Aquinnah: I have been dancing ballet since I was five years old and wore Freed of London pointe shoes for several years. When looking to see how much information was provided on Freed of London’s Wikipedia page, I was disappointed to find only a few small paragraphs on the company and its history. Given that I know much about both Freed and ballet, I believed I was justified to contribute additional information about the topic to the Wiki world. The information on this website comes from the Freed of London website in addition to my own experiences.
Ballet has been in my life for as long as I can remember. I took my first classes at Ballet Academy East when I was 3 years old. At age 10 I left Ballet Academy East to attend the School of American Ballet, where I remained until age 14. I then returned to BAE where I trained through my senior year of high school. Because I had always focused on both Ballet and academics, I faced a difficult decision when applying to colleges. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to dance in a professional company, go to a college to focus on academics, or go to a conservatory for dance. At the end of my senior year of high school I ultimately decided to attend Duke, but to take a gap year dancing as a student apprentice at Miami City Ballet. I continue to dance with the dance department here at Duke.