Katya Panchenko , Bayer Ballet alum (class of 2020), 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 competing in the prestigious ballet competition, 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐱 𝐝𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐱, 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝. Only 10 dancers (7 female) from the United States qualified to compete, 2 of which were students of Bayer Ballet.
Interview Highlights:
- What is a typical day at Prix de Lausanne?
- Biggest challenge at the competition
- Advice for aspiring professional dancers
- Balancing pre-pro ballet training with high school academics
“𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝟷𝟺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘔𝘴. 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳,” 𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘬𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦, 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 (𝘴𝘩𝘦) 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 (𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦).”
Katya graduated from The Nueva School in 2020 and is currently attending UC Berkeley with a double major in computer science and molecular and cell biology with an emphasis in neurobiology. She hopes to one day pursue one of her greatest dreams—dancing in Europe.
“𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘦,” 𝘉𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺.”
Source Articles:
Nueva Magazine, Spring / Summer 2020
LATC / June 3, 2020