Moses Lake teen heads to prestigious dance school

MOSES LAKE — Fifteen-year-old Moses Lake resident Kristal Garland-Cruz achieved an early milestone in her dance career when she was accepted to the New York Joffrey Ballet School summer program.

She will be attending the world renowned school for six weeks.

Kristal learned the news while she was in dance class earlier this month.

“I broke down because this is what I’ve been dreaming about,” she said.

She said she was screaming and jumping when she found out she was accepted.

“I will definitely be learning a lot of new steps,” Kristal said.

In addition to learning new moves and techniques, she will also gain more physical strength, which is vital for dance, she said.

In order to be accepted to the school, Kristal had to submit an audition tape, her mother Tracy said. Each year thousands of hopeful people submit audition tapes but only a few are selected.

It was her first time auditioning for the school.

Kristal added she had to resubmit her audition tape because it was lost after the judging panel reviewed it. During her taped performance, she danced to “Woodland Fairy” from the movie “Sleeping Beauty.”

Kristal’s ballet career began when she was 3 years old. Since then, she tried other dance forms but stuck with ballet because she says it’s a “serious and beautiful dance.”

She will continue to audition for the summer program each year until she is 18 years old.

In addition to her pending new dance ?credentials, she also holds a pageant title she earned partly due to a ballet performance.

Kristal is the 2006 Miss Moses Lake Pre-Teen title holder. During the competition she danced to “Tempus Vernum” by Enya.

Tracy said her daughter has high aspirations to continue her ballet career into adulthood. She hopes the experience she earns through the summer program will help her gain acceptance into another prestigious school such as the Juilliard School of Dance.

Kristal also hopes to own a dance school where she can teach the art form to others.