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, dressing up for Halloween, holiday parties and many more.

Secret Santa: Each year, ABA has a tradition of doing Secret Santa. Our Secret Santa is usually done three times, each time giving the receiver a new hint for them to guess who their secret Santa is. This is one of our favorites because we get to give to others while having fun and getting to know them!

Piquer Piquer ABA: At every performance we have we do piquer piquer ABA. What usually happens when we do Piquer Piquer ABA is that at least one person’s foot gets hit. No matter how big or small the circle is, someone has to get hit with the other person’s foot or pointe shoe… yikes.

Holiday colored leotards: for Valentine’s day, everyone has to wear either a white, pink, or red leotard for class. We are not allowed to wear any other color leotard or skirt even if it compliments the red, white, or pink. This is what makes ours extra unique.

Dressing up for Halloween: on Halloween, everyone needs a costume for class and it is addressed as an emergency if you don’t have a costume. If you don’t have a costume one will be supplied by the costume room.

Height Wall (wall of heights): From the old studio, we had a wall with everyone’s height on it. Each year we would measure everyone to see how much we’ve grown. Now that we are in the new studio, with many new students too, it is exciting to see the new wall of heights that will last for many years. We also joked about cutting off the wall of heights from the old studio so that we can have it in the new studio.

Holiday Parties @ Mme’s House: after the nutcracker or the end of year performance we have a party at Mme. house. Everyone attends and dresses up nicely, bringing food and snacks for the party. At the end of the party, we each get a goody bag from Madame. We will also take a group picture at the end of every party.

Toi toi toi gifts from Mme: Before each show or performance, Mme always gives us a toi toi toi gift, whether it's a picture of all of us or a chocolate for good luck.

End of summer intensive gifts: at the end of every summer intensive Mme. gives us a gift. This past year she gave us a towel, and skincare mask, along with a notebook and pen, a lanyard, and a bag.

After performance pictures: after every performance we take a normal group picture, then after that we take a silly picture where we are all in a silly, goofy, or weird position. Having these “silly” pictures helps us to remember all the good times we have had at the studio.

ABA has many traditions, and we love each of them. For many of the girls at the studio ABA is a home away from home. We are a family, and these traditions help us get to know each other, and grow closer to each other.


Publish Date: 11/15/2020