Elizabeth Mateer of Stephentown won High Gold for performing a ballet routine, “Bluebird,” on pointe, at the Starquest Dance Competition held at the Palace Theater in Albany on Sunday, March 15. The dance routine was choreographed by Abbie Putrock of the Isabelle School of Dance where Elizabeth is a member of the Competition Team. There are 52 dancers on the ISD team this year, entering a total of 39
routines into competition. Elizabeth performs in seven other group numbers in addition to her “Bluebird” on pointe solo.
In January, Elizabeth sent an audition on DVD to the prestigious Interlochen Performance Arts Camp in Michigan and has been offered a place in their Ballet Program. For the audition she was required to demonstrate excellence in ballet; she chose to send a practice session of Bluebird. Interlochen Arts Camp accepts 2,500 students out of thousands of applicants from more than 50 countries to participate in summer intensive programs offered in Creative Writing, Dance, General Arts, Motion Picture Arts, Theater and Visual Arts. If she is able to attend, she will dance eight hours or more each day for three weeks, take master dance classes, meet and dance with professional dancers and attend performances. To attend, Elizabeth will be doing fund raisers. She would like to thank Monica Shupe for helping her find a performance space and the Seventh Day Baptist Church and Pastor Matt Olson for allowing her to film her audition tape for Interlochen in their meeting hall.
If you would like to see Elizabeth perform this dance, she will be performing Bluebird at the ISD recital June 12 – 14 at Columbia High School in East Greenbush. Check Elizabeth’s website at www.elizabethmateer.blogspot.com for performance times and fund raising information.
Elizabeth is the eldest of the six children of Tim and Gina Mateer. When asked to comment about her success, Elizabeth said, “I’ve been trying for so long, and I feel like everything is finally coming together.” She has studied dance for 12 years. She credits all of her dance instructors at ISD with teaching her technique and performance, most especially Abbie Putrock, who has been her ballet instructor and an inspiration to her for the last seven years at ISD. She also provided inspiration and encouragement to reach higher, work harder and achieve greater heights in dance. Elizabeth would like to thank Susan Jameson as well.