1/14/14 US Ballet Hopefuls Win Prestige Bolshoi Scholarships | World | RIA Novosti

en.ria.ru/world/20130605/181511046/US-Ballet-Hopefuls-Win-Prestige-Bolshoi-Scholarships.html 1/3

14/1/2014 23:25

RelatedNews

© RIA Novos ti.02:36 05/06/2013

World

US Ballet Hopefuls Win Prestige BolshoiScholarships

A growing nu mber of A merican bal let stu dents hope to someday dance at the Bolshoi in Moscow.

Tags: ballet, Bolshoi Theater

WASHINGTON, June 4 (RIA Novosti) – Fifteenballet students from across the United States willpirouette, jeté and plié their way to Moscow thissummer to train with masters of the famedBolshoi Ballet Academy after winning prestigiouslanguage scholarships, organizers announced thisweek.

“As soon as I opened the email I started jumpingup and down and then I called my parents andwe started screaming and laughing. It was prettyexciting,” said 16-year-old Maire New of Juneau,Alaska, one of the students selected for theMoscow Summer Intensive, as the program isknown.

Students chosen for the Bolshoi training mustfirst audition and be picked for the RussianAmerican Foundation’s 2013 New York Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive,which brings Bolshoi instructors to New York to work with American students for thesummer.

More than 1,000 hopefuls from around the United States audition each year for a slot inthe New York Bolshoi program. And only those selected for New York are eligible toapply for training with the Bolshoi Academy at its home venue in Moscow as part of theNational Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program.

Launched by the US State Department in 2006, NSLI-Y is an effort to encourageAmerican students to study Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian,and Turkish languages. It’s also part of a strategy to develop a group of Americans withadvanced linguistic skills and cultural awareness who can communicate with people inkey parts of the world.

All tags

Ru ssia n Cou r t Ru ssia n Missile

Russia Beyond the Headlines

Greenpeace may be drawn into fishingwars

Experts question court ruling banningjournalist from working

RAPSI

Russian lawmakers move to ban‘hidden’ commissions in currencyexchange

No negotiations over detained Russianship in Senegal

The Moscow News

Russian ex-spy Chapman launchesclothing line

Siberians cut off ears in arm wrestlingbet

Russia bans all liquids on airplanesamid terror fears

Popular tags

Moscow EU Russia Sochi Dmitry Medvedev

Vladimir Putin Sochi Olympics State Duma

Sergei Shoigu Ukraine Kiev Viktor

Yanukovych Sergei Lavrov United States Syria

Mikhail Khodorkovsky terrorism Volgograd New

Year Greenpeace

Mostread

ENG RIA NOVOSTI WEBSITE GROUP: VALDAI CLUB | RAPSINEWS.COM | R-SPORT | MORE

RSS | |

MORE

Backstage at the Bolshoi:Warehouses, Workshops and aHidden Stage…

Suspect in Bolshoi Acid Attack toContest Forensic Results

Military Serv ice Replaced withBallet for Russian Resident

Washington Pay s Tribute toRussian Ballet Impresario SergeiDiaghilev

Burglars Raid Ex-Bolshoi BalletStar’s Home

Search

FRONT RUSSIA WORLD BUSINESS DEFENSE FEATURES & OPINION SPORTS SOCHI 2014 SCIENCE

JIM CRAIG’S SOCHI BLOG MULTIMEDIA

1/14/14 US Ballet Hopefuls Win Prestige Bolshoi Scholarships | World | RIA Novosti

en.ria.ru/world/20130605/181511046/US-Ballet-Hopefuls-Win-Prestige-Bolshoi-Scholarships.html 2/3

U.S. Teen in Siberian Exile for`Uncontrollable` Behavior

Man Nails Testicles to RedSquare Cobblestones

Russia Walks Out DuringSaakashvili s `Crazy` Speech

Russian Tarzan discoveredafter 16 years in woods

NEWS »

Russian CourtDeclares Jehovah'sWitness BrochuresExtremist

“These are languages that are not commonly taught in the US and are also spoken incountries where we hope to improve relations,” said Eva Crawford, spokeswoman forAFS-USA, a nonprofit international exchange organization and one of several groupsthat facilitate the annual NSLI-Y summer programs.

More than 600 US students will travel to places like Jordan, Egypt, China, India, SouthKorea, Tajikistan and Turkey this summer, including 90 who will go to Russia. Most ofthem will stay with host families and have language classes for 20 hours each week forup to eight weeks.

