano and Kelsy Paroaon were selected by a national jury to represent Cecchetti USA and compete against dancers from Cecchetti Ballet Australia, Cecchetti Society of Canada, Cecchetti Council of America, Cecchetti Society of Southern Africa, Cecchetti Society Classical Ballet Faculty ISTD and Danzare Cecchetti- Ancec Italia.
The competition takes place every three years and is comprised of a junior and senior division. Cecchetti Team USA will send seven senior and five junior dancers who have passed intermediate and advanced Cecchetti exams. Amy McMaster, a 2016 graduate of Westview High, currently attending the School of Dance at the University of Utah, will compete in the senior division as well as Kalena Tano, a 2017 graduate of Rancho Bernardo High School and future UCSD freshman in Dance and Literature. Kelsy Paroaon, a 2017 graduate of Oak Valley Middle School is one of five dancers in the junior division.
The competition takes place in the Obihall Theatre, Florence on the bank of the Arno river and dancers will be judged during a ballet class on their acquisition and execution of the Cecchetti technique. On Thursday and Friday, August 3 & 4, classical and contemporary solos will be presented and finalists announced on Friday evening. The event ends on Saturday, August 5 with a Grand Gala evening featuring illustrious international guests and the announcement of awards and scholarships.
The jury consists of teachers, directors and choreographers holding the highest rankings in the world of ballet including Bella Ratchinskaya, Ballet Mistress, Wiener Staatsoper Ballet Akademie; Fabienne Cerutti, Faculty, Paris Opera; Jan Broeckx , Director, Ballet Academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich; Larissa Saveliev, Artistic Director and Founder Youth America Grand Prix; Nicola Katrak, Teacher, The Royal Ballet School; Michele Merola, Founder and Artistic Director, MM Contemporary Dance Company; Oliver Matz, Director, Dance Academy Zurich; Raymond Lukens, Artistic Associate, American Ballet Theater; Samira Saidi, Director of Dance, English National Ballet School; Steffi Scherzer, Director, Dance Academy Zurich.
Notes to Editor:
Links to recent news articles:
Amy McMaster: http://www.finearts.utah.edu/news/the-finer-points-blog/item/173-ballet-major- amy-mcmaster-represents-the-u-s-in-florence-ballet-competition
Kalena Tano: http://92128magazine.com/2017/06/06/kalena-tano-performs-well-as-a-dancer-and-an-editor/
Cechetti International is a worldwide non-profit organization incorporated in Canada on July 2, 2004. WEBSITE: http://cicb.org/
https://www.facebook.com/cecchetti.international/
OFFICIAL WEBSITE FOR THE 2017 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION:
http://cecchettiballetcompetition2017.com/index.php/programma-concorso/?lang=en
Cecchetti USA, WEBSITE: http://cecchettiusa.org/
Team USA: http://cecchettiusa.org/2017-team-cusa/
https://www.facebook.com/cecchettiusa/