Meet Our Ambassadors!

Mikayla has been dancing at Valentina’s School of Ballet for over 5 years under the instruction of Valentina Barsukova. She has attended ballet summer programs at the Kirov Academy in Washington DC and the Bolshoi Academy in New York. Her goal is to perform on stage as a professional dancer. Mikayla loves shopping at Barres N Blades and is so excited to be an Ambassador for the store as well as Ballet in the City for the second year.

17 year old Alivia started dancing at 2 years old and is still in love with it to this day. She studies dance at L.A. Dance in Lake Orion and is a member of their competition team and is also an apprentice for classes at the studio. She has attended many conventions including LA Dance Magic, The Pulse, Nuevo, Stars Studio, Dancerpalooza, Rapture, Hollywood Connections and hopefully more to come. Her favorite styles of dance are jazz funk and contemporary. Alivia is hoping to persue a career in dance after she graduates this year!

Alexa has been dancing since the age of 4 and currently dances at Orion Oxford Dance Arts in Lake Orion. She studies tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, contemporary and hip hop as well as West Coast Swing in which she recently competed in her first Pro-Am Competition. As a 9th grader at Lake Orion High School, Lex recently earned her Varsity letter on the dance team. In addition to dance, she enjoys photography, art, creating videos and playing with her dogs, Napa and Bella. She is excited for her first year as an Ambassador!

Carsyn has been dancing since the age of 3. She is 14 years old and studies ballet, modern, jazz and acro at Eisenhower Dance Detroit. She is also a part of the EDD Youth Ensemble. Carsyn has had various roles in the Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty with the Michigan Ballet Theatre. She has had the opportunity to attend many summer intensives including New Dancefest, Complections and Cincinnati Ballet. She enjoys spending her time with the Romeo Theatre Company as well as competing with the Romeo High School Varsity Dance Team. Carsyn is a 2019 Ambassador for both Barres N Blades and Ballet in the City!

Ashley is 14 years old and is a senior company competitive dancer at L.A. Dance in Lake Orion, MI. Her favorite style of dance is contemporary. 2019 marks her first year as a Barres N Blades and Ballet in the City Ambassador. She is in 8th grade and attends Oxford Middle School. Her goal for this year is to attend more convention classes. In the Summer of 2017, she was invited to go to the convention Verve after she auditioned at Rapture even though she was the youngest attendee! In the past, Ashley had the opportunity to dance in the Russian Moscow Ballet Nutcracker at the Fox Theater. We are so excited to have her represent Barres N Blades this year!

Gabby is 13 years old and dances with the Elite Dance Project competitive team. She takes ballet, pointe, hip hop, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, acro, musical theatre and loves choreographing. One of her most cherished accomplishments is competing with her own solo choreography! She has taken class from many amazing teachers such as Terrill Mitchell, Nathaniel Tavcar and Laura Standlick and has earned scholarships for the events they were associated with. Gabby loves all things of expression such as painting, writing and music but hopes to keep dance her main focus and pursue it as a career!

Danielle is 13 years old and attends Scripps Middle School in Lake Orion. She has been dancing at L.A. Dance since she was four years old and has been competing since she was six. Her favorite dance styles are Ballet and Contemporary. This year was her third year competing at YAGP! She placed in the top twenty four for her Pointe solo and top twelve for her trio. She has also competed at League of Champions where she placed second for her contemporary solo. Danielle has had the opportunity to audition for many summer intensives such as ABT, The Rock School of Dance, Ballet Met, Grand Rapids Ballet and Joffrey School of Ballet. She was accepted into all of their programs! Besides her love for dance, she also enjoys tumbling and gymnastics. Her favorite subject in school is Math. She is thrilled to be a 1st year BNB Ambassador as well as a Ballet in the City Ambassador!

Paige is 17 years old and studies ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, musical theatre, hip hop and acro at Elite Dance Project in Lapeer, MI. Her passion for dance keeps her in the studio five days a week! Paige has nine years of dance experience with seven of those years as a competitive dancer. She loves attending conventions and master classes. She has learned from many talented artists including Terrill Mitchell, Ellenore Scott, Laura Standlick and many more amazing choreographers! Paige is currently exploring her options of dancing on cruises or at resorts to continue her passion for dance while traveling.