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Miami City Ballet has definitely taken center stage this year. Most recently, Teen Vogue sheds the spotlight on the prestigious Miami Beach-based company for its web video series, Strictly Ballet, which follows six students and apprentices as they try to join Miami City Ballet as professional ballet dancers.
Season two contestants come from as close as Miami and Clearwater to as far as Russia, Brazil, and Cuba, and are between the ages of 14 and 21. Amy Astley, EIC of Teen Vogue was once a ballerina herself, and so "she wanted to showcase what it takes to be a dancer and the sacrifices teenagers have to make in order to realize professional careers," states Miami New Times.
The struggles are real. Many of these apprentices and students leave their families and countries to achieve this dream of making the company, and their dreams sit on the tip of a point shoe. They live in tiny dorm rooms and those in the ballet school, ages 14-18, spend 30 hours a week in ballet class, although there's no guarantee they'll get invited to join the company. There's a lot of pressure to land that first job, to make your family proud, to make sure your effort and time is worth it.
Watch the first episode above, and see more at TeenVogue.com.