Weyburn dancer Autumn Alexander has lived and breathed dance for most of her life, and now she will have the opportunity to work with some of the top choreographers in the industry later this month.
After she took part in the “Inspirations of Dance” recital for her dance studio, Marley’s Dance Effex, held in April at the Cugnet Centre, she was awarded a full $7,000 “Be Discovered” scholarship, and she will be flying to Los Angeles for an intensive week of training on Aug. 23-31.
“I will be working with America’s top choreographers and performers, and I will learn what it takes to be in the dance industry,” said Autumn in an interview.
A highlight for the week in Hollywood will be to attend and perform at the Choreographers Ball, where professional dancers from all across America will be in attendance. She and her fellow dancers in this class will work with some top choreographers to put together this performance.
Throughout that week, the dancers will take different classes covering different dance styles, such as jazz, hip hop and contemporary. She will be in a class of about 14 dancers.
There will be some fun treats during the week, including the chance to attend a taping of the TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance”, along with getting head shots and dance photos taken for their dance resume, said Autumn, plus she will have some audition opportunities while there.
Other treats will be a visit to The Grove in Hollywood, the Sunset Strip and a tour of Beverly Hills, including seeing where some of the famous stars live.
The 17-year-old has been dancing, along with her older sisters Britney and Brooke and younger sister Emilie, since she was about two years old, and previously has won half-scholarships for dance training sessions. This was the first time she has won a full scholarship, and is very excited for this opportunity.
She noted the adjudicators at her competition “really wanted to me to go on this trip and wanted me to pursue dance,” and noted this full scholarship is helping make that possible, because to go otherwise would have been very expensive for her.
Autumn will be accompanied on the trip by her mom Melanie and sister Emilie, and they will be able to see some of the training and the performance that she will involved with.
She taught two dance camps with her sister Britney this summer, and plans to prepare her body in the week prior to going, as previous attendees have told her the training can be very intensive.
