Teenager’s moves measure up
Stephanie Burr
Staff writer
January 28, 2008
Robyn Sheidl poses for a photograph in one of her many ballet costumes. The 13-year-old ballerina qualified for a spot at the Royal Winnipeg School of Ballet summer intensive program this year.
They say a great ballet dancer can perform movements that are unnatural for the body but with such grace and ease they look effortless.
Arabesque, battement frappe, and glissade are but a few of these delicate, yet powerful dance moves Robyn Scheidl aims to master this summer during a two-and-a-half week elite, concentrated, one-of-a-kind summer dance program.
The 13-year-old daughter of Carol and MS Colin Scheidl, a hull technician in HMCS Vancouver, won a coveted spot on the Royal Winnipeg School of Ballet’s summer intensive program after many auditions and years of training.
“It’s what I’ve been working towards for a long time and it feels good to have a spot,” says Robyn.
She’s spent four years polishing her dance moves at the Westcoast Academy of Performing Arts dance studio. Her slight frame, lanky legs, and long slender hands are prime assets to help her gracefully leap, and pirouette for hours on end. She’s displayed these abilities in many performances including the Nutcracker.
“My first year in the Nutcracker I was a baby mouse, then an angel the next year and after that I got to be a big mouse for a couple of years,” she says proudly. “This past year I did really well and got to be a party child, which is a significant role.”
While many dancers find auditioning stressful, Robyn finds joy in the process.
“I get to talk to the older performers and they give me tips and suggestions to improve my dancing. I learn a lot by just watching them audition too, some of them are amazing dancers.”
Dedication, and the ability to ignore the law of gravity and float through the air, is what sets Robyn apart from most dancers her age. Long hours at the dance studio each day are the norm.
“I eat, sleep and breathe dancing,” she says. “I have a pretty tight schedule and sometimes I wish I could have more time to hang out with my friends, but I could never give up dancing.”
Twirling around the kitchen or practicing moves down the aisles in the grocery store are par for the course say her parents.
“As soon as she started she couldn’t get enough of it,” says her father. “We could tell she loved it, but we had no idea she would take it so far. She has taken on a lot, and she does really well at balancing her life despite the high demands of being a teenager.”
The artistry of ballet goes beyond the dancers and the music. Costumes and choreography can elevate a ballet from the usual to the magnificent, and these aspects have also captured Robyn’s imagination.
Last year, she participated in a young choreographer’s competition where she designed a costume, choreographed a dance to music, and then performed it in front of a panel of judges.
“I dedicated my routine to members of the Canadian Forces,” she says. Living in a military family, the news of CF members dying in the line of duty resonates a little louder for her than for most teens.
“Through my movements, my dance told the story of a young girl who had lost a parent in the line of duty.”
Like most teens, Robyn’s focus on the future only stretches a few months down the road. She is mainly preparing for the summer program and a few competitions.
“I can’t imagine my life without dance. I got into it because a friend had started lessons. I just remember after my first lesson it was all I could talk about and I couldn’t wait for my next lesson.”
