Just deserts: one dancer’s extraordinary college career

Radford University student Kristen Jameson has had a very busy college career. She is the recent recipient of a dance scholarship and she has studied with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, as well as the American Ballet Theater in Washington, D.C.

This summer, Jameson was rewarded for her hard work and dedication with a scholarship in honor of her ballet professor, Inessa Plekhanova. Plekhanova is the Radford University Foundation’s Distinguished Creative Scholar, which is one of five annual awards given to exceptional faculty. Professors receiving these awards each selected a student as for a special scholarship, and Plekhanova chose Jameson.

Jameson is a double major in dance and early childhood education. She is working toward a B.F.A. with a concentration in classical ballet for her degree in dance. She will also continue studying early childhood education and receive her master’s degree. In all, Jameson will graduate three times.

“It meant so much to me that Ms. Plekhanova would choose me because in my time at Radford she has become my mentor,” Jameson said about the honor, “I look up to her as one of the greatest teachers I have ever had the privilege to train under, and I hold the utmost respect for her great knowledge of ballet, caring relationships with her students, humble demeanor, and passion in her teaching.”

Besides winning the scholarship, Jameson earned many other opportunities in her time at Radford University.

The summer before her sophomore year, she auditioned for the Joffrey Ballet School Summer Intensive, a training program in New York City. She was one of 25 dancers invited to study at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, Russia, for a two-week exchange program between the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and the Joffrey Ballet School.

“The Bolshoi is considered one of the best ballet schools in the world, so it was a huge honor to be invited, and I could not pass up that opportunity!” Jameson said.

She received the Horth Scholarship for Summer Dance Study from the Department of Dance to attend the intensive. In her two weeks there she lived at the school. She said this was an experience in itself because hundreds of the world's most talented ballerinas have grown up, taken classes, and graduated from there.

“It was truly humbling and amazing to dance where they trained – there is a wealth of ballet history within that school,” said Jameson.

She attended technique, pointe, character, and historical dance classes, and learned variations from classical ballets in the authentic, original Bolshoi choreography.

Jameson also went sightseeing on the weekend and saw the Kremlin, St. Basilio's, The Red Square, the Russian crown jewels and museum, and of course the Bolshoi Theatre.

“It was a wonderful experience I will always cherish,” said Jameson.

The spring semesters of her sophomore and junior years, Jameson auditioned as a guest artist with the American Ballet Theater. They selected Jameson as an extra dancer for performances at the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

She first heard about the opportunity from a flyer in the Department of Dance.

“My hometown is in Northern Virginia, and it is not a long drive to the Kennedy Center, so for both springs I took a week off from my classes at RU, took all of my work with me or turned it in early before I left, and stayed at home to commute to rehearsals each night that week,” Jameson said.

She said her dance professors were all very supportive of this opportunity, and they were kind enough to let her miss their classes.

“Being backstage with one of my favorite ballet companies that I have grown up watching from a young age was truly a magical experience – and I got to do it two years in a row! I finally met a lot of my dance idols, some within the company and some international guest artists, and of course took some pictures with them; it was so exciting!” said Jameson.

This past summer Jameson received a position at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive. She was a senior staff member and instructor for the youngest ballerinas there, ages 9-11.

“I got to teach each day, and relive some wonderful memories I had from being a student there. It was rewarding to share my advice and to mentor these little dancers, who were only just beginning pointe,” Jameson said.

She currently holds a position in Blacksburg, teaching pre-pointe, advanced pointe, and advanced ballet. “I love teaching ballet almost as much as I love performing it,” Jameson said.

Jameson chose to attend Radford University because she wanted to study under Plekhanova, and that decision has proven to be rewarding for her.

“I am so thankful for all she has done for me, and I know I will always keep in contact with her, even after graduating,” said Jameson.