The Joffrey Ballet selects Idaho Falls Ballerina
“She’ll go to New York and Chicago for training and people just cannot believe that she is from Idaho,” said mother Shelley Corrigan.
From a quick glance, Kylie Corrigan seems like a typical high school junior.
“I still have time to go to school dances and football games and stuff like that,” Kylie said.
But not every high school junior gets accepted to the prestigious trainee program with the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago: a program that only accepts around 20 trainees from thousands of applicants around the world.
“It’s a crucial stepping stone in being a professional ballet dancer, which I’ve always wanted to do. So I’m really excited to be able to do this and it’s a great opportunity,” Kylie said.
Behind the doors of the Idaho Ballet Theatre, Kylie has been training for 12 years under the instruction of owner and artistic director Brandy Jensen.
From the beginning, the goal of the studio was clear.
“More than anything, I wanted girls to have a safe environment to dance in. It’s more important to me that they are good people rather than good dancers,” said Jensen.
“There’s nothing more fulfilling as a parent to watch your child live their dream.”
A dream that will require Kylie to finish her senior year online in Chicago.
She will train with the ballet company Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and then go home to do her school work, a lifestyle that can’t be done without passion and determination.
“Whatever she wants to do, whatever she puts her mind to, she’s very determined, very determined.”
It all started when Kylie watched the Nutcracker at three years old.
“My mom tells me I was just dancing up the isles because I couldn’t even sit still and watch it, I just wanted to dance,” Kylie said.
And since then, that’s exactly what she’s been doing.
“It doesn’t really matter if I’m in like a really large company in a city or just a smaller ballet company somewhere, as long as I’m just able to dance and do what I love,” she said.
