Features

Abby Bonington to attend the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance this summer

Mary Earp
April 17, 2012

Five hundred twenty-five miles away, advancing her artistic abilities in a place where she doesn’t know anyone, Abby Bonnington, junior, will be attending the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance this summer. Bonnington will be at the conservatory for four weeks in July, and she hopes that it will further her dancing abilities.

“I’m going because I want to become better,” Bonnington said. “I know this place will help me grow. It will expose me to different things to help me reach my dream.”

Madeline Groh, sophomore, attended the conservatory last year. It was a way for her to become a more skilled dancer, and it was also an experience that she enjoyed.

“San Fran Conservatory of Dance is a summer program for serious dancers who want to take their dancing to the next level and explore new types of movement, in ballet, contemporary and modern,” Groh said. ” My experience there was amazing because it really pushed me in new areas of dance I hadn’t focused on before, and I got to meet so many new amazing friends and choreographers.”

Bonnington aspires to a career in dance, and she is confident that the conservatory will help her to accomplish this. The San Francisco Conservatory of Dance is an elite program, and there is a process that one must go through in order to be admitted.

“I got in when I auditioned in Portland,” Bonnington said. “The only people that get in are those who show that they want to work hard, and the people recognize this.”

While there, Bonnington will be dancing for 10 hours a day. She will have different classes each day, specializing in ballet and modern dance. At the end of her time there, she will be performing a dance with the other participants, showcasing all that they have learned. According to Groh, the best part of the program is the dance at the end.

“My favorite part was definitely participating in the ending show and being able to perform all the fun pieces we’d learned from our time there,” Groh said.
Bonnington is excited to attend the conservatory in the summer, though she is nervous to be away from her friends, family and home dance studio for a month. Despite this, she is positive that she will have a blast and improve her skills as a dancer.

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About the Contributor

Mary Earp, Co Editor-in-chief

Perfectionist, outgoing and busy are just three of the many words that describe Mary Earp, senior. Earp heard about Amplifier from her eighth grade English teacher, and has been a part of the staff since her freshman year. Currently, she is one of the three Co-Editors-in-chiefs of the paper. Most people have goals that they would like to pursue in their life, and this is a true statement for Earp as well. “I want to be a doctor, and I know this sounds cheesy, but I would really like to make a difference in the world,” Earp said. After high school, her hopes include attending either Pomona College or University of California, Berkeley. Outside of school, Earp has a very hectic life which includes playing co-ed soccer, being a member of the school Mock Trial team and being the President of National Honor Society. She is traveling to New York in late October for an international Mock Trial Competition, Empire, where she is assigned to present the closing argument and both direct and cross examinations for the trial. Some highlights of Earp’s summer were hanging out with friends and taking a vacation to North Carolina, where she visited family and spent some time at the warm sunny beach. If Earp could visit any place two places in the world, she would choose “Italy and Machu Picchu, Peru, because the scenery is beautiful,” Earp said. Her favorite year in high school so far was junior year. “It challenged me the most and broadened my horizons,” Earp said. So far in her senior year, the class Earp most enjoys is AP Environmental Science, “It’s very interesting, enlightening, and I have a great teacher,” Earp said. Earp’s senior year is packed with AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus BC and AP English, leaving her with a long night of work to complete. The most challenging part of taking these classes “is all of the work involved,” Earp said. So far, her last year in high school has been hectic and full of work, yet she is excited and looking forward to all of the opportunities that lie ahead in her future.