The Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington, D.C. has been providing two openings for TNUA students each year since 2009. So far four TNUA dance students have been awarded scholarships to study there.
The opportunities for TNUA students to study at Kirov have been enabled by Prof. Martin Friedman, currently deputy artistic director at the academy. Prof. Friedman, who taught at TNUA from 2007-2008, was here again in January 2011 to recruit students for summer and regular programs at Kirov as well as the Boston Ballet School.
Kirov, a pre-professional boarding school, provides a rare opportunity for students in Taiwan where there is hardly any program specifically devoted to training ballet dancers.
Chiu Li-yi, one of those four TNUA students accepted by Kirov, said ballet has been her love since childhood, and it was like a dream come true when she was awarded a scholarship to study at Kirov.
Still a student a Kirov, Chiu said the design of the curriculum requires learning six days every week, with each class lasting about two and half hours. The dance training is in Russian style, with strict requirement for precision of every body movement, she said, adding the training is so much different from what she has experienced before.
The training is hard, and may be even harder for Asians whose physical build is different from that of their European or American counterparts. For example, Chiu said, Asian students may have to leap a few more times than their European and American classmates in order to cover the same distance.
Prof. Friedman, during his two-year teaching at TNUA, worked with students in the production of “Four Fantasy Pieces” and others. Devoted to the teaching of ballet, Prof. Friedman helped secure the openings for TNUA students to study at Kirov.
The Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington, D.C., was founded by Oleg Vinogradov in 1990. Vinogradov, artistic director of the Kirov Ballet for 24 years, is credited with securing that company’s artistic legacy when he took over in 1977. The founding of the academy was endorsed by U.S. President George W.H. Bush, who is described as a dedicated fan of the Kirov Ballet.