Participants and Dancers

Some of the more than 100 students that attended the second annual Carreño Dance Festival Summer Intensive share their thoughts about what it was like to attend the Summer Intensive in August of 2012.

Brandon Carpio, 15

The Carreño Dance Festival was amazing. Ever since I started dancing I’ve always been inspired by two specific dancers; Jose Carreño, and Carlos Acosta.. So to be taught and on stage with Jose Carreño was very special to me and an experience that I cannot forget. All the teachers were amazing, and every day, I felt that I was challenged. The corrections were technical but also
artistic. They made me feel and think of my movement and my body in ways that were very different. I loved the classes on stage. I couldn’t believe I was taking class next to Julie Kent, It made me feel as if I was a professional. It was exciting and inspiring.

Gabriella Stilo, 12

The Carreño Dance Festival Intensive helped me improve as a dancer, and it also made me more confident when I perform. I really enjoyed participating in the intensive and would like to attend the Carreño Dance Festival Intensive in 2013.

Serena Sovdsnes,15

The Carreño Dance Festival was such an incredible experience! Having the opportunity to train with teachers like Loipa Araujo and Yuri Fateev was so amazing. Dancing “Giselle” on stage at the Sarasota Opera House with Jose Manuel Carreño and Julie Kent was like a dream come true. The Carreño Dance Festival inspired me to train harder, reach higher and never give up on my dream.

Arcadian Broad,16

It fine tuned my technique, like my feet and lines. I became cleaner in my pirouettes and jumps. I learned that’s it’s not always about tricks because those will go away eventually….but the artist in you never will die. And to always keep pushing for that next level…because I love ballet.

Allie Burman,14

The most memorable part of the Carreño festival this year was having such a wonderful faculty to work with. The master teachers like Ms. Loipa and Mr.
Carreño were absolutely stupendous! It was such an honor to take classes with them and to be able to share the stage with them in the gala. I have not only
grown as a dancer at the Carreño Festival, I grew as person. I Overall this experience was terrific, and it opened my eyes and gave me a preview of what it is really like to become a professional ballet dancer. Words cannot describe how wonderful the Carreño Festival truly is, and just to be a part of it will stick with me the rest of my dance career.

Francisco Serrano, 15