Upper School Performers Make International Impact

From Spain to the Philippines, I count myself incredibly lucky to have represented the United States abroad as a dancer. At the start of this school year, I was one of five Americans who traveled to Manila for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the largest and most competitive ballet competitions in the world.

Dance is a huge passion of mine and I wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to give back to aspiring dancers who might not have the same access to dance education. I partnered with Ballet Manila and Project Ballet Futures’ scholarship foundation, a ballet program that helps bring after-school dance programming to underserved provinces in metro Manila. I contacted multiple dance studios in Los Angeles that generously contributed donations of old dance wear, dance shoes and costumes for aspiring ballerinas on scholarships in the Philippines. During my time in Manila, I crossed paths with the local dancewear company Alecxa Dance Wear. After hearing about my donation project, Alecxa Dance Wear surprised me by naming their newest leotard collection after me!

Every year, over 15,000 dancers compete globally in hopes of making it to the Youth Grand Prix finals, and only 500 get selected. I competed at a semifinal in Los Angeles in October with my siblings—we were honored to be invited as finalists and compete our group piece at the international Youth Grand Prix Finals this summer.

During the competition, there were two rounds of masterclass auditions, where the judges invited me to advance through all rounds. I am so deeply grateful to have received two offers from the John Cranko Ballet School. One is to participate in their ballet summer intensive and another is for their partnership with A.S.E. Global Bridges to the International Contemporary Masters in New York. These programs allow me to learn under some of the best ballet instructors in the world. 

I am beyond fortunate to have my wonderful Crossroads Dance Department family by my side. My classmates never fail to amaze me with all the remarkable things they do both in and outside of the studio. Dance teachers Stephanie Heckert and Chippy Wassung selflessly give their all in making every class a blast. There’s no other people I would rather spend countless hours training and laughing with!

I’m not the only Crossroads student passionate about bringing arts education to others abroad. Over the summer, eight Upper School jazz students in the student band Jet Lag embarked on a 12-day series of performances through Shanghai. Jet Lag comprises sophomores Giovana Baker and Landon Hollman; juniors graders Shiv Munj, Beckett Smith, Leo Rao and Melese Light-Orr; and seniors Sissi Rao and Austin Washington.

"Music is a global language that everybody kind of speaks and can connect through," said Landon. "The greater goal of our trip to Shanghai was to bridge this culture gap through music."

Sissi and Leo have roots in Shanghai—both were born and raised there before coming to Crossroads in middle school. Their familiarity with the music scene in China helped them become a cultural bridge for the rest of the band members. “We came to Shanghai knowing that Crossroads is a very arts-oriented school with a great music program,” Sissi said. “We thought that giving back was pretty meaningful since, as Crossroads students, we have access to these opportunities.”

To that end, the band performed in nursing homes and at hospitals, including a facility for children. That performance was livestreamed, reaching over 2,000 viewers. The band also sold T-shirts and tote bags prior to their trip to raise over $1,600 for Bazaar China’s One Hour After Class charity project, which funds music programs and teacher training in rural China.

Jet Lag also performed at a variety of unique venues, including renowned jazz clubs like Chair Club and JZ Club and even the Shanghai Tower, the third tallest building in the world. At JZ Club, trumpet player Melese performed alongside jazz singer and songwriter Jasmine Chen, who sang in the popular feature film “Crazy Rich Asians.”

"We got to play 'Yao Nei Yi', and it was really a great experience," said Melese. "She was really nice to us and talked to us a little bit after."

At Jazz Lincoln Center Shanghai, Jet Lag opened for a band called New Jazz Underground. "They came and saw us backstage and gave us a shout out on stage,” said Giovana. “That was the coolest thing ever." 

During the trip, students advocated for the importance of music education in rural China. Before every concert, Sissi addressed the audience in Chinese about the impact music has had on the band member’s lives. 

“We are crazy lucky to have the program that we have at Crossroads,” said Austin. “It’d be wrong to deprive others of that really good thing. Music should be a standard. Everyone deserves to look forward to music.”