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Don Quixote & The Bridesmaid Variation 1 Don Quixote is based on sections of the classic novel, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. It is a tale of love and loyalty. This ballet was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludw ...... 04/07/2020 View
La Fille Mal Gardee La Fille Mal Gardée, The Wayward Daughter, is one of the oldest and most significant compositions in the modern ballet repertory. It was initially devised by an influential choreographer in the 18th century, Jean Daubervel. This ballet is inspired by ...... 04/12/2020 View
The Secret History “The Secret History” is from the album The Architect, composed by Kerry Muzzey and recorded by The Chamber Orchestra of London. This piece of music is Classical Orchestral and is 5 minutes long. Kerry Muzzey is a composer for films and music. This mu ...... 04/26/2020 View
Learning New Variation in Quarantine During these times in quarantine, having online privates are hard but still doable. Without the teacher being there to help directly, it can be more difficult to learn and dance a solo. For me, it feels somewhat tougher because I am starting to learn ...... 03/21/2020 View
Grand Pas Classique One variation I would like to do in the future is Grand Pas Classique, a classical repertoire, choreographed by Viktor Gsovsky. He created this pas de deux to music composed by a French composer from the nineteenth century, Daniel Auber. Many people ...... 06/21/2020 View
La Esmeralda La Esmeralda is a ballet, which has three acts and five scenes. Notre-Dame de Paris, by Victor Hugo, influenced the making of this ballet. La Esmeralda is about a gypsy girl named Esmeralda, who marries a poet so he doesn’t die from the gypsy king. L ...... 09/20/2020 View
Summer Intensives (1) ABA has finally started summer intensives, and we’ve been learning so much already, while also trying to get back in shape! During the past few weeks, we have learned variations and group dances of many styles including, ballet and mime, musical thea ...... 07/27/2020 View
Summer Intensive (2) During the last 3 weeks of the Akhmedova Ballet Academy summer intensive, I have been practicing a new variation. This variation is from the ballet Paquita, but it is able to be used in other ballets like Don Quixote. Paquita which has two acts and w ...... 08/16/2020 View
Preparation for YAGP This November, a few of us are going to Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) to compete. We have been working very hard to get prepared for the competition physically and mentally. I am doing two classical variations and one contemporary, and all of them ...... 10/23/2020 View
YAGP Philadelphia Last weekend, I went to my first competition of the year in Philadelphia. We went there to attend Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP). Overall, I did pretty well, placing 2nd in both classical and contemporary! The day of the competition was very calm, n ...... 11/15/2020 View
ABA At the Akhmedova Ballet Academy (ABA), we have many traditions, some in the studio, while others are before or after performances. Some of the many traditions that we have at ABA are secret santa, holiday leotards, the height wall, piquer piquer ABA, ...... 11/15/2020 View
The ballet Le Corsaire The ballet Le Corsaire (The Pirate) is usually presented in three acts and is based on the poem “The Corsaire” by Lord Byron. It was first performed in Russia in the year of 1858. In this ballet, the character Medora, Lankendem’s ward, is first sold ...... 12/15/2020 View
The ballet Sleeping Beauty The ballet Sleeping Beauty includes a prologue and three acts and is based on the fairy tale “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” by Charles Perrault. Marius Petipa choreographed this ballet, while Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed the music. This class ...... 12/16/2020 View
Do’s and Don’ts In ballet, there are many do’s and don’ts that go into the technique. Many of them will help with injuries if done correctly, which is why most of them are quite crucial when doing each step. The do’s to ballet technique includes to turn out, which i ...... 01/12/2021 View
Resilience This year, the 2020-2021 school year, 9 of the PTP dancers were choreographed a new contemporary group dance, Code Name Resilience. This dance was choreographed by Ashley Canterna-Hardy, who has choreographed many ABA group dances for competitions in ...... 02/28/2021 View
Coming Competitions Throughout the next few weeks, ABA will attend three different competitions, including the Washington D.C. Grand Prix (DCGP), Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Finals, and National Ballet Competition. The Washington D.C. Grand Prix will be held in the ...... 04/23/2021 View
Awards for ABA After going to three different competitions in the span of two weeks, I think I can say for all of us that we had a lot of fun and made many memories. In the past few weeks, we competed in the Washington DC Grand Prix (DCGP), Youth America Grand Prix ...... 05/27/2021 View
Why is summer important for dancers, what is important, and how you can achieve it during intensives? At ABA, our classes have officially ended, and our summer intensives are soon to begin. They have always been so much fun to attend as well as beneficial. Gaining strength after injuries or making sure that they keep in shape is something that intens ...... 06/15/2021 View
Teacher As a dancer, I have learned that the most crucial part of this learning process is to have a teacher who is supportive and encouraging, as well as dedicated to guiding their students. Madame has always found a way to help her students, whether it is ...... 08/08/2021 View
Thanksgiving Parade During the time of Thanksgiving, ABA likes to attend the annual Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade. Located very close to our studio in Downtown Silver Spring, we always set up a float and sometimes even performed a piece titled “The Skater’s Walt ...... 11/28/2021 View
A Triumph In 2022, ABA started off our competition season at National Ballet Competition (NBC) in late January, and then Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) two weeks later. ABA was very successful in Delaware and New York, bringing 15 soloists and 8 group dances ...... 02/26/2022 View
YAGP Final, Tampa, FLorida During our school year, one of the many events we prepare for is the Youth America Grand Prix, a competition where we compete alongside a number of talented dancers. This year, we were again invited to compete in Tampa, Florida as finalists for the Y ...... 04/24/2022 View
First Summer Intensive, 2022 As my first summer intensive of this year is coming to an end, I now have had one on-campus experience compared to an intensive at my home studio. This summer, I chose to go to a school located outside of Maryland, pretty far away from home. It was v ...... 07/15/2022 View
This Nutcracker This Nutcracker season has truly been one of a kind. ABA has put on various shows of the Nutcracker at a variety of different locations this year, bringing the classic holiday production back to the stage. Unlike the past few years, we performed a mo ...... 12/20/2022 View
Valentine’s Day Show On February 11, ABA took the stage at the Schweinhaut Senior Center again for our Valentine’s Day show. Normally all our shows contain a mixture of classical, contemporary, and character groups and solos, but this day was a little different. This spe ...... 02/20/2023 View
International Dance Talent Competition Italy Last month, we traveled to Italy to compete at the International Dance Talent Competition Italy, where we stayed for a lovely couple of days before visiting Venice and Munich. Leaving for Italy, I was anxious to compete in a couple of days and just d ...... 08/23/2023 View
Holiday Celebration Celebrating the holidays at ABA can often be found as our dancers’ favorite part of the year, since we celebrate in a variety of fun and entertaining ways. A long held tradition at this studio has been Secret Santa, while a more recent tradition has ...... 12/30/2023 View
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  Lucy Qian