Apple Valley dancer steps into spotlight
By Andrew Miller on April 19, 2012 at 12:05 pm

     Dancing since the age of 3, Maggie Selner is stepping into the spotlight this month.
      The Apple Valley eighth-grader has landed the leading role in “The Ballet School,” one of the featured productions at the Minnesota Dance Festival May 4-5 at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.
      It will be Selner’s third time performing with her peers from Classical Ballet Academy at the annual dance festival, but it’s her first starring role there.
       And she’s been logging long hours for her role in “The Ballet School,” part of a trilogy written and choreographed by her Classical Ballet Academy instructor Andrew Rist. Leading up to the festival she’s been putting in 20-hour weeks in the studio.
       “I love the rehearsals with my friends. It’s a challenging part to learn, but that doesn’t bother me,” said the 13-year-old homeschooler, who plans to attend high school at Chesterton Academy in Edina starting in the fall and hopes to one day become a ballet instructor.
      The success Selner has found on the stage has been a decade in the making. She started taking ballet classes 10 years ago at a now-defunct dance studio in Burnsville.
      “She took to it right away and loved to perform,” Selner’s mom, Brenda, said of her first dance classes at age 3. “Half the kids were crying, but she loved it.”
      Selner scored her first big part last December, when she played Clara in “The Nutcracker” at St. Paul’s O’Shaughnessy Theater.
      “You’re pretty much on stage the entire performance,” she said of the Clara role. “It’s a lot of endurance. If you can do that part, you can do anything.”

 

-----------------------------------------  At Fitzgerald Theater ---------------------------------------------

     Friday, May 4   2012                         (at FITZGERALD)
                       8:00                        Fitzgerald opens
                8:30 -     9:00            Class
                       9:00                        Ballet 1, 2, 3 & preballet arrive and get into costume
                9:15 -     9:30            Ballet School (Pre-Ballet & Level 1 on stage)   and:
                                                            (Level 3: Lily, Lena, Greta, Autumn K, Kira, Lisette)
                                                              and Gretchen, Clara, Maggie, Kayla, Jordan, Erin
              10:00 -   11:00            Schools & Community Groups Special Showing
                                                       Ballet School / Jim Lieberthal / Keane Sense of Rhythm /
                                                       Les Sylphides /  Fargo Moorhead Ballet / Messiah

                       5:30                        Fitzgerald opens
                6:15 -     6:45            Class
                       6:30                        Ballet 1, 2, 3 & preballet arrive and get into costume
                6:50 -     7:00            Ballet School (Pre-Ballet on stage)
                7:30 -   10:30            Festival Classic: Les Sylphides
                                                      Ballet School / Keane / Les Sylphides /  Fargo Moorhead / Messiah

      Saturday, May 5   2012                         (at FITZGERALD)
            12:00 -    1:00            Class
                    1:00                        Ballet 1, 2, 3 & preballet arrive and get into costume
              1:15 -     1:30            Ballet School (Pre-Ballet & Level 1 on stage)   and:
                                                            (Level 3: Lily, Lena, Greta, Autumn K, Kira, Lisette)
                                                              and Gretchen, Clara, Maggie, Kayla, Jordan, Erin
              2:00 -     3:10            Festival Showcase
                                                    Ballet School
                                                    Jim Lieberthal
                                                    Keane Sense of Rhythm                 
                                                    Les Sylphides
                                                    Fargo Moorhead Ballet
                                                    Messiah

                        5:30                   Fitzgerald opens
                6:15 -     6:45            Class
                       6:30                        Ballet 1, 2, 3 & preballet arrive and get into costume
                6:45 -     7:00            Ballet School (Pre-Ballet & Level 1 on stage)   and:
                                                            (Level 3: Lily, Lena, Greta, Autumn K, Kira, Lisette)
                                                              and Gretchen, Clara, Maggie, Kayla, Jordan, Erin
                7:30 -   10:30            Festival Classic: Les Sylphides
                                                    Ballet School
                                                    Jim Lieberthal
                                                    Keane Sense of Rhythm                 
                                                    Les Sylphides
                                                    Fargo Moorhead Ballet
                                                    Messiah

     Sunday, May 6   2012                         (at FITZGERALD)
            9:00 -    12:45            Master Classes
            1:00 -      3:00            Dance Schools Rehearsals
                    3:30                        Dance Schools Showcase
                                                CBA will present Messiah
                                                            And the Glory of the Lord
                                                            He shall feed his children
                                                            Hallelujah

        THERE ARE CLASSES AT CBA THROUGH SATURDAY, MAY 19