Allison Park Photo
Zoe Votto is a shy girl. But when she sashayed to center stage, pink bow in hair, she stunned the audience with powerful pirouettes and confident coupes.
Her bravery, technical mastery, and undeniable talent won her a full scholarship to dance with the New Haven Ballet, a package sealed with dancewear, tuition, a transportation stipend, and a guaranteed role in next season’s major Nutcracker production.
When asked for her age, she whispered with a smile: “8t.”
Votto was one of 30 second grade students who performed in a DanceAIR performance at Friday evening at the Educational Center for the Arts (ECA) building on Audubon Street.
The venue, home of New Haven’s professional classical ballet training school, offered its intimate stage to DanceAIR, an outreach program offered by the New Haven Ballet that makes dance accessible to local public schoolchildren.
The one-hour performance was comprised of a rotation among six local elementary school ballet groups. With many dressed in color-coordinating polos and sneakers, the young dancers performed two-minute features to hummable classical tunes and well-practiced choreography.
The DanceAIR Performance opened and closed with perfectly synchronized performances by advanced New Haven Ballet dancers spanning grades from elementary to high school. Weaving across the stage in perfect harmony and crisp synchronization, they served as an inspiring testament to their years of training and dedication.
“We want to make ballet accessible to everyone,” said New Haven Ballet Artistic Director Lisa Sanborn. She emphasized that the program doesn’t just teach ballet, but also equips young ballet students with “discipline” and “access to life skills [students] need in order to be successful.”
A former ballerina herself, Sanborn said that when she was growing up, there were “almost no ethnic ballet dancers.” The New Haven Ballet, as a non-profit organization, values diversity and inclusivity, and works to “provide the highest quality professional ballet instruction” to people in the community who “wouldn’t otherwise have access to arts education.”
While only one student from each of the six local elementary schools that participated won the New Haven Ballet scholarship, Sanborn made sure to make every participant feel like a winner.
“Just because your name wasn’t called, does not mean that you don’t win,” she assured the students. Unlike many arts schools that offer merit-based scholarships to students, the New Haven Ballet offers its dancers need-based scholarships that gives them the opportunity to dance regardless of financial constraints.
DanceAIR Coordinator and Children’s Division Director Christopher DeNofrio said that going into the elementary schools and introducing the students to ballet for the first time was the “most rewarding part” of spearheading the program.
DeNofrio’s teaching approach when it comes to young dancers is to try and “pull the spark out of the creative child and harness it,” so that they feel empowered to not only practice ballet on their own, but also feel the freedom of creative expression through dance.
Scarlette Rose Ribot, 7, was announced the winner from John S. Martinez School. Standing out from her dancemates in her bright orange top, Miss Ribot clearly had a taste for fashion. When asked about what she’s most excited for for the upcoming season with the New Haven Ballet, she exclaimed, “To wear the ballet stuff!”
Ribot’s 4‑year-old sister, Angelika, said she aspires to follow her sister’s footsteps and “wants to be a ballerina, too.”
Little sisters weren’t the only family members feeling inspired that evening. Zoe Votto’s mother, Lisa Votto, was found in tears in the front row after her daughter’s name was announced as Quinnipiac STEM School’s single winner.
With a young daughter passionate about dance, Lisa Votto wanted to find an opportunity to get her daughter involved, but “cost-wise, knew I wouldn’t be able to make that happen.” Through the DanceAIR program, Zoe was given the opportunity to bring her ballet dreams to life.
“I just never expected she would be the one chosen,” her mother added. “It’s an amazing opportunity and I’m very grateful.”
Now, with the satisfying weight of her scholarship certificate in hand, Zoe Votto has a Nutcracker performance to prepare for.
