Dancing Toward the Future

12-year-old Andre Gallon gave up skateboards to pursue his dream of dancing.

ANDRE GALLON always has been a dedicated child. He earned money by working in his neighborhood, cutting grass, clearing driveways of leaves, or feeding pets when their owners were out of town. “And he was always very conscientious about how he spent the money he made,” says his mother, Jelena. He bought skateboards and skateboard accessories.

And ballet shoes.

“He’s a third-generation dancer,” she says of her now-12-year-old son. “My mother was a ballerina, and I danced the national folk dances of Yugoslavia, where I’m from. So yes, dancing is part of who he is.”

Last month, just before traveling to South Carolina to compete in the Young America Grand Prix, the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition, Andre told his mother, “You know, Mommy, I want to do ballet as a profession. I have come so far it would be a waste if I stopped now,” Jalena recalls. “I really liked that. Every parent wants to hear that their child made their own decision about something like that.”

He also chose to give up his other love, skateboarding, for fear he would hurt his feet, and thus, his ballet career.

With Andre’s dedication and his mother’s limitless emotional support, he couldn’t have followed his dream to be a professional dancer if it weren’t for the Florida Ballet’s scholarship program. The program has enabled the young dancer to get the same training he would receive from major ballet schools throughout the world.

Established in 1979 by artistic director Laurie Picinich-Byrd and her late husband, Michael Byrd, the Florida Ballet is Jacksonville, Florida’s, first and only professional dance company. The company presents programs throughout the year. The Florida Ballet also has a training center for young, emerging talent, like Andre. The training center educates, nurtures, and encourages the next generation of dance professionals and has a 100 percent acceptance rate in college and university dance programs.

Laurie is especially dedicated to grooming male talent. Ballet requires great strength, she says, which makes boys better at an early age. “Because we encouraged boys to enter this program, a lot of boys gravitated here. They know they will be respected and receive the specialized training they need,” says Laurie. “Boys now make up about 25 percent of our student body. That’s a higher percentage than a lot of larger programs in the country. I’m really proud of that.”

Quality ballet classes, especial on the level Andre requires, are expensive. So are the ballet shoes that can wear out in as little as a month. The students also have opportunities to travel to other cities to compete and perform, which can be costly.

To ensure that every deserving young person is not denied the chance to pursue his or her dream, the Florida Ballet Training Center offers scholarships to students who need financial help. The scholarships are paid for by individual, corporate, and foundation contributions.

Acceptance into the scholarship program is a rigorous process, including auditions, interviews with parents and potential students, submission of financial papers, and a final review by the Florida Ballet’s Board of Directors.

Once students are accepted into the program, all that matters is how seriously they take their work. “There is a strict dress code. It’s the kind of place where the kids know there are not going to be any preconceptions or prejudices when they come in. It’s how they work and how dedicated they are and what they put into it that counts here,” Laurie says.

As a single parent and owner of Simonida, a consignment furniture shop and art gallery in Jacksonville, Florida, Jalena said both she and Andre made buying ballet supplies a priority. However, without the scholarship program, which enables Andre to attend the school for free, “He couldn’t be there.”

Andre trains four days a week, often going straight from school to the studios to train for upcoming performances. That dedication may pay off in the form of college scholarships, as it has for several of the students.

“I started dancing when I was 4,” says Julian Rachal, now 18, another Florida Ballet scholarship recipient. He says ballet made him a stronger football player, but he opted to give up that sport to concentrate on dance in hopes of landing a college scholarship. “I just thought of ballet as an opportunity,” he says. And it was. Julian recently received a full scholarship to dance at the University of South Carolina where he plans to pursue a career in sports medicine.

The news is incentive for both Jalena and her son Andre, who last month placed fourth in his division in the Grand Prix competition in South Carolina. It’s an honor that makes the young boy laugh shyly.

“That shows he has the potential,” his mother says. In March, Andre will travel with other Florida Ballet dancers to perform in New York.

“It’s a great opportunity for them. Just being in New York—the center of culture—you can feel it in every corner. That’s the experience I am hoping for Andre,” Jalena says. “And hopefully he’ll get some scholarships, too.”

REGIONS is a proud supporter of the Florida Ballet.

Dancing Toward the Future

Posted February 17, 2011

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