So let me
introduce you to my eldest daughter, Adelaide. I can’t believe that she will be
graduating from High School this May! It’s because of her that I am here
writing all of these ballet company interviews, spending all of my time at the
theatre and talking to Lady Holly 100 times a day. She had just turned three
when I enrolled her in ballet class because that was what everyone else was
doing. In third grade she quit other activities and said, “This is what I want
to do.” It was her choice. I had no intention of being a ballet mom, having
never spent any time at the barre myself. Yet here I am, and I couldn’t be more
grateful.
Adelaide has the
great fortune to play Lilac Fairy, Queen of all the Fairies in The Sleeping Beauty. I asked Addie what
the challenge is in being Lilac. Her answer: “What isn’t the challenge of
Lilac? There are super challenging steps throughout the ballet. I have to be a
leader and act regal, queenly. It’s fun. I am really enjoying it and it has
helped me to improve as a dancer. My partnering skills have improved
immensely.” In Act II, Lilac has a long partnering sequence with the Prince,
Drew Anderson. Adelaide and Drew have been partners many times and I asked
about their relationship. “Lady Holly says he calms me down and I give him
confidence. It’s a great relationship. We are like brother and sister, and it
translates well in our partnership. We have a lot of trust in each other.”
Lilac Fairy is
one of the leads of the ballet and she is in all four acts, so Addie and I
talked about her stamina. “I am going to need about two gallons of water
pre-intermission and two gallons post intermission, and I will be sucking
oxygen in the wings. In Act I, the Birthday Party Scene, I am on pointe the
whole time doing all of these bourres. It seems and appears easy, but it is so
tough, and I have to look calm and pretty. There can be no tears. We have
established levels of difficulty during Sleeping
Beauty. The dancers have developed a code and hand gestures to express
those levels as part of our comic relief. It’s ‘Fairy Bonding.’ Those bourres
are a HIGH level!”
Adelaide is
grateful for the opportunity to perform a full length ballet with the Symphony
with the amazing costumes and sets, and especially the growth as a dancer. This
has translated into some great choices for her future – so where will she go to
college? “I am still undecided. I am just excited to have choices. But wherever
I am, dance will be a part of my life.”
I said at the
beginning of this piece that I am grateful too. For 15 years it has been my joy
to watch Adelaide and Gabrielle enjoy the art and discipline of classical ballet
and to participate behind the scenes. I never would have imagined my life as a
ballet mom, but I have had the most fun being a part of LCCB. Adelaide made a
great choice for herself, and for me. I think she will continue to make great
choices in life. Who knows where she will lead me next.
Adelaide is the 17 year old daughter of
Kelley and Luke Saucier of Lake Charles. She is a senior at St. Louis Catholic
High School. Adelaide has studied ballet for 15 years, the last 10 with Lady
Leah Lafargue School of the Dance and Lake Charles Civic Ballet; in addition
she has participated in summer intensive workshops at Central Pennsylvania Youth
Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Dallas Metropolitan Ballet. Over the
years, lead roles in LCCB productions have included The Flirt in Daguerreotype 2007 and 2010, Clemmy
in Once Told to Me, Mary and
Snow Queen in Rudolph. She also
was a part of the 2004 cast of Petrouchka
with the Lake Charles Symphony. Adelaide is still deciding where she
will attend college next year, but has been accepted to dance programs at
Chapman University in Orange, California, Texas Christian University in Fort
Worth, Texas where she is an alternate for the Nordan Fine Arts Scholarship, and
has received a Loyola Scholar Award to Loyola University in New Orleans.
Profile photo by Cameron Durham / Dance photos by Romero & Romero Photography
Profile photo by Cameron Durham / Dance photos by Romero & Romero Photography
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