You never know what to expect at ABT. One Friday, we were eating pizza in the dancers lounge (while Isabella Boylston was coming down the stairs) and the next two Fridays, I was working from my home in another country.
The little time we got to be in the building was memorable. I planned on this for so long and I tried to live everyday as an extraordinary day since I arrived. It is something I am grateful for, because I enjoyed so much of the little time I was there.
One of the most remarkable things I got to do was to experience how ballet can be transmitted through different generations. As part of the NTC team, I got to see how adults experience their training and how knowledge was transmitted. I got to see their excitement and their nervousness. I got to see how students of the JKO school were extraordinary, sensitive, empathetic and hardworking humans – as I was on the same floor as them. I got the opportunity to see how hardworking and human (yes like you and me) the dancers of ABT are. I also saw how nervous they can feel before an exam and grateful to the team for giving them something to do during this time. Finally, as I got the chance to volunteer, I got to see how kids were amused by the art and how different they are -as not all of them were really interested in their ballet classes.
I have to say it was difficult to transition to an online training course – learning from mistakes and how to improve. One of the most stressful times in my department is when the training courses are being held. With the online platforms, other kinds of problems arose, but I was happy to be able to manage the situations. I think I wouldn’t have learned from these kinds of problems if we had had the traditional training.
While my internship has not finished by the time I write this, I certainly miss walking through the hall of the JKO school, watching all those beautiful pictures of the young dancers. I miss seeing my colleagues and the other interns and I miss the environment around this amazing office. So, If you become an intern, enjoy every single moment you are there, as you never know what to expect!
Mariana Nivon Anaya
NTC Intern
Spring 2020
abtinterns 
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