Meet Anna-Noel Imbriaco of Wake Forest, North Carolina! Anna is a senior in high school and in her 11th year of dancing with Destiny Dance Institute. In her 11 years, she has studied ballet/pointe, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, modern, tap, musical theater, and acro. Currently, she takes about 15 hours of dance per week! She claims her dance studio is like her second home. That’s understandable since she is in classes 6 days a week. Anna also assistant teaches two mornings a week and rehearses each week with the Wake Forest Civic Ballet of which she is a senior member.
When Anna and her family moved to North Carolina, her parents discovered Destiny Dance Institute and believed it was the right place to enroll their children for a proper dance education. She began taking class at the age of six years old. “I cannot imagine taking lessons at any other studio!” she claims. “I have made countless friends and everyone is supportive of one another.”
It can be difficult to manage dance, school, family, and a social life when you are as involved as Anna. She believes that being homeschooled has really helped her to manage her time and feels incredibly lucky to have a family that is so deeply involved and supportive of her dancing. Her mother, Amy, began helping with costumes in early years with Destiny Dance Institute’s ballet company. She is still heavily involved in WFCB’s costume department, sewing and caring for the costumes needed for performances.
Anna-Noel danced the roles of Arabian soloist, Mirliton lead, and Rosebud (a demi-soloist in the Waltz of the Flowers) in WFCB’s last production of the Nutcracker at Heritage High School. The annual show has given her different perspectives because she has been cast in a different role each year. “The only roles in the Nutcracker I’ve danced more than once are Arabian ensemble, Waltz of the Flowers ensemble, and Snow ensemble, so it’s been a surprise every year to find out what new role I get to dance.”
Since Anna-Noel is such a well-rounded dancer, she must have a favorite genre, right? Well, yes and no. “I’ve always hated the question of what my favorite style is, because I really feel like I love all styles for different reasons and it’s really hard to pick just one to single out as my absolute favorite. But if I had to choose, I would probably say ballet, because I really love how versatile it can be. Sure, there are the classical pieces that everyone knows and some people might find ‘boring’ (I definitely disagree), but there are also more modern, contemporary pieces and I think it’s really cool to explore the difference between the two and kind of blur the line to bring them a little closer together. I also just love the structure of ballet. You never really have to guess with ballet. Everything is laid out in front of you and you know exactly what to do and I really like that.”
Dancing is a very inspirational art form and Anna says she is “inspired to dance by the way that watching other people dance makes me feel. I think that if I’m able to make even one person feel the way that I have when watching dance, I’ve done my job.” Currently, her favorite dancer is Michael Dameski from World of Dance. He was also in various productions of Billy Elliot and Newsies. She’s a big fan of him because “he has a really unique style of dancing compared to others and it’s always really interesting to see what new thing he’ll put into a piece.”
There are so many positive and rewarding aspects about enrolling a child in dance. Anna says that “dance has taught me how to be confident in myself, yet still self-critiquing. It’s taught me that it’s okay to compare yourself to others, as long as you know that your goal isn’t simply to be like someone else. I think that having dance in my life for so much of it has really helped me learn that although there is always room for improvement, that doesn’t mean you should discount all of the progress you’ve already made just because it feels like you’re behind someone else.” She also goes on to say, “dancing makes me feel invincible and vulnerable at the same time. There is something incredibly powerful about showing someone else your feelings without using any words.”
Even seasoned dancers like Anna get stage fright! The way she combats the last-minute jitters is to mentally go over the sections of her routines that she’s not 100% confident on. She also reminds herself that she’s worked so hard and put in so many hours of rehearsal so there is no need to be nervous. “I remind myself how much I’ve worked to get to the point where I get to perform the dance on stage and that really reminds me that no matter how nervous I am, it’s always worth it to take the opportunity to perform.” One of the other challenges she faces as a dancer is that she does not believe she has a lot of muscular strength. To combat this, she always dances full-out while in class in order to build on the muscles being used.
Anna spread her wings this summer when she attended The Richmond Ballet summer intensive. Anna was awarded a $3000 scholarship from the Dancing Angels Foundation to apply toward the cost of the program. The Richmond Ballet also awarded her a 20% merit scholarship based on her audition. Her instructors at Destiny Dance Institute would say that always dancing full-out pays off!
Anna’s most exciting memory at Destiny Dance Institute was winning the Emerging Choreographer Award. Every year DDI hosts a contest where students can submit a dance piece that he or she choreographed and bring before a panel of adjudicators. The judges look for routines that display originality, creativity and exceptional quality of movements and techniques. Anna was the 2018 winner. The challenging experience solidified her love of dance and made her realize that she wanted to pursue a career in dance. Currently, her main goal is, “to go to college and receive extra training in dance. Then, pursue every chance I get to perform; whether it’s with a ballet company, dancing jazz on Broadway, or anything else!”
This year Anna auditioned for four college dance programs and was accepted into all four! This fall she will be attending Colorado State University as a Dance/Geology major. We hope you enjoyed learning about Anna-Noel’s journey as a dancer and a member of the Destiny Dance Institute family. Stay tuned for more interviews with our students, parents, and teachers!