Central Indiana Academy of Dance (CIAD) and Central Indiana Dance Ensemble (CIDE) offer special congratulations to their senior dancers who graduating this year and going on to pursue their future dreams. These dancers have spent 20 to 24 hours a week in classes and rehearsals this year. Every single one of them has been offered scholarship to attend school.
The senior dancers include Olivia Doan, Gabby Linton, Ava Juleen, Caroline Smith, Lucy Devenney, Oriana Gonzalez, and Taylor Ralston.
Seniors after their final Nutcracker performance. (From left) Taylor Ralston, Lucy Devenney, Caroline Smith, Oriana Gonzalez, Ava Juleen, Olivia Doan, and Gabby Linton. (Photo provided)
OLIVIA DOAN graduated from Westfield High School and will attend Butler University where she will major in dance pedagogy and arts administration. She began dancing at CIAD in 2010 and joined CIDE in 2018. In the 2021-22 season, she choreographed “Fernweh” which was performed by CIDE’s Mixed Rep and RDA’s Emerging Choreographer’s Night. She attended Butler University Ballet’s summer intensive in 2021 and 2022 and Regional Dance America’s choreography intensive in 2022.
GABBY LINTON graduated from Carmel High School and will attend Indiana University with a major in biology and a minor in Spanish. She has been dancing at CIAD since 2011 and has been a member of CIDE since 2015.
AVA JULEEN is a graduate of Westfield High School. She will study ballet with an outside field in exercise science at Indiana University. Dancing since age 3, she began in 2012 at CIAD, where she decided ballet was her passion. She joined CIDE in 2015. In recent years, she has attended Joffrey Texas, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Kansas City Ballet’s summer intensive programs. She has taken part in Butler University’s High School Enrollment program with the dance department.
CAROLINE SMITH is a graduate of Indiana Connections Academy. She will be a trainee at BalletMet, a professional ballet company and dance academy in Columbus, Ohio, and will attend online college courses. She joined CIAD in 2012 and CIDE in 2015. She has attended Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s five-week summer intensive.
LUCY DEVENNEY is a graduate of Carmel High School. She will attend Indiana University as part of the Hutton Honors College; she hopes to double major in biology and dance. She began dancing at CIAD at age 5 and joined CIDE at age 12. She has attended the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s summer intensive as well as the Boston Ballet’s Summer Dance Program in 2022.
ORIANA GONZALEZ graduated from Carmel High School and will attend Saint Louis University–Madrid Campus, majoring in international business and minoring in French. She has been dancing since age 4 and joined CIAD in 2015 after moving to Carmel from Virginia. She is in her sixth year as a member of CIDE. Last summer she attended Joffrey Ballet Advanced summer intensive in Chicago and was offered a position in their pre-professional program.
TAYLOR RALSTON graduated from Herron High School. She will also attend Indiana University where she will pursue a double major in contemporary dance and cognitive science. She began dancing at age 3, but at age 6 fell in love with ballet after attending Ballet 101 at Butler. She is in her second year at CIAD. She has attended summer intensives at Pennsylvania Ballet, Boston Ballet, Indiana University, American Ballet Theater, and Sarasota Ballet.
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Central Indiana Academy of Dance and Central Indiana Dance Ensemble congratulates these seniors and recognizes the extreme levels of hard work that they have put into their dance careers so far. The two organizations wish these ladies all the best in future pursuits and are proud to have had these talented young women under their instruction.
To see more about the dancers and enjoy photos of their younger days in dance, visit the CIDE Facebook page.
Registration is now open for the Central Indiana Academy of Dance for the upcoming 2023-24 season. The new season will begin Aug. 7.
About The Central Indiana Dance Ensemble
Central Indiana Dance Ensemble was founded in 1999 by artistic director, Suzann DeLay. The company is committed to providing cultural and educational enrichment to the central Indiana community. The company provides an environment for aspiring young dancers to learn, practice and perform in a pre-professional atmosphere, in a variety of dance forms. Promoting the arts through ongoing outreach programs provides the members of CIDE the opportunity to give back to the community. In 2006, CIDE received Honor Company status in the Regional Dance America association. Learn more at cidedance.org.
About The Central Indiana Academy of Dance
Central Indiana Academy of Dance is recognized throughout Indiana and the Greater Indianapolis area for providing the finest in classical ballet training and is Carmel’s premier ballet academy. They offer students an artistic and encouraging environment that nurtures all abilities while emphasizing technique, discipline, and artistic education. They provide private and group classes at both the recreational and pre-professional level. Highly trained faculty instructs children and young adults from beginning to advanced ballet. They offer instruction in ballet, pointe, contemporary, modern, jazz, tap, musical theatre, and acro with a specialized Preschool and Primary Division. Learn more at ciaodance.com.