Madelyn LaLonde 15 ~ Amber Strausser Scholarship
"Dance is not just what I do, Dance is what I am," says 15 year old Madelyn LaLonde. She was raised in the dance studio. Many people can remember seeing her sitting at the door watching her older sister and waiting until she was old enough to enter. Once Madelyn turned three, you could always find her at the barre, pushing herself to dance like the older dancers. She joined the competitive dance company at the age of eight and quickly earned a name for herself in the competitive world. By the age of twelve she found her true love for ballet by attending Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensive. The experience pushed her to focus on the core of all dance, ballet.
Madelyn is a freshman at the School of Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas, studying different techniques three and half hours a day. After school she attends Allergo West Academy of Dance.
Her goal is to continue to grow her dance studies and make her dream of joining a professional dance company come true. Madelyn strives everyday to be the best dancer she can possibly be.
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Dear Dance Council of North Texas,
I want to personally thank the Dance Council of North Texas and Amber Strausser for providing me the chance to attend the Royal Academy of Dance Summer Intensive. I was able to spend a week in Long Beach, California studying Advance I syllabus. This was my first chance to visit the west coast, and I greatly enjoyed the experience (all the way down to missing my flight). My week was mostly ballet, but I also received pilates and free enchainement classes. My ballet classes were strenuous flat and pointe work. The end of the day, I got to enjoy the campus of University of California. At the end of the intensive I was able to take my Advance I examination, and I look forward to receiving my results. This summer intensive helped me improve on technique and gave me direction to continue my dance endeavor; I could not have done so without your gracious opportunity and belief in me.
~ Madelyn LaLonde