Spruce Creek High dancer just keeps going

Daytona Beach News-Journal: Over the summer, [Alana Muldowney] spent six weeks training at the elite Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow...The Academy’s impact on her was profound. Since returning, she’s decided to study Russian in college and possibly work in international intelligence. Read More

Brisbane teenager to dance with the Bolshoi (Australia)

Quest Newspapers: A BAYSIDE teenager has achieved the “opportunity of a lifetime” to train with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. In July she went to Connecticut in the US for the Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive and after auditioning for a place via video. Read More

Libertyville dancer takes lead in Dancenter North's Nutcracker

Windy City Live: Priyana Acharya, 15, will dance the lead role of “American Beauty Rose” in Dancenter North’s “The Magic of the Nutcracker.” Priyana has attended many summer intensive ballet programs, including Bolshoi Ballet Academy New York City and Bolshoi Ballet Academy Connecticut. Read More

Young Coastsider pursues the world

Half Moon Bay Review: Growing up in El Granada, Robert Letters distinguished himself in performing arts. But heading into adulthood, he is blazing a different kind of distinguished path. Letters, 18, was one of 14 American high school students to spend eight weeks in Moscow in June and July as an ambassador of the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) Russian Language and Culture Program. Read More

A trip of a lifetime

Hoover Sun: Unbelievable. A dream come true. The opportunity of a lifetime. That’s how 16 y.o. Katherine Free describes her summer. The blossoming ballerina spent nine weeks — three in New York City, six in Moscow — pursuing the art form she loves under the direction of the world’s most elite instructors. Read More

Navigating Food and Culture through Language

Since middle school, Archit has always liked world travel, languages, and cultures; learning about Russian language, history, music, and current events was no exception. With extended family in India, Archit was an experienced international traveler. Thus, he felt prepared for the NSLI-Y program in Moscow and his parents were supportive. Read More

Muldowney Chosen for NSLI Program

Alanna Muldowney was chosen as one of 15 American high school ballet students for the NSLI- Y & Bolshoi Way Program, a U.S. Department of State Program in collaboration with the Russian American Foundation and the internationally renowned Bolshoi Ballet Academy of Russia. Read More

Ormond Beach ballet student returns from Moscow

Muldowney was just one of 15 ballet students chosen from around the country for the NSLI-Y Russian Language and Culture RAF and Bolshoi Way. The program, funded by the state, immerses the students into a summer of learning a different country’s culture and ballet. Read More

Maranda Jory: loving her sweet slice of life

The Mesa Paper: Recently, Maranda Jory completed a six-week full scholarship stint at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Russia, training at one of the best ballet academies in the world! It was a life-changing experience for Maranda in many ways, including her preconceived notions about Russia … and its citizens. Read More

Bolshoi Ballet Academy welcomes Bath Ballerina

Bath Country Journal: Instead of kicking back and relaxing for her summer vacation, Bath ballerina Anne Lewandowski had the adventure of a lifetime, immersing herself in Russian culture and dancing with the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet. The Hathaway Brown School sophomore was one of 15 young people (13 girls, 2 boys) selected to participate in the State Department funded program to study at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. Read More

Oak Grove teen McMurrian studies ballet in Russia

Hattiesburg American: The scholarship provided to McMurrian and 14 other high school ballet students from across the US was offered by the NSLI-Y RAF & Bolshoi Way Program, a U.S. Department of State program in collaboration with the Russian American Foundation and the Bolshoi Academy. Read More

From Mt. Hood to Moscow

The Oregonian: This summer, Harper took part in a six-week intensive in Connecticut, run by The Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Some dancers would be selected for traineeships in Russia, they told her – she just never expected to be one of them. Read More

Shelton Resident Attend Prestigious Russian Ballet Academy

Shelton Patch: Shelton resident Dominika Tomczyk returned from a summer study at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. Dominika said the opportunity was magical especially after working her way back up to full strength after a stress fracture in 2014. Read More

McLean High Student Returns from Summer Abroad in Russia

McLean Patch: Madeleine Scherer, a 16-year-old rising junior at McLean High School, was one of 14 American high schoolers to recently return to the States from a summer immersion program in Russia. Scherer and the rest of the group were ambassadors and finalists of the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLIY) Russian Language and Culture Program.  Read More

LAHS student spends summer at Bolshoi Ballet Academy

Los Altos Town Crier: Jillian Smith twirled her way to Moscow this summer, landing a six-week language and ballet scholarship at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Smith scored one of 15 academic and merit-based grants for ballet dancers nationwide to attend the summer school program. Read More

Russian Season: What do Americans get out of training at Bolshoi Ballet Academy?

Dance Magazine: In the last few years, more young Americans have enrolled at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy (also known as the Moscow State Academy of Choreography) than ever before. Since 2007, the Russian American Foundation’s U.S. summer intensives and government-funded scholarship program have helped pave the road from America to Moscow as BBA has become increasingly open to foreign students. Read More

For Russia, image is not a priority

РБК-ТВ: Russian American Foundation was mentioned in a Russian program entitled “Obzrevateli” as one of the successful organizations who promote much needed cultural dialogue between the US and Russia. Read More

A twirl with pain: Ballet dancer fights through scoliosis

McKinney Courier-Gazette: This summer, Colby Saltz will grace Bolshoi Ballet Academy, one of the nation’s premier summer intensive programs. A few months ago, she didn’t know if she’d dance again. Read More

Success in Seattle for Kelowna dancers

Kelownacapnews.com: Angel-Fox, who just turned 15, danced what Sarafanov described as, “the best performance of her life,” at the event and was selected to attend the prestigious Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet Academy by the Russian American Foundation in New York, with the opportunity to go to the Bolshoi in Russia as well. Read More