Natasha Dardashti staff writer
Everyone has dreams. Whether they be big or small, even the most daunting dream can be reasonable to accomplish. For junior Matisse Love, the pathway to one of her biggest dreams yet has become visible.
Over the summer, Love was able to sharpen her skill of dancing with a scholarship to train at Juilliard with the Bolshoi Ballet. While there, she won first place in their competition, also landing an invitation to train with elite ballerinas in Moscow, Russia.
“I had teachers coming from Moscow work with me privately to train [and] coach me. They wanted me to succeed with them in their program, and I got offered a spot in the school,” Love said.
Love will be taking off most of the second semester of her junior year in order to attend the Bolshoi Academy.
“I’m starting the traineeship in late January, [but] I’m going to be here for a few weeks of second semester to do dance company shows, etc. I’ll be living on my own in Moscow in the dorms of the academy until June 30. They did offer me a three year contract after that, but I don’t know about it yet. I’ll see if I take it. I really have no clue if I’m gonna like it or not,” Love said.
The excitement in attending the Bolshoi Academy lies not only in the curriculum, but in the fact that Love’s ballet idols have graduated from the school as well.
“All my icons who are stars in the Company now have graduated from the Academy. Ivan Vasilev, Natalia Osipova, all these crazy Russian people. They inspire me a lot,” Love said.
Love has been training for this moment most of her life, and sees it as a stepping stone to one of her ultimate goals of being a member of the Bolshoi Company.
“I’ve been working so hard my whole life, and now my work ethic has finally been noticed and seen by others. I’m getting to fulfill my dream by going to Bolshoi,” Love said.
Though the Bolshoi Academy is extremely selective with their admittance and rarely accept dancers from America, Love was an exception to this rule.
“I am so incredibly honored, because it doesn’t happen to many American citizens. It’s kind of like making history,” Love said.
To learn more and support Love on her ballet journey, you can donate to her GoFundMe.