In October, I auditioned for the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. Right when I walked through the doors, I felt at home. I also met the most influential person in my life, Arantxa Ochoa. She has changed me as a person and I knew as soon as I met her that she would always be my role model. Ms. Arantxa is the most amiable person I have ever met. There is truly no word to describe her, but I will try to describe the feeling I got as she stepped into the room. I felt that a sun just came into the studio and just washed my worries away. She is one of the most cordial people I know, and I miss her dearly. After class, she took me aside and said that I needed to work on my technique, but I was a gorgeous dancer. When she gave me the news, I thought that she didn't accept me to the school, and felt tears pool in my eyes. When she saw the look of despair in my eyes she piped up and said, "Did I not tell you, you've been accepted!" I have never felt so relieved in my entire life, and I just felt like I could dance forever, even after the hardest class I had ever taken.
After only a few months, Ms. Arantxa had 'fixed' how I danced. I still was a very sloppy dancer, but the technical aspect of my dancing had improved tremendously. In February, Durante Verzola came into our class to choreograph a piece for our spring performance. He came in about every few weeks or so, and worked us like we were professional dancers. By the end of rehearsal, I was exhausted and sweaty, but still loved the experience just the same. Those few months went by quickly and in May, we were ready for dress rehearsal.
At the Annenberg Center, we practiced until ten o-clock at night, and even though we had danced for many hours, I could not sleep. The next day, I woke up and could not stop dancing. Unlike my old studio, hundreds of people would be there. Also, I went to a professional school and famous professional dancers would be watching. However, I got up on stage and tried to dance to the best of my abilities. After our final performance, Ms. Arantxa came onto the stage to congratulate us on our hard work. We had bought her flowers and presented them to her, and we all tried not to cry. Then Angel Corella, the director of the Pennsylvania Ballet, told us we were magnificent and he was very proud of us.
That night is one of my favorite moments I have ever had. After the school year ended, I got an email informing us that my beloved teacher, Arantxa Ochoa, would be moving to Miami City Ballet School the following fall to teach. I was truly heartbroken and started to weep before I finished reading the whole email. Two days prior the message, I saw Ms. Arantxa outside in Philadelphia before a ballet. She looked so sad and I did not realize why until I read her message. She looked like she was about to cry, and I said goodbye, and told her I would see her in the fall.
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