(violin playing)
- Harvard Ballet Company has been
a really huge part of Harvard for me actually.
Just finding all of these dancers here
in a really nice community.
- I see dance as like, an outlet
that I get to enjoy.
I'll often like, just go into an empty studio by myself
and just move around during the day,
even if its in between classes.
- Hi, I'm Ali Garber,
I'm a sophomore at Harvard.
- Hi, my name is Illiana Riveron,
I'm at senior.
- Hi, my name is Sara Chou,
I am a first year.
- Hi, my name is Catherine Qin,
I am a senior at Harvard.
- Hi, I am Anna Antongiorgi,
I am a sophomore.
- My name is Lia Kaynor,
I'm a senior.
- I'm Alexandra Caffrey,
and I'm a sophomore at Harvard.
- So, when I was looking at colleges,
actually it was pretty important to me
that I would have a good dance program.
- It actually was a pretty big reason
why I decided on Harvard.
Just knowing there was already a community of dancers.
- The level of intensity can definitely vary,
depending on your own interest
and this can be as little as two hours a week,
just coming to our weekly class,
or it can also involve being
in a variety of different pieces
that are then shown in our semesterly show.
- What makes Harvard Ballet Company so unique
is that everyone sort of brings something different
to the table.
There are so many talented dancers
and choreographers with so many different backgrounds,
which I think probably is the best thing
because you can learn from so many different people.
I definitely feel that being part of HBC,
I'm apart of a family,
were all very close to each other.
I feel as if I can just go up to anyone
and just talk to them about anything.
- Its really warm and loving
and it still has that drive towards excellence
that I think we've all experienced coming to Harvard,
but surrounded by this like, nurturing environment
and this commitment to creativity as well
was really just such a valuable group of people
to walk into I think.
- In high school, dance can be very competitive
and I feel like before coming to HBC,
dance had so much pressure on it,
I had to be certain way, I had to do a certain thing.
You lose a lot of the love in that kind of environment
and I think HBC was a place where I was able
to find that again
because its just so supportive.
- Once dancers have spent at least a semester
in the company,
they can often times run or apply to be on a board position,
so their are two co-directors
and there are people responsible for the finances
and the costs and everything.
And then also within the company,
we select student choreographers
who will help us put on our shows.
- Learning how to run something that like,
a lot of people were involved in
and learning how to make sure things happened
with the ballet company and our shows happened
and just the leadership that came along with that
has also been really important for me.
- The opportunity to really create something of your own,
I think was a really wonderful experience.
- Through my experience in being the company,
I think I've definitely made
a lot of my closest friends here at Harvard.
I think its definitely given me a lot more confidence
in my own abilities,
not just as an artist,
but also as a leader and as a friend,
and as someone who can sort of cheer lead
and create and shape an entire community.
- I have this love for ballet
that I know will never go away.
It's always apart of me,
and I think that's the same for anybody
who's made it such a huge part of their life.
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