Austin Brue - Desert Star Dance Alumni completes EDGE PAC scholarship

On August 23, 2013 the Edge Performing Arts Center in Hollywood California celebrated another graduation for the scholarship students in it’s professional program. 

The program has been in place for 25 years. It was developed by Randy Allaire and Bill Prudich in 1988 to prepare dancers for a career as a commercial or concert professional dancer. The intensive one-year program requires up to 38 hours per week of classes, closed scholarship sessions and work apprenticeship. After a year of intense study, participants are well on their way to becoming professionals.  The scholarship runs from September through August of the following year. Every August, an audition is held and up to twenty people are accepted into the program and awarded a scholarship. 

Last August, Austin Brue (an alumni of Desert Star Dance) made the journey to LA to audition and was awarded one of the coveted spots. He was selected out of hundreds of talented dancers from around the country. The scholarship is worth over $17,000 and is a prestigious and sought after award for young dancers hoping to make a name for themselves in the dance industry. I wrote to Austin recently and asked him about his personal experience and what it was like during his year as a “scholy”. Here’s some of the things I learned from him about his year long odyssey. 

Austin spent a year taking classes from many of the top choreographers and instructors in Los Angeles as well as developing his look and learning about the audition process for dancers. Austin told me in addition to regular classes he was required to work at the front desk at the studio, participate in choreography projects, and have regular body and fitness evaluations. After 8 months of training, the scholarship students started focusing on the end of year showcase. In 5 weeks, they learned and polished 9 numbers. Major choreographers and directors from the entertainment industry attend this annual show, and after the performance, the dancers get a chance to auditions with many of the major dance agents and industry professionals in LA.

Austin felt that living in Los Angeles and being in the program was extremely intimidating at first. He "was like a tiny fish in a huge pond", but over the course of the program he matured as a person and a dancer. The program is grueling and they push hard, but the time spent at the Edge gave Austin a solid confidence boost. The training encourages dancers to be strong and versatile. He now feels totally prepared to go out and work as a professional dancer. 

Austin and fellow scholarship students at EDGE PAC

Austin went on to tell me that students in the professional program are required to take ballet 5 days a week. He went from hating ballet to enjoying it over the course of the year. He was expected to know what every ballet term meant, and be ready to demonstrate the combination if asked. He also had to know the differences between French, Russian, and Cecchetti ballet technique. Some of his teachers were extremely strict, and “weren't afraid to attack the ego”, while others were more free and contemporary. Austin also trained in voice and comedy improv throughout the year. 

Austin’s favorite teacher while on scholarship was Helene Phillips. She taught him how to be, in her words, a "bitchin'" dancer! She emphasized being human and knowing your gender. She really taught him how to perform like a powerful man. He says he owes a huge portion of his growth to her. His fellow scholarship students were a big influence on him as well. He enjoyed having healthy competition with them, which consistently pushed and inspired Austin to be his best. As a former scholarship student myself at Dupree Dance Academy, I still have incredible bonds with the dancers that I spent that intense year of study with, and that was 30 years ago! There is a special connection created during programs like these and friendships that tend to last a lifetime. 

Austin is now represented by Mcdonald Selznick Associates - one of the top agencies in Los Angeles for dancers. His ultimate goal is to tour with a major artist. He’d love to travel the world and perform in stadiums in front of thousands of people. Austin is a loyal Britney Spears fan and has always said he had a dream of one day performing with her. He told me recently that he may be getting a chance to audition for her soon! Perhaps that dream will soon become a reality for him. Austin would also like to work in tv and film, but as he put it ,”nothing compares to live performance” (a man after my own heart!). He loves living in Los Angeles and hopes to make a permanent home there. 

I am proud to have been one of Austin’s teachers during his childhood. I have been a dance educator for over 20 years and there are only a handful of students in one’s teaching life who go on to become professionals. It’s an incredible source of pride to see someone you knew as a little guy in your weekly dance classes blossom in to a talented and skilled professional. I know all of his teachers here at DSD couldn’t be more proud. Austin was always enthusiastic, hungry for knowledge and fun to work with. There was never any doubt that Austin would do well with whatever he decided to do in life.  We at Desert Star Dance could not be more proud that he chose to pursue dance as a career. We know this is only the beginning of an exciting life in the world of dance for Austin Brue.  

To find out more about Desert Star Dance, visit our website at http://www.desertstardance.com or call us at (480) 813-7827.