An American in Moscow - 15 year old Joins Bolshoi Ballet

James Hill for The New York Times

Joy Womack, an American student at the Bolshoi academy in Moscow, preparing to go onstage in an end-of-term performance. She moved to Russia on her own last year at 15.

Here's more inspiration for you hard-working dancers out there who need a little boost to get through some grueling rehearsals, classes and performances. Here's the incredible story about 15-year-old Joy Womack, who left the comforts of Texas to join Bolshoi Ballet's school, even learning Russian and all of Bolshoi's rigorous ways for her dream to dance in the company. Her talents lie not only in dancing, but in determination, discipline and ambition. Not everyone is born with this kind of drive!




Here's a slideshow of her life there.

And an article that the New York Times ran about her: "Young Americans Embrace Rigors of Bolshoi"

Read questions that readers submitted to Joy, and her answers: Ask the Dancers: Young Americans in Russia Respond

Partnering Tips

Dmitri Roudnev, a former soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet, has a video on dancemedia.com that won the Dance Teacher magazine Editor's Choice for Video of the Month in February. In this excerpt from his full-length DVD, "Partnering with Dmitri Roudnev," Roudnev focuses on the placement of the male dancer's hands and how they should shift as she changes positions. His partner in the video is former Bolshoi soloist, Irina Zibrova.

For more videos from Roudnev, check out his website and online store at http://www.balletmethod.com/shop/ . He also has an entire collection of ballet class music, based on his own technique and class philosophy, which focuses on strong accents and tempos.