It was just by chance that the DeAngelos were living in Carlisle, the home of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB), when Abby Jayne discovered her passion for dance. She recalls that the first ballet she saw CPYB perform was “Madeline and the Red Shoes” when she was 5 years old. “I just knew that day that I wanted to be on that stage,” she said.
DeAngelo asked her parents if she could take dance lessons, and they agreed. For the first few years, she took tap dance alongside ballet because CPYB teachers believe that tap helps the students with musicality and rhythm. As she grew older, she began to learn about the school’s rules.
“For one thing, there is a very strict dress code at CPYB,” she says. “The little ones wear black shoes and black leotards and then, when you get to a certain level, you can start wearing blue. After that, it’s pink shoes and ribbons, then point shoes, then a ballet skirt and then any color you want.”
At age 14, DeAngelo is now taking lessons in the top level—spending about 30 hours a week dancing. She is at the CPYB’s studios Monday through Friday evenings and all day Saturday taking classes or rehearsing for upcoming shows. Her parents don’t worry about all the time that she spends at CPYB.
“She never seems to weary of ballet,” says her mother Emily. “Plus we feel that CPYB is a healthy environment and a safe place for Abby Jayne to be.”
Emily and her husband Cory say that they appreciate the atmosphere created at the school by founding Artistic Director Marcia Dale Weary. “Marcia places a strong emphasis on the character of her dancers,” says Emily. “She insists on hard work, of course, but she also encourages her dancers to respect authority and one another. Many of the ‘life lessons’ that Abby Jane has learned at CPYB have helped to develop her as a person.”
From the Top
CPYB began nearly six decades ago when Dale Weary started a local dance studio in a barn near her home. Disappointed by the reception she received when she went to New York City to seek a professional dance career, she instead committed herself to developing a school where aspiring young dancers would get the training that they needed to pursue their dreams.
Today, CPYB has eight full-time faculty and a staff of 13 to accommodate the 300 students that take classes during the school year and the 500 dancers that take part in CPYB’s intensive summer program. Although CPYB still uses the Historic Barn Studio, they have added 10 dance spaces at the CPYB Warehouse Studios and also hold classes in Camp Hill at the Grace Pollock Performing Arts Center.
CPYB distinguishes itself by having more than 80 of its graduates currently dancing professionally. They also have the honor of being the only pre-professional dance school in the country licensed to perform the works of George Balanchine, one of the 20th century’s most famous choreographers of ballet. Additionally, the school is so respected in the dance community that 25 percent of its students relocate to the area and live either with a parent or with a host family so that they can attend classes at CPYB.
June Series
As it does each year, CPYB will end its 2012-13 performing season with the June Series, featuring five mixed repertory performances at Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts. As a highlight, CPYB will premier “Company B,” its first acquisition from modern-dance legend Paul Taylor. “Company B” recalls the turbulent era when the country was drawn into the Second World War. During the 30-minute work, young soldiers and bobby soxers jitterbug and boogie-woogie to such Andrews Sisters hits as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (of Company B),” “Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!” and “Pennsylvania Polka.”
“’Company B’” shows joy and excitement and youthfulness coupled with the reality of war,” said Jamie Rae Walker, a CPYB alumna who is a Paul Taylor Dance Company dancer. “There is a lot of contrast in the work. That’s one of the beauties of Mr. Taylor’s work in general—there are many layers. It’s never straightforward.”
Walker, who has been a frequent guest teacher at CPYB since graduating from the school in 1994, has returned to stage the work. ”The work requires a different kind of movement than these dancers are accustomed to,” she said. “It’s very athletic and takes quite a bit of stamina to get through.”
Seven girls and six boys, mostly from the school’s highest level, dance in “Company B.” DeAngelo, who has the role of the Pennsylvania Polka girl, notes that her character is very happy because she’s the only girl whose husband is not at war. “Every character in ‘Company B’ has a personality and, when we were cast, Jamie Rae was looking for dancers who would fit those roles,” she said.
When the group began learning the work, rather than learning everyone’s name, Walker called them by the names of the original cast. “So I was called Rachael for about a month,” DeAngelo said. “It was fun to be called by the names of people who are famous dancers.”
Aside from learning the steps from Walker, DeAngelo has also been able to watch videos of the work. “Paul Taylor is very brilliant,” she said. “After creating a ballet, he actually videos it with every dancer in a different colored unitard against a white background. Then you can see where your dancer is all the time.”
For her part, Walker says she has really enjoyed working with this group of CPYB students. “They are very mature and just so eager to meet any challenge thrown at them,” she said. “They are the most beautifully trained dancers that I’ve seen at their age anywhere.”
In addition to “Company B,” the June Series will include more than 20 different ballets ranging from contemporary to classical. On Wednesday, June 19, the youngest students will perform a collection of ballets during “Next Generations Dance.” On Thursday, “New Dance Plus” will feature a George Balanchine ballet set to Mozart’s “Divertimento No. 15,” along with the works of two aspiring choreographers. On Friday, “See the Music Dance” will include “Company B,” Balanchine’s “Scherzo” from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Alan Hineline’s “re: Dvorak,” set to Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dances.” On Saturday, two performances of “Last Dance/Last Chance” will showcase 20th century masterpieces and modern day classics, including “Company B,” “Scherzo” and “Dvorak.”
For more information on the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, as well as the June Series, slated for June 19-22 at Whitaker Center, visit www.cpyb.org.
