SATURDAY is a special occasion for 30 young aspiring ballerinas.
The day will not only kick off the 21st Annual Flame Tree Festival, but will also mark their first stage performance.
Under the tutelage of Anna Glushko, a multi-awarded ballerina, the young ballerinas of the CNMI aged four to 13 will perform the “Waltz of the Flowers” from “The Nutcracker.”
“I am so excited. I can’t even sleep,” Glushko said.
The students are preparing extensively for their performance, practicing at least three times a week, she said.
“Kids, like pink butterflies, will get together and form a shapely circle and flutter with the music of the waltz. Their pink skirts will rustle to the rhythm,” Glushko said.
The students are also excited about their upcoming performance, she said.
“The girls are serious and focused. They are really preparing for their first stage performance,” Glushko said.
Glushko’s Ballet & Modern Dance Class, located along Middle Road near McDonald’s, is the island’s first ballet school.
Barely two months old, Glushko’s school now has 42 students.
Glushko honed her skills and talents at the Vladivostok Ballet School for eight years and later joined the internationally acclaimed Irkutsk Music Theatre.
Glushko performed solo for productions like “Don Quixote,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker.”
During the 1990s, Glushko represented Russia in the Russia-Fukui Ballet School joint concert and emerged as the champion of the Fukui Prefecture ballet contest.
In 1997, Glushko also topped the national ballet master contest in Novosibirsk, Russia.
Two years later, Glushko received a diploma from the Primorsk Regional College of Culture, earning her a degree on choreography.
Today, Glushko offers classes for children aged seven to 12.
“I have the experience of conducting choreography for professional gymnasts in the city of Irkutsk. Some of them later became champions in Europe and other parts of the world,” Glushko said.
The greatest achievement of a teacher is to see her students reach their potentials, she added.
