Summer Invitations to Canada’s National Ballet School

Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS) has invited two more students from Fraser Valley Academy of Dance (FVAD) for summer training in Toronto!  Myla Lalli of Surrey and Hanna Gillanders of Abbotsford were among the very few who qualified following auditions in Vancouver.

NBS offers elite training programs for students who wish to pursue a career in ballet. If successful in the summer program, students are invited to train full-time, living in residence and participating in a half-day private academic program alongside their intensive training. They also have the opportunity to perform on stage with the National Ballet of Canada. Employment prospects for NBS graduates are very high, with 95% finding work in Canada or abroad.

Fewer than 150 of over 1000 hopeful students are accepted each year to attend the NBS summer school. Of those, only a few dozen will be invited into the full-time Professional Ballet Program. So it’s exceptional that FVAD students have now received 25 invitations to NBS summer programs, and 8 invitations to their full-time program.

Located in the 100-year-old former Masonic Hall on 1st Avenue, FVAD has been under the artistic direction of Mr. John Carney, and part of Mission’s downtown core, for over 15 years.

Mr. Carney began his extensive career in dance as a child in England, training full-time at the Royal Ballet School in London. At the age of 17 while still in school, he was invited to join English National Ballet, becoming Soloist, then later joined the Rambert Dance Company. He toured the world performing for 15 years, working with renowned dancers and choreographers such as Rudolph Nureyev and Merce Cunningham.

Returning to the Royal Ballet School as a teacher and choreographer, he would go on to share his extensive experience with other schools and companies in Europe, the U.S., and Canada. Learn more about FVAD’s Directors (https://fvad.ca/about-us/our-directors/)

In 2008, Mr. Carney chose to settle in BC for his “retirement job”, transforming the former Masonic Hall into a flourishing ballet academy. With its slogan “You Belong Here”, FVAD has become a second home to students from across the Fraser Valley, as well as those who have travelled to Mission from Japan, Mexico, France, Germany and the U.S to train at the school.

Overall, FVAD students have now received more than 130 invitations to ballet company schools and performing arts colleges, as well as professional company contracts with Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Lexington Ballet, Ballet Victoria, Cairo Opera Ballet, and Ballet Orlando II.

With so many student successes, the results speak for themselves. The quality of training at FVAD is exceptional, not only for a small town like Mission, or within the Fraser Valley, but across Canada. Learn more about FVAD’s Student Achievements (https://fvad.ca/about-us/student-achievements/)

For more information, contact Mrs. Carney at 604-826-0097 or info@fvad.ca. Whether for recreation, personal achievement, or to pursue a professional career, FVAD can help with your dance journey.

You belong here.

View our article in Mission’s What’s On Magazine.