CHS senior Skyy Lippo (right) is off to North Carolina this summer after being accepted for a prestigious three-week dance program. (Photo courtesy Connie Lippo)
Skyy Lippo is conquering the world, once dance stage at a time.
The Coupeville High School senior has been accepted into the Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, a three-week summer event hosted by the American Dance Festival.
Held in Durham, North Carolina from June 30-July 21, it draws in 400 dancers and artists from around the world, with Lippo’s group numbering around 60 students.
While there, dancers will work with top choreographers and musicians on the campus at Duke University.
Classes will include modern dance, ballet, Afro-fusion, hip hop, and repertory.
In repertory class, the dancers will create a new work which they will premiere on the final day of the summer session.
Along with the classes, where she’ll often be putting in 6-8 hours a day, Lippo will also have a chance to be front row for performances by a variety of professional dance companies.
Some of the artists she and her fellow dancers are scheduled to see include Abraham.In.Motion, Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, the Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Pilobolus.
The rare opportunity to take part in the Dance Intensive is one Lippo has fully earned, according to Char Brown, Artistic Director of Whidbey Island Dance Theatre and co-owner of Island Dance.
“As Skyy grew as a dancer she didn’t get involved in the dancer drama of the classroom,” she said. “Instead she developed relationships with her instructors that allowed her to focus on all their critiques, which made her a stronger dancer.
“Skyy never challenged what her teachers wanted to give her; instead, she embraced every exercise, every combination, every choreograph piece, and every correction,” Brown added. “Skyy has been an inspiration and a role model to all of her peers, and all those young dancers that look up to her and are inspired to be a dancer like Skyy someday.”
Working with Lippo over several years, the teacher has seen the student grow and blossom.
“Skyy is just not a dancer but has evolved into a wonderful choreographer, a teacher, and an amazing mentor to all those involved with her on a daily basis in her studio and company,” Brown said. “Skyy’s leadership for the last three years as a dance captain has taken the company in a positive direction, building moral and leaving no one out and creating a family environment.
“Skyy has been a true joy in my studio, in my classroom and in my life.”
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