https:\/\/www.bbmannpah.com\/events\/detail\/symphony-nutcracker<\/a>.<\/p>\nMcKinney studied at Gulfshore Ballet for eight years before leaving for the University of Florida.<\/p>\n
While at the University of Florida<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved it,\u201d said McKinney. \u201cI loved the music. I loved the fact that there was always something to work on. I felt challenged in a way that was different. Every day was (a) different thing, which I liked. I liked having diverse things to focus on each day and it not being the same exact thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
McKinney did not pursue dance or ballet as a field of study at the University of Florida. Although she did audition for and perform in \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d at Dance Alive National Ballet in Gainesville, a change in majors and heavy class and study time pre-empted dance of any kind.<\/p>\n
McKinney felt the void.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, oh, something is missing in my heart,\u201d said McKinney. \u201cIt was obviously ballet. I just really loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she heard that San Francisco Ballet School was holding auditions for its next class of students.<\/p>\n
She auditioned and was accepted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided, like, why not?\u201d McKinney recalled. \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful and well-recognized school and an amazing opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Francisco Ballet School<\/p>\n
Founded in 1933, San Francisco Ballet School is the oldest professional ballet school in the United States and a distinguished training ground for dancers from all over the world. Led by School Director Grace Holmes and Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, the program has a dual mission: to train classical ballet dancers capable of joining a professional company and to offer all ages and levels the love of dance.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I thought, it could be good to try and see if my passion was still there.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Francisco Ballet School didn\u2019t just rekindle her passion for ballet. It gave her the incentive to pursue ballet as a career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was amazing,\u201d said McKinney. \u201cIt was just awesome to see so many dedicated ballerinas and ballerinos, how talented everyone was and just how hard everybody there works.\u201d<\/p>\n
While she too possesses considerable talent, McKinney knew she was a bit behind everyone else because of her two-year hiatus from daily ballet practice and rehearsal.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I worked really hard, as everyone else did, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
She earned spots in San Francisco Ballet\u2019s productions of \u201cCinderella\u201d and \u201cRomeo & Juliet,\u201d and rehearsed with them for \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew a lot there through all of the experiences that were given to us students, and then I auditioned and I got an apprentice contract with the National Ballet of Canada for the year after.\u201d<\/p>\n
National Ballet of Canada<\/p>\n
National Ballet of Canada is one of the top international ballet companies in the world. It has 70 dancers, its own orchestra and a permanent home at The Walter Carsen Centre in Toronto. The National Ballet has a history of pre-eminent Artistic Directors and in January 2022, the company welcomed Hope Muir to the role.<\/p>\n
Renowned for its diverse repertoire, the company performs traditional full-length classics, embraces contemporary work and encourages the creation of new ballets as well as the development of Canadian choreographers. T<\/p>\n
he company\u2019s repertoire includes works by Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Aszure Barton, Marie Chouinard, John Cranko, William Forsythe, Alonzo King, James Kudelka, Wayne McGregor, Kenneth McMillan, John Neumeier, Rudolf Nureyev, Crystal Pite, Emma Portner, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, William Yong, Robert Binet and Guillaume C\u00f4t\u00e9, among other creators.<\/p>\n
The National Ballet performs three extended engagements at Toronto\u2019s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts each year, augmented by national and international tours. The company tours in Canada, the US and internationally with appearances in Paris, London, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Hamburg, New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco.<\/p>\n
While San Francisco Ballet School prepared her for life in a professional ballet company, McKinney did find it challenging adjusting to the longer days of rehearsal.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinding time to improve basic and advanced skills was the big challenge,\u201d McKinney noted. \u201cIt\u2019s so important to improve upon yourself and your technique. It\u2019s something I really recommend to new dancers because that\u2019s what enables more growth. So, I tried my best to do that, being a new, working as a new professional.\u201d<\/p>\n
The injury<\/p>\n
Then she was injured.<\/p>\n
McKinney doesn\u2019t elaborate on the nature or extent of what happened other than to acknowledge that she sustained a head injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s easy to be in a negative space when something doesn’t go the way that you hope for it to,\u201d McKinney shared. \u201cBut I really try to stay positive and find the silver lining.\u201d<\/p>\n
That silver lining is the realization of ballet\u2019s importance in her life.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot being able to dance brought me into a new light with ballet and dancing,\u201d McKinney noted. \u201cI’ve always enjoyed ballet, but now I enjoy it even more. I’m extremely grateful to still be able to dance and express myself through that medium. Sometimes you don\u2019t know how important something is until it\u2019s threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although she could not dance professionally, Artistic Director Margaret Tracy allowed McKinney to continue training at National Ballet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich was a great opportunity, and I’m extremely grateful to her for that,\u201d said McKinney. \u201cSo, I trained and got better day by day, because [the injury] affected me mentally as well as physically and emotionally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back Home<\/p>\n
Now she\u2019s back home with her parents in Cape Coral, going through the audition process all over again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIleana presented me with this opportunity, and I\u2019m elated to be back at Gulfshore Ballet and dancing the Sugar Plum in \u2018The Nutcracker,\u2019\u201d McKinney noted. \u201cIt’s really emotional and grounding for me to be in my hometown and area, and it’s amazing that my fellow alumni are here as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her degree<\/p>\n
While McKinney left Gainesville for San Francisco and then Toronto, she did earn her degree from the University of Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was challenging,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n
While at San Francisco Ballet, McKinney switched to UF Online so that she could complete her coursework remotely.<\/p>\n
As her degree is in health education and behavior, physiology was an important part of her course of study.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I was dissecting animals where I was living in the dorm, which was funny. And it required a lot of late nights and just being diligent and consistent with schedule. But I’m so happy that I received the degree. It helped me grow in ways that I wouldn’t have if I didn’t do it, and I’m really happy that I challenged myself in that way, and I hope to inspire other dancers to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hopes that some of the younger students at Gulfshore Ballet will be inspired by her story \u2014 by her drive, determination, tenacity and perseverance.<\/p>\n
Hers is a story that can inspired us all.<\/p>\n
Support for WGCU\u2019s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThis is something that a lot of ballerinas dream to do,\u201d said Anna McKinney. She\u2019s referring to performing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-79664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}