“American young people today are genuinely interested in Russia,” said Dan Davidson,president of the American Councils for International Education, another group thathelps to facilitate the NSLI-Y programs.

But while hundreds of US students will be sent to dozens of countries under the studyprogram, the opportunity to combine Russian language training with ballet instructionwith the Bolshoi in Moscow represents a unique prize, participants say.

“It’s a really amazing opportunity, and I’m planning to give a slideshow in my townwhen I return because there are a lot of misconceptions out there and I think it’s reallyimportant for there to be a better understanding between the people of these twocountries,” said New.

In addition to their language classes, the 15 students chosen for the Moscow SummerIntensive will also receive an additional 20 hours of ballet instruction at the BolshoiAcademy each week.

Tweet 5

2

MenTalks.ru

Decla r es Jeh ov a h 's

Witn ess Br och u r es

Ex tr em ist 2

US Tea m Looks to

Con tin u e Resu r g en ce

a t Soch i Oly m pics

Ru ssia 's

Ka la sh n ikov Pla n s to

Sell 2 00,000 Gu n s in

US A n n u a lly

Cor v ettes Rea dy to

En ter Ser v ice in

Ca spia n

Ch ech n y a to Pa y

$1 ,000 to Fa m ilies

Na m in g Kids A fter

Mu h a m m a d 1

Ir a n , Sy r ia

For eig n Min ister s to

V isit Moscow Th is

Week

Topmultimedia

Image Galleries:Photos by Winnersof Best of RussiaProject

Video: Valenki:From a Clump ofSheep's Wool toFashionableWinter Footwear

Infographics:What Wine LabelsTell Us

We A re St il l T oo Div ided t o Mov e Forwa rdKO RTUNO V , A ndrey

Russia is demonstrating a trend towardsisolationism, albeit not all along the line and notall the time. Despite our growing dependence onthe outside world, we understand it less and less.The most important task is to ov ercome the gapbetween “Russia within” and “Russia in theworld,” which, regrettably , is becoming widerev ery y ear.

10 people recommend this.Recommend

15 Examples of Bra inlessPeople

10 Cool Photographs 10 Most ExpensivePhotographs Ever Sold

10 Most Terr if yingCivilizat ions In the History

of the World

Login Password

Log in Remember me!

Leave a comment RegistrationPassword recovery |

RIA Novosti

157,166 people like RIA Novosti.

Facebook social plugin

Like

1/14/14 US Ballet Hopefuls Win Prestige Bolshoi Scholarships | World | RIA Novosti

en.ria.ru/world/20130605/181511046/US-Ballet-Hopefuls-Win-Prestige-Bolshoi-Scholarships.html 3/3

A Ru ssia n cou r t h a s

decla r ed br och u r es

pr odu ced by th e

Jeh ov a h ’s Witn esses to

be ex tr em ist , th e

Pr osecu tor Gen er a l’s

Office sa id Mon da y .

Russian MissileCorvettes Ready toEnter Service inCaspian

A pa ir of n ew m issile

cor v ettes h a v e

com pleted a ccepta n ce

tr ia ls a n d w ill en ter

ser v ice in Ru ssia ’s

Ca spia n Flot illa in th e

fir st qu a r ter of th is

y ea r , th e Sou th er n

Milita r y Distr ict sa id

Mon da y .

US Team Looks toContinueResurgence at SochiOlympics

Th e Un ited Sta tes is a

ser iou s con ten der to

top th e m eda ls ta ble a t

th e Win ter Oly m pics

in Soch i n ex t m on th

a fter a r ecor d-sett in g

per for m a n ce in

V a n cou v er fou r y ea r s

a g o, bu t its pr ospects

on Oly m pic sn ow a n d

ice w er en ’t a lw a y s so

pr om isin g .

Iran, Syria ForeignMinisters to VisitMoscow This Week

Th e for eig n m in ister s

of Ir a n a n d Sy r ia w ill

v isit Moscow la ter th is

w eek a h ea d of

u pcom in g pea ce ta lks

a bou t th e Sy r ia n

con flict in

Sw itzer la n d, th e

Ru ssia n For eig n

Min istr y sa id Mon da y .

RIA Novosti Agency New s Agency Today Photoservice Feedback Reference

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Products and services Terms of Use Privacy policy Contacts

Partners Partnership

© 2014 RIA Novosti

Some material may be inappropriate for those under 18