Photo by Isaac Aoki
By Katie Aaberg
Madison Massara is one of our newest company members and a Michigan native. She joined the company as a trainee in 2017 and was promoted to company dancer in 2019. Prior to her time at the ballet, she performed as a Guest Artist in Skye Ballet Center’s The Nutcracker; competed at YAGP and the Indianapolis International Ballet Competition; and attended various esteemed summer intensives.
“Day 1 in Prague. Got in at 8:30am Prague time and had the whole to day meet tons of new people, settle into the hotel, and explore the gorgeous city all day, witnessing all the beautiful architecture from all around Prague.”
This summer Madison has embarked on a new adventure. Madison spread her wings and soared far from home to Prague where she will be living for two weeks while she attends the International Ballet Masterclasses. The International Ballet Masterclasses in Prague was founded by former prima ballerina, Daria Klimentova. Her goal in creating the summer program was to bridge the gap between professionals and students. She wanted to provide rising stars and young professionals with an opportunity to engage with current artists to benefit from their experience and expertise.
“1st day of classes. I had a day full of dancing, learning, walking around town, and meeting more new people!”
After hearing about the opportunity from a friend, Madison quickly researched the program and filled out an application. Promptly after her submission she heard back with an acceptance. She was going to Prague!
“Ate lunch on the river with a group of friends before our last class of the day.”
But how was she going to get there? Madison was intent on raising the money herself and decided to use the popular online platform GoFundMe as a way to secure funding for the trip. She blasted the GoFundMe through Facebook and with the generosity of her friends and family, Madison was able to fund her trip almost entirely.
“Entrance to the studios. Another fun day of dancing. I had a wonderful class with Thomas Edur (artistic director of Estonian National Ballet) who introduced a lot of ballet philosophy into class which challenged me to reflect and come up with some personal philosophies.”
On July 27 Madison embarked on her first journey across the Atlantic. She said while she was most looking forward to meeting and learning from the esteemed faculty members, she also hoped to have time to explore the beautiful and historically rich city of Prague. She planned to immerse herself in the culture by touring the castles, visiting the medieval Astronomical Clock, attending museums, trying new food, and walking around to soak in the beauty of the city. She giggled when asked if she learned any Czech and replied that she planned on learning some before she left.
“Today was a blast. In the morning I had class with Vladimir, then had another amazing variations class and we worked on the talisman variation.”
Good luck, Madison. Keep up to date with her journey through our Instagram!
“We had a fantastic interview with Thomas Edur (artistic director of Estonian National Ballet) and he discussed his career and philosophy behind ballet. I then went back to the hotel, ate, talked to my brother who is in London doing the Royal Ballets summer intensive, then I went to bed after another tiring yet inspiring day!”
