RHODY LIFE

Cranston boy awarded at prestigious international ballet competition

Posted 4/14/21

If you ask 12-year-old Cranston native William Kinloch what he wants to be when he grows up, his response is undoubtedly "a professional ballet dancer." Ever since he saw his first production of San Francisco Ballet's "The Nutcracker," he's devoted most,

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in
RHODY LIFE

Cranston boy awarded at prestigious international ballet competition

Posted

If you ask 12-year-old Cranston native William Kinloch what he wants to be when he grows up, his response is undoubtedly “a professional ballet dancer.” Ever since he saw his first production of San Francisco Ballet’s “The Nutcracker,” he’s devoted most, if not all of his free time to his dance education and lately it’s been paying off.

Kinloch is one of many students both in the U.S. and abroad who recently competed at the Youth America Grand Prix, an internationally recognized and acclaimed ballet competition that serves as a springboard for young, aspiring dancers. The competition’s reach is worldwide and they have a reputation for discovering and promoting tomorrow’s ballet stars. Students prepare for months to showcase their talent in front of a panel of esteemed judges, all of whom are respected professionals in the dance industry.

William attended the regional competitions in both New York and Boston, where he was awarded first prize in both the classical and contemporary dance categories in the pre-competitive age division. Those prizes afforded him an invitation to compete in the final round of the competition this May, in Florida. At the final round William will be amongst the winners from the all of the YAGP regional competitions in the US, Europe, Asia and South America.

How did he get to this moment? William attends Ocean State Ballet in East Providence, where he studies in the Intensive Ballet Program.

The program has a minimum requirement of 11 hours of study a week for his level. He takes classes in ballet, hip-hop, contemporary and character dance. Ocean State Ballet, awards full tuition scholarships to boys accepted into their Intensive Ballet Program and Kinloch is one of those recipients. It’s just one way that school owners Vilia Putrius and Mindaugas Bauzys hope to encourage young boys like William to feel invited into a dance studio and less like a minority in a largely female dominated industry.

William is an inspiration to his friends and fellow students. His hard work and perseverance has earned him scholarships to study in some of the best ballet schools in the U.S., arguably setting himself on a pathway to his dream career at the mere age of 12.

And there’s no chance of slowing him down, either. After competition in May, he’ll head to New York City for the summer to train at the prestigious Ellison Ballet and then it’s back to Rhode Island for another school year and his daily training at Ocean State Ballet.

The road to being a professional ballet dancer is a challenging one, but Kinloch definitely isn’t backing down, only dancing on.

ballet, award

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here