A
young intermediate ballet class
excitedly donned feathers for a special
photo shoot. Millianna, a local jewelry
company, had chosen Mimi Escoto
Ewers, the petite and impossibly
beautiful director of the Ballet Arts
Academy (BAA) in Spokane, to promote
its new line of feather jewelry. For the
next hour and a half, Mimi and rows of
happy little girls swayed in a festival of
feathers while the cameras rolled.
For all other intents, it was a regular
class running through its standard
exercises. Red and blue leotards
designated the level of each dancer, and
Mimi had grouped them into teams.
“Red trolls over here and blue trolls
over there!” she directed. They took
their places at the barre. Throughout
the photo shoot Mimi remained the
instructor par excellence, inspecting the
posture of each “troll.” “We want that
vertical line! Head up! Taller! Taller!”
she said, stretching an already stretched-
out 10-year-old’s neck. Floating from
dancer to dancer, Mimi stopped at one
small pupil. “Taller!” she said, lifting
her from behind. “You can do it! Taller!
Very good!”
“Look expensive!” she reminded her
protégées, remembering they were also
modeling feathers. “Soft and expensive!”
She smiled and their faces settled into
pleasant, “expensive” expressions. They
clearly felt relaxed and comfortable with
her. Dashing to a corner to change the
music for the next number, Mimi asked,
“What would you like to do now?”
The class, now gathered in the opposite
corner, were gleeful at the opportunity
to execute certain moves they found
especially fun. By class’s end they were
bowing in gratitude to an imaginary
audience and musicians before filing out
the doorway to their waiting parents.
End of class, and what a class, feathers
and all! (They got to keep their feathers.)
Photo credit: Scott Martinez Photography
Mimi’s History with BAA
Soon after moving to Spokane some sixteen years ago from her native Honduras,
where she had previously taught ballet, Mimi signed up for class with Ballet Arts
Academy. (It should be borne in mind that “class” here is something that all ballet
dancers need to keep up on a regular basis, to keep their bodies in tune.) This was
the very school that owner-operator Peggy Goodner had established, after resigning
from the Spokane Ballet Company’s school on account of the emotional outbursts of
its director in front of young students and their parents. (See Art Chowder, Jan/Feb
2019, “Spokane’s Professional Ballet Company and Its Dark Shining Star.”) Goodner
relocated her classes farther up the street from the ballet company on Sprague
Avenue. After many years BAA moved again to its present location at 109 W. Pacific
Ave, once a warehouse district. Mimi acquired the school from a successive owner
and began to place her personal mark on the former warehouse and the school.
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