Lagoa’s Classical Academy of Ballet ballerinas brought home 13 prizes from the European Ballet Grand Prix in Vienna last month. And that’s just one of the many competitions they have shone at.
The year started on a high for Lagoa’s ballet troupe. The Classical Academy of Ballet’s (CAB) dancers participated in the European Ballet Grand Prix 2024 in Vienna last month, bringing home 12 medals and a special prize for the `Highest Achievement in Pedagogical Work’ awarded to instructor Inana Wolfsdorf.
In an exclusive interview with the Portugal Resident, the ballet teacher shared how hard her students work to achieve such outstanding results. She started by telling us that at CAB, there are hobby classes. “Ballerinas here take dancing very seriously, practising four hours a day, with some students also having private lessons to work on solos. And, before competitions, they practice every Saturday,” she says, admitting it demands a lot from girls and their parents. “Although they have many hours of training, they all manage to do well in school,” reassures the teacher.
Inana and her mother, Susana, who teaches physical conditioning, founded the CAB seven years ago. Today, the academy has 15 pupils, a number they do not want to increase as they focus on quality, not quantity.
Aged just 25, the young teacher studied ballet in Faro and Lisbon and then art in London. “But I got injured very early on and had to stop dancing”, she laments. However, former colleagues asked her to give private coaching. “They liked it, and I liked it, and I decided to open the school”.
The German-Portuguese ballerina and her mother ensure their young students get the best training at CAB. “We often invite high-ranking international teachers”. For example, every year in July, they organise the Grand Jeté, a summer intensive course, which attracts participants, teachers, and jury members from schools worldwide. “Last year, we had 350 participants from 20 countries. This is very good because, in the world of dance, no one knows Lagoa”, says Inana.
With ages ranging from six to fourteen, the ballerinas were eager to share their stories and achievements. Camila says she began when she was ten. She first did gymnastics, then tried ballet, “I really liked it, and now I’ve been here for three years”. So far, the most important competition she has participated in was the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in Boston this January, where she made the top 12 in the classical and contemporary categories among 600 dancers.
Tiny and astonishing, eight-year-old Alice, who has been doing ballet since she was three, was also in Boston and took first place in classic and second place in contemporary, “the youngest of the entire competition, she also classified for the finals in New York”, proudly points out Inana. Catarina, in turn, was in the top 24 of the finals last year, where twice as many competitors take part. This year, she also made it to the finals, but in the echelon above, which is even more demanding.
Leonor, who is thirteen, started at the age of eight, first as a hobby, and then decided to commit and came to CAB. Last year, she was at the YAGP finals and, with Catarina, also participated in the largest summer intensive in Europe in Italy, an exclusive, by-invitation-only event, where only the best dancers go and “where they have classes from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm every day”, explains Inana, adding that “For me, the summer intensive master classes are the best. That’s what winning is all about. In the master classes, they learn and gain technique and experience. It’s the most important, and they know that.”
Matilde, nine years old, started competing last year and made the top 12 of the Youth America Grand Prix, and this year, at the European Championships, won second place with a contemporary solo. The ballerina, who started dancing aged just four, says, “What I like the most is training with the teacher and participating in competitions”, for which they wear beautiful costumes designed and handmade by the teachers.
The international troupe also features Gia, 12, from South Africa, who moved to the Algarve just a few months ago and doesn’t speak Portuguese yet. “She works hard, has great potential and has amazing feet”, exclaims the teacher, who, thankfully for Gia, teaches every class in English. “Everyone must speak English because of the workshops,” she explains.
The competition they are preparing for now, the YAGP finals in April – to which four dancers are going, Camila, Alice, Catarina and Gia – consists of two intensive weeks featuring daily workshops. “There, they can see other girls dance, compare themselves, and learn from each other. That’s the most important part. It’s a fantastic experience”.
Camila and Olga, who is from Russia and has been at the school since she was four, earned scholarships at the Vienna Grand Prix. These are not the first for the ballerinas. Inana explains that both received other scholarships at various competitions. Olga recently earned scholarships to Vienna and Berlin. “The scholarships are usually for a week or a summer intensive, during which they try the school and meet the teachers so that when they are old enough, they can decide which school they want to attend.”
One of the youngest and most agile ballerinas is 9-year-old Elina, who has been doing ballet since she was four. She won 3rd place with her classical solo, 3rd place with her contemporary solo, 2nd place for a duet she danced with Alice and 1st place in the group dance. “I think it’s important for them to learn to dance together,” says Inana. “They’re very individual, very different, and of course, they like to dance solo. But it’s important for them to work as a team, be coordinated, and trust each other. Because the day they join a ballet company, they will have to be part of the ballet corps.”
This year, the Grand Jeté takes place in the Lagoa Auditorium between July 10 and 13.
For further information contact CAB on 961 114 478, by e-mail cab.art.dance.and.more@gmail.com or visit the academy located in the Sala Gímnica de Carvoeiro on the Rua do Barranco in Carvoeiro.
