On both ice and wood, Michaelee's on her toes

This summer, Michaelee Scarincio will do something thousands of other girls her age only dream of: dance on the stage of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with the New York City Ballet.

"I like to perform," explained the sixth-grader at St. Mary/St. Alphonsus School in Glens Falls. "I love being on stage."

This is Michaelee's sixth year with the ballet, which regularly auditions area dance students for small parts in summer performances. She has performed in "Circus Polka," served as a fairy's page in "Sleeping Beauty" and danced in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Rehearsals

At the end of June, Michaelee and two dozen other girls from the Capital District will enter intense daily rehearsals to prepare for a reprise of "Circus Polka" on July 6 and 10.

Rehearsals, which can last three to four hours, occur every night until the performance.

"Rehearsals are fun," the young dancer explained. "You have to go through [the dance] a lot of times. You warm up by yourself. You have to practice. Some things are really, really easy, and others take a lot of work. And then, [the performance] goes by really fast because you are having so much fun on stage."

Fun and work

"It's a serious commitment," said Michaelee's mother, Cheryl. "I told her, 'Go in for the experience, and have fun.'"

The demands made on the young dancers are precise, with fingers, feet and smiles all having to be uniform and "just so," said Mrs. Scarincio. "Everything has to be perfect and exact."

Michaelee said she and the others have to "learn fast, listen to the music, perform without getting nervous" and be able to keep up with the ballet mistress.

On ice, too

Despite the pressure, Michaelee doesn't get nervous. After all, she's used to performance and competition; as an accomplished figure skater, she's often literally in the spotlight.

"I just don't get nervous," she said.

"I get nervous," joked her mother. "But she's prepared."

Last year, Michaelee came in second place at the Junior Nationals competition in Scottsdale, Arizona, making her the second-best junior figure skater in the country. To get there, she had to compete in a regional tournament with 130 other girls.

Twin disciplines

According to Michaelee, figure skating and ballet complement each other. Ice skaters often take ballet classes to help with flexibility, posture, balance and grace.

Those qualities, she said, are especially necessary to be a good dancer and skater, where consistency and uniformity are prized, and falls and imperfections take points away from a final score.

Michaelee didn't get where she was without a lot of work. Training for the two activities -- where competition is fierce and hundreds of girls her age vie for a few coveted spots -- takes up much of her day.

Frogs and butterflies

The Scarincio family makes sure Michaelee has down time; she loves going to the movies, four-wheeling with friends and caring for the family pets. She goes with friends to a bead shop in Saratoga Springs to make necklaces. Last year, she and her mother raised butterflies.

One of her hobbies is catching frogs, and she will often play savior to the ones that find their way into the family's swimming pool. She spends some summer afternoons chasing the slippery amphibians in Saratoga Park ponds.

"I always let them go," she said.

What's next?

In one or two years, Michaelee will grow too tall to take summer parts with the New York City Ballet, and her opportunities to perform locally in professional situations will be few.

Decisions loom: If she auditions for a five-week summer ballet training program at the School of American Ballet in New York City in a few years, she may have to give up ice skating for that amount of time.

If she chooses ice skating, ballet may fall behind. But she has to think about her dreams to enter the Figure-Skating Nationals.

"If I could, I'd do them both. I love them both," she said.

(Last summer, Michaelee danced in "Coppelia," her "favorite ballet" because "it's so graceful. It had the prettiest costumes, and it had the most dancing." Clocking in at nearly 20 minutes, her part was the longest of any of her Saratoga appearances.)

School day different for dancer

Because of Michaelee's "need to train professionally," said St. Mary/St. Alphonsus teacher Susan Reardon, she attends an abbreviated school day. She has been tutored by Ms. Reardon before school, in the evenings and on the weekends for four years.

Math, English and religion classes are taken at the school; Michaelee is responsible for social studies and science on her own time. She is dispensed from gym class and uses that time to study with Ms. Reardon.

"Michaelee is doing very well," her tutor said. "She meets all the requirements that the other students meet. She is a very hard worker and an excellent student. I want to see her succeed, and I don't mind spending the time to see that happen."

Michaelee often arrives at school at 6:45 a.m. She leaves at 11:45 and is driven by her mother to Clifton Park, where she trains at an ice arena.

On days when her schedule is the heaviest, she arrives home after 6 p.m. Homework is completed in the car during the daily drives. Weekend mornings and some evenings are also devoted to schoolwork.

"That's what it takes," said Mrs. Scarincio. "You have to be there for them if that's their passion. You have to make it happen for them." (KD)

(6/10/04)