The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York City. The company was assembled in 1958 of only seven dancers plus their choreographers, but now is known worldwide for its incredible programs and dance instructors. Although there are no auditions or entrance exams, this is a very popular workshop and fills up every year. Knowing that, studio owner and tap class instructor Roxanne Higbee registered her teachers months in advance to avoid the waiting list. This past summer one of our very own seniors, Lauren Trippel,  took a break from reality and headed toward New York City for five days.

“ I asked Lauren to go because she has shown extraordinary dedication to her dance training. She is extremely mature and hard-working, and always sets an incredibly wonderful example of what you hope your dancers will be like,” Higbee said.

Trippel, along with her first ballet instructor, Jenny Allain, and Higbee, landed in New York City the morning of Aug. 8. Trippel was attending classes under Finis Jhung, who is internationally considered one of the best ballet instructors, according to Angie Trippel . Higbee added that he is not only a teacher’s teacher, but that he has coached many professional ballet dancers too. He sells his own line of music and instructional videos that have made him well-known to dance teachers all over the country. Many of these teachers use his educational material without ever getting to meet him. Jhung annually hosts the teachers convention that Trippel had the opportunity to attend. For two days she got up around nine and went to a small cafe then immediately headed to the studio to begin classes.

“Most of her classes were targeted towards “dance teachers”, so I believe that has helped her become more confident in her teaching and choreography as well,” Angie Trippel said.

Trippel said that she was by far the youngest present out of a hundred or so dancers, but by no means did she let this hold her back. She took a Theater Jazz class, a Tap class and a Ballet class at broadway dance center, which is the main studio in NYC.

“I was able to take my ballet class from my former dance teacher,” Trippel said. “She had moved to New York to dance there professionally and it was really great to see her again.”

Trippel started dancing at Kansas City Ballet when she was three years old. She hopped from studio to studio until she wound up at Dancerz in the fourth grade and started competing in the seventh grade. She admits that she doesn’t have much free time, taking about fifteen hours of dance classes a week and teaching about two hours a week. Trippel takes about every dance available to her, from Jazz, Tap, Lyrical and Hip Hop, to Pointe, Ballet, Contemporary and Musical Theater.

Angie Trippel said, “Lauren has become a beautiful, talented dancer and this trip definitely helped to open another door and push her a little further.”

Higbee couldn’t agree more. She said that Trippel had progressed quite a bit in a relatively short amount of time and that she is so deserving of all the additional opportunities provided.

When Trippel’s parents first found out that she was asked to go, they were overjoyed. They couldn’t wait for her to experience this, because they knew it would be a great opportunity. Although, at first, her mom and dad were planning on going along with her to see more of the city and tour New York University, it turned out that Trippel was able to do those things without their guidance.

Along with dancing, Trippel was given a couple of free nights to go and see some Broadway shows. She attended the musical “Chicago” and even was able to go backstage of “Cinderella” to meet the cast and see all of the costumes and props.

“I have always wanted to dance in New York because that’s a high accomplishment for a dancer,” Trippel said.

At the end of the week the dancers were given a certificate with their name on it  showing that they had completed classes in the Alvin Ailey program, but Trippel laughed when she admitted that they had misspelled her name on her certificate.

Higbee along with Trippel’s mom were so proud of everything she had accomplished.

“Having danced in my past, I understand how hard she has worked to achieve all of her goals,” Angie Trippel said. “I am so proud of all of her hard work and am so glad she had this amazing opportunity to train under some of the best in New York.”