October 17, 2018
Ballet Academy East is proud to announce that Madison Buchholtz, Level 9 student in our Pre-Professional Division, has been named a 2018-19 Long Island Scholar Artist. Read more in the feature below, originally published in the September 21, 2018 edition of Newsday.
Madison Buchholtz, October Long Island Scholar Artist
The art of dance for Madison Buchholtz is more than the physical nature of moving. It\’s an opportunity for the Long Island Scholar Artist to engage with the audience and provide a visual subtext within a performance. “Being a ballet dancer gives me the freedom to express myself and further advance my knowledge artistically, by branching out into choreography,” she says. Madison has shined both in and outside of Huntington High School, including major roles in “The Nutcracker,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella” with The Lynch School of Ballet. She also collaborated with esteemed choreographers in workshops and performances such as Emery Lecrone and Adrienne Hurd. Buchholtz\’s talent developed even more at Ballet Academy East (BAE) in Manhattan with Darla Hoover and Julia Dubno. She also wowed in “Dreamers” at BAE, a new work choreographed by Daniel Ulbricht, a principal dancer for the New York City Ballet. She performed in it a second time for the Dancers Against Cancer Youth Movement, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
“My passion is performing on stage,” she says. “It is so exhilarating to me.” Madison spent time volunteering last year with the Long Island Ballet Theatre with rehearsals and performances while working with young children. She\’ll also handle rehearsing “Angels and Mice” this year for the group and plans to major in ballet after high school while auditioning for ballet companies. “I have had the pleasure of knowing [Madison] for the past four years,” Huntington\’s Dean of Students Robert Gilmore says. “She has always maintained a strong moral compass, is kind, thoughtful and demonstrates the most endearing manners to all that surround her. Madison possesses a commitment to do the best in all she does.”
For more information about the Long Island Arts Alliance and its scholar artist program, please visit www.newsday.com/scholarartists.
Featured Photo: Dreamers, choreographed by Daniel Ulbricht with Madison Buchholtz and BAE graduate, Finn Duggan.
Featured Photo Credit: Rosalie O\’Connor
