This summer, Emily Tieu ’20 attended the Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive in Connecticut for six weeks. This program is presented by the Russian American Foundation (RAF), a nonpartisan organization founded in 1997 to encourage interest in and understanding of Russian heritage among all communities in the US, as well as to promote reciprocal interest in and understanding of American heritage among global Russian-speaking communities. The ballet program attracts a number of amazing and talented 9 to 15-year-old dancers from all over the world.  

The program was held at the Loomis Chaffee School, a century-old boarding school for boys, in Windsor, Connecticut.  Emily, along with many other students, stayed in the dorms where she shared a room with two other students. The ballet classes were taught in Russian by the all-Russian-speaking teachers! The program included daily Russian language classes, as well as other fun activities such as swimming, musical theater and weekend field trips. Emily was even able to visit New York City and watch a professional ballet company perform! 

“At first, I thought six weeks was a very long time but the days flew by quickly,” shared Emily. “I made many new friends and became a more confident dancer.” Emily and some of her fellow students have even received an invitation to study full-time at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow.