Dancing her way around the world
<p>Coeur d’Alene ballet student Chelsea Thronson, 16, is one of only eight U.S. women who will perform in the prestigious 2015 Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland in February.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Coeur d'Alene ballet student Chelsea Thronson, 16, has been selected over thousands of entrants around the world to be one of only eight U.S. women heading to Switzerland in February in the prestigious 2015 Prix de Lausanne.
According to a recent announcement, she will be one of only 67 young female and male dancers from places such as the Bolshoi in Russia and schools in Paris, South Korea, Portugal, Japan and Brazil.
Chelsea commutes 45 minutes each way daily to study at Ballet Coeur d'Alene, yet still manages to be an "A" student taking honors courses. She is on track for early high school graduation this year.
"Chelsea is the complete package," said Brooke Nicholson, teacher and artistic director of Ballet Coeur d'Alene. "Not only does she have a beautiful physical facility, but her work ethic is unmatched. Her cheery and light disposition is a joy to work with, and her sense of humor is witty and sharp as a tack."
Chelsea was last year's gold medal winner in the young artist division of Northwest Music Festival and this summer was awarded full scholarship for intensive study at Pacific Northwest Ballet. She began dance studies at the age of 3 in a creative movement class and has been progressing and working in serious ballet study ever since. Ballet Coeur d'Alene offers a wide range of programs for different levels of age and involvement, but the pre-professional studies program in which Chelsea has studied for two years includes dance practice and physical training as well as a full syllabus of academic classes such as anatomy, nutrition, music theory and choreography.
The list of the other U.S. women competitors shows young women from North Carolina School of the Arts, Long Beach Ballet, Orlando Ballet and The Rock in Pennsylvania.
The competition in Lausanne will be broadcast live in Europe Feb. 1-8 and will be streamed live on the Internet. Each competitor will be given a few days to choose one of 10 classical pieces and one of three contemporary pieces for their two dances. Thousands of eager young competitors from around the world were screened medically before sending resumes. Only 300 were invited to send videos, an honor in itself. The final competitors were chosen from those, and are the crme of the crop, world-wide, according to Nicholson, a nationally and internationally recognized ballerina, teacher and choreographer.
"It only gets better from here for her," Nicholson said. "Ballet will give back in ways Chelsea can't fathom yet, but her hard work and 14 years of sacrifice are already proving it was worth it."
The public can see Chelsea's grace and poise as part of the cast when Ballet Coeur d'Alene presents Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet, Dec. 20 and 21 at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 1700 Pennsylvania Ave. in Coeur d'Alene. Information and tickets are at balletcda.com.