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Students in Deanna Doty's, the academy director, Ballet class do practice exercises on Tuesday November 12th 2007. (Sam Mullineaux, Buzz photographer)

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A harmony of sound filled the Champaign Ballet Academy’s cream-colored studio on a Friday night. The pitter-patter of girls’ feet in pink, satin toe shoes synchronized with the classical music of The Nutcracker’s “Journey Through the Snow.” Their elongated bodies in black leotards and white tights twirled and jumped through the air of the rectangular room. Their movements appeared delicate, yet powerful in the mirror-paneled wall.

This may not be the typical activity for high-school-aged girls at 8 p.m. on Friday night. But these girls are living their dreams through dancing in the Champaign-Urbana Ballet Company.

“I have always wanted to stand on my toes,” said Erica Johnston, a 15-year-old company member. “I’ve always wanted to be the pretty ballerina.”

Johnston was able to turn her dreams into reality through first taking classes at the Champaign Ballet Academy, 2810 W. Clark Rd., Champaign, and later in joining the Champaign Urbana Ballet Company. Deanna Doty’s creation of both entities in 1998 has given children and adults an outlet to dance and an opportunity to study ballet.

Not only did Doty’s initiative teach children to dance, in many ways, it has disciplined and prepared them for the future. The Academy and the Company have also increased interest in dance and the arts in the community.

The Academy offers classes to all age levels: toddlers and young children, children and youth, and adults.

Jackie Martin, 26, started taking an adult class at the Academy at the beginning of this year. Martin danced from age four to 18 and took an eight-year break from dance while getting her undergraduate and master’s degree at University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

“I was working, but I came home at night and didn’t have any homework to do and just sat in front of the TV all the time,” said Martin. “I always thought about going back into dance because it was a part of my life that was always very natural and I liked it.”

She took classes for several months at the Academy and then joined the Company as its oldest member. Nineteen girls over the age of 13 made up the Academy this season. According to the Company’s producer, Tracy McCabe, it takes seriousness and commitment to get a spot.

Since its initiation in the fall of 1998, it has become Doty’s true passion.

“I have two jobs,” she said. “The one job is with the Academy and is how I make my money. But my life is the Ballet Company.”

For the past four years, the Company has performed The Nutcracker at Krannert Center for Performing Arts with Sinfonia da Camera, the University of Illinois School of Music’s professional orchestra.

Before 2003, the Company was competing with Krannert Center as they both had separate performances of The Nutcracker. In 2002, the Company attracted 2,500 people to their performance of the piece at Parkland Theatre.

“Ours was the more successful that year,” said McCabe. “It really demonstrated that there were lots of people in the community who had an interest to come see the show. And that gave us a lot of confidence to build that partnership with Sinfonia to present multiple performances at Krannert.”

Robert Smith’s 10-year-old daughter Alana Rosenbaum is playing the part of a soldier in this year’s The Nutcracker. Smith, along with many other parents of dancers, is also involved as a member on the Champaign Urbana Ballet Board.

Though Rosenbaum is not part of the Company yet, she has been playing smaller roles in the performance for the past three years. Smith believes the experience the children are getting through the Academy and the Company is something very unusual.

“It’s a great experience for them to dance The Nutcracker on a stage like Krannert,” said Smith. “Most kids who grow up in bigger cities don’t have a chance like that. There’s too much competition. If we lived in a bigger city, our daughter wouldn’t have the opportunity to dance at the level they do here.”

That experience has allowed many alumni dancers to go onto professional dance companies around the world, said McCabe.

Devon Teuscher who started studying with Doty at age nine, now dances with the American Ballet Theatre’s studio company in New York City. With the ABT, she has had leading roles in productions of Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.

Another board member, Brett Feddersen, sees other future benefits for his two daughters Taylor, 6, and Lauren, 9 who also dance at the Academy.

“It is a really nice activity that they can carry forward for a long time,” he said. “They learn they have to balance things in their lives and have to have a strategy for doing that.”

McCabe agreed, mentioning that several students have gone on to Harvard, the University of Illinois and other universities.

“We’re not just training ballerinas,” said McCabe. “We’re training very productive members of society.”

While the Academy and the Company directly affects the lives of its dancers, it has also shaped the culture of the community. Depending on the year, the Company’s “The Nutcracker” attracts upwards of 4,000 to 5,000 attendees.

“Most of [the attendees] are people who may not actually go to Krannert otherwise, who may not see a classical performance,” said McCabe. “The Nutcracker is a great introduction for family and kids. And it’s also one of those things that appeal to people of all ages.”

The Nutcracker will be performed on Nov. 30, Dec.1, 2 and 8 at Krannert Center. As the show approaches, the dancers must practice at least two hours on Monday through Friday and for four and a half hours on Saturday.

When asked if Johnston has any regrets because of the time commitment, she said, “No, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love dancing.”