DEL.ICIO.USPERFORMING ARTS
Lawrenceville native to become ballerina in Spain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some people spend all their lives searching for their passion.
For Alessandra Ball, it was shown to her, as if someone placed before her a full-length mirror so she could realize the grace of her leaps, points and pliés.
rpomerance@ajc.com
Lawrenceville native Alessandra Ball, a graduate of Greater Atlanta Christian School, will join the Victor Ullate Ballet in Madrid, Spain.
The Lawrenceville native never imagined she’d become a professional ballet dancer, that, at 25, she’d be preparing to join the Victor Ullate Ballet in Madrid, Spain. Yet this Tuesday, she’s on her way.
Her journey began as a toddler when her mother, Mitzi, enrolled her in a basic movement class and later a string of ballet classes.
“I was like, ‘Oh, this is fun,’ ” and “a nice way to express myself,” Ball said in a voice slow and measured like a dance. Still ballet was just a pastime during her formative years.
That was until age 16, when her teachers — Lisa Sheppard Robson of Gwinnett Ballet Theatre and Stanislav Issaev, dance department chairman of the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities — suggested otherwise.
“They pulled it out of me and showed me what I was capable of. I didn’t know what I was capable of. I had my own limitations in my head, and it took them to see me from the outside and see what was inside,” she said.
Once Ball graduated from Greater Atlanta Christian School, she auditioned for professional dance companies, landing for a year with the Colorado Ballet.
She was recruited to join the North Carolina Dance Theatre. While there, she was invited to a gala with CNN’s Larry King as master of ceremonies and where she met Prince Albert of Monaco and the legendary Mikhail Baryshnikov. About five years into her work with the North Carolina company, Victor Ullate’s group offered her a position, which she initially declined. She didn’t feel ready to leave her company. A year later, she received an e-mail asking her to reconsider and she accepted.
It’s not only a chance to grow in her career but to reconnect with her roots. Ball’s mother is from Panama and has family in Madrid, and Spanish is Ball’s first language.
As Spain draws near, Ball credits her parents.
“This was my absolute passion, and that’s all that I wanted, and my parents saw this fire that I had for it, and my parents gave me the means and the way to pursue my dream.”
Her father, Don, played a key role. Every night, before tucking in both Ball and her sister, Christina, now 21, he made them repeat this affirmation: “I’m special. I can do anything I want to do if I try hard enough.”
“The fact that he made me say that and he believes that is why I can be where I am today because he instilled in me that sense of that I can do anything, that nothing will stop me,” she said.
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