July 24, 2005
Section: Neighbors
Edition: Final
Page: 2ML

ON THEIR TOES
LILY LEUNG, Special to The Herald

Like many children growing up in Cuba under the Castro regime, Susana Prieto Elden had no say in determining her future. Instead, the state declared it knew what was best. In her case, the state decided the tall, svelte young girl was best suited for a career in ballet.

So at age 5, she began training at La Sociedad Pro-Arte Musical, where she began to hone the talents she would bring to America after fleeing Cuba at age 8.
``After [Fidel] Castro came, the life you had was destined for you,'' Prieto Elden said. ``A lot of the kids have the passion and the love for the art, but they are told not to study it because they aren't part of the government agenda.''

When Prieto Elden opened Ballet Etudes School, 415 W. 51st Pl., Hialeah, 31 years ago, she had no intention of making ballet exclusive to the ``hand picked talent.'' She re-tailored the Russian classical ballet methodology she had studied as a young girl and made the discipline both accessible and less rigorous for her students.

Now, Prieto Elden and her staff teach this re-developed form of ballet to more than 500 students in the school's three locations, including Miami Lakes and Pembroke Pines, and they have graduated more than 50 students.

On July 9, the school ended the academic year with Abrakadance, its annual summer show. The occasion also marked the graduation of a record eight students: Ashley Barrera, Dominique Elden, Vanessa Hebra, Stephanie Kronick, Jackie Lopez, Brittany O'Dell, Kristina Pineda and Jessica Tome.

Graduation marks an important time for a Ballet Etudes student, the eight graduates said. Many students tend to drop out around age 12 or 13 because of a burgeoning interest in cheerleading or because of strong dislike for pointe, the stage at which a dancer no longer uses the hard-tipped ballet shoes to support herself.

But these graduates endured the painful blisters and chronic injuries to continue the sisterhood that began before any of them started kindergarten.

``The eight us grew up together,'' Pineda said. ``We share our birthdays together and have sleep overs. We can't get rid of each other.''

Aside from the commencement concert in the summer, Ballet Etudes, also home to the Ballet Etudes Co., is mostly known for its annual winter performance of The Nutcracker at the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach. The production, which started in 1976, is always performed to live music from the Florida Classical Orchestra - an important component of all of the company's productions, said Prieto Elden.

Another signature show the company puts on is Swan Lake in the spring. To give more dancers the chance to perform, Prieto Elden sometimes double- and even triple-casts roles in both productions. ``In other companies, they don't give the opportunity to perform at the Jackie Gleason Theater,'' Barrera said. ``But here in Ballet Etudes we get that chance.''

Prieto Elden - the featured ballerina at the Barry College Auditorium in 1974 and at the Dade County Auditorium in 1978 - also gives her students the chance to dance with an eclectic mix of professional dancers serving as ``guest artists.''

Using her connections in the artistic world, she travels mostly to New York to seek out the best dancers of the moment, she said.

As a teenager, Prieto Elden received a scholarship to study with the late Jurgen Schneider, former coach of Mikhail Baryshnikov, at a summer institute in Michigan. After she completed the ballet immersion program, she stayed in touch with Schneider, who spent his last years in Miami Beach helping Prieto Elden bring renowned ballet dancers and teachers to Ballet Etudes.

Prieto Elden has never broken that tradition. She has recruited dancers such as Aureo Andino of Puerto Rico, Jurijs Safonovs of the Virginia Ballet and Maria Kowroski and Charles Askegard of the New York City Ballet.

``The best part is that you get to watch and dance with the true professionals,'' said her daughter, Dominique, one of the 2005 graduates.

Along with the company's line-up of all-star guest artists, Ballet Etudes also has an All-Star staff. Rodolfo Rodriguez, the artistic advisor and choreographer, has 55 years of ballet experience. He started out at Teatro Colón in Argentina, has performed in Venezuela, China and Germany and has worked with dancers such as Alicia Alonso, former director of the Cuban National Ballet.

While Prieto Elden develops the students artistically, many of them say Rodriguez focuses more on the technical side of ballet with his ``old school, tough love'' teaching approach that students either love or hate.

``I'm mean for only one reason,'' Rodriguez said. ``I was a bad student and I don't want my students to be bad students. I have a strong voice and a strong character. Some understand and others don't.''

Prieto Elden's husband Harry, a self-proclaimed ``Ballet Grandpa,'' thinks Rodriguez's no-nonsense training is essential in developing a ``Ballet Etudes girl.''

``It's a real, hard-knocks education,'' Elden said. ``[These girls] have an air of confidence. Nothing fazes them because they have seen the 2,000-eyed monster - the audience.''

It is this type of education that has produced students who have gone on to be professional dancers, Prieto Elden said. Twins Maribel and Mabel Modroño have danced for the Pittsburgh Ballet and the Broadway musical Moving Out, respectively.

Peter La Fox, a teacher at Ballet Etudes and a retired dancer, developed his talent at the Hialeah-based company 26 years ago. The Cuban native has gone on to choreograph and dance for shows in Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlantic City, Argentina and Uruguay.

``I was already a professional in Cuba but this company gave me a hand,'' said La Fox, who directs Ballet Etudes' Junior Ensemble. ``I learned about 70 percent of what I know from Susana.''

Alina Hernandez, a 2004 graduate, is studying elementary education at the University of Miami but she plans to postpone her degree if she gets accepted to a professional ballet company.

``Although I already graduated from the school, I stay with [Ballet Etudes] because I know what it can give to me and I know what I can give back to it,'' Hernandez said. ``It's going to be very competitive but I won't stop until I find [a company] that likes the whole `me.' ''

Although Prieto Elden has expanded her school to two other locations, she has kept the main studio in her home in Hialeah because this is where her grass-roots effort of bringing ballet began.

``Unfortunately, Hialeah is not known for its riches,'' Prieto Elden said. ``The parents may not have a lot of money but to see them and their children being enriched by ballet-that's what has held me here for a long time.''

SMART BOX

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Class registration at Ballet Etudes is open through Aug. 15 at the school's three locations: 415 W. 51st Pl., Hialeah, 305-557-1142; 6812 NW 169th St., Miami Lakes, 305-558-3439; and 11246 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines, 954-433-3464.


Illustration:color photo: Ballet Etudes School in Hialeah ran pg 1 ml (A), photo: Dominique Elden 2pix (A), Alina Hernandez (A)

MARIMER CODINA/FOR THE HERALD IN THE FAMILY: Dominique Elden, 19, daughter of Ballet Etudes founder Susana Prieto Elden, just graduated from the rigorous school.

PHOTOS BY MARIMER CODINA/FOR THE HERALD IN THE AIR: Alina Hernandez, 20, who is studying education at the University of Miami, would postpone her degree were she accepted to the ballet companies she plans to apply to.

GRADUATE: Dominique Elden is one of a record eight students to graduate from Ballet Etudes this year. She joins an elite group of 50 graduates in the school's 31-year history.