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When the text message came through, Jane Taylor was sitting in her high school history class at Niceville High School, where she’s a sophomore.
Her phone lit up with a message from her mom: just her name, in all caps.
“JANE”
“I’m like, scared,” Jane remembered. “I’m thinking that I did something wrong, and she’s getting me in trouble. So I run into the bathroom, and I call her, and she’s just crying, and she’s like, ‘Jane, you got into The Joffrey School.’ And I start crying. It was amazing. I mean, I really wasn’t expecting to even get the opportunity to be in there.”
For the Niceville High School 10th grader, that phone call meant a chance for the future she dreams of at The Joffrey School of Ballet in New York City.
The school accepts only about 160 students from around the world at a time.
For a teenager from a small Florida Panhandle town, the invitation felt almost unreal.
“It was a really surreal moment. It’s kind of like getting drafted to the NBA, yeah, ballet-wise,” Jane said.
Joffrey is both a professional dance company and one of the top ballet schools in the country. The training program Jane has been invited to join runs from fall to spring, like a traditional school year, but with a much higher chance of leading to a job on stage.
“They have a 70% placement rate, which is one of the highest for all of the ballet schools in New York City. So basically, pretty much everyone who goes up there and sticks through the program ends up getting a professional job in the New York area, which is really prestigious,” Carissa, Jane’s mom, said.
For Jane, who dreams of one day dancing with some of the world’s most famous companies, that kind of track record is everything.
“Well, I definitely want to be able to get a job dancing. My dream company to work with is definitely the Paris Opera Ballet. That’s honestly what would be the biggest thing in the world. I’ve always, always dreamed of dancing there, and then the Royal Ballet in England and New York City Ballet, which, if I did go to Joffrey, I would have a really high chance of going to New York City Ballet,” she said.
What makes Jane’s story even more remarkable is that the audition that led to all this wasn’t even for the full-time school.
“I was actually at a dance competition called [The] Ballet Championships of America. It was in Atlanta, and they had Joffrey Ballet come to the dance competition, and they held an audition for the Summer Intensive so that it wasn’t actually for the school, it was just for their summer classes,” Jane said.
Roughly 50 dancers filled the studio just to try for a spot in their summer classes. A few young ladies’ numbers were called out, and they were invited to stay after the program.
“We all stayed behind, and he told us that we were scoring high enough to be able to go to the academy. So he recorded a video of all of us dancers… just us doing a little bit of dancing,” she remembered.
About a week later, the email from New York arrived in the Taylors’ inbox – with an official invitation to join the school in New York City.
On paper, Jane’s next step is simple: pack her bags, trade Niceville High for online classes, and move to New York City.
The training schedule at Joffrey would be demanding. She would dance from 9-5. More, if she has a rehearsal. On top of that, she’d have online school to earn her secondary diploma.
But the decision isn’t just about time. It’s about money, separation, and what it means for a family to send their youngest child hundreds of miles away in the name of a dream.
“The only thing that’s holding us back is the price. It’s super expensive, so we’re just trying to find the funds,” Jane said.
For Carissa, the choice is emotionally complicated.
“It’s so overwhelming,” the ballet veteran said, “It’s literally every dancer’s dream to get this offer. It’s heartbreaking at the same time, because she’s my youngest kid. I absolutely love spending time with her, and it would be so hard not to have her around, because I really enjoy her company. But as a parent, I know that this would start her career in ballet, and that, mentally and physically, she’s definitely ready to take on a challenge like this.”
The family is now raising money and searching for ways to make the finances work. They hope to make a decision this summer, likely before July.
Carissa knows the world Jane is stepping into. She danced with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, ran her own studio for about a decade, and now teaches at Valley Conservatory.
She says success in ballet takes more than just weekly classes.
Jane agrees — and adds that opportunity doesn’t always come down to talent alone.
“Honestly, in the ballet world, there’s a lot of comparing that happen and having an experience and an opportunity this big, and having other dancers see it, it’s not something that they should [dwell] on or feel bad about themselves for, because even though I do put in the work, and I do consider myself a good dancer, a lot of that was luck. You know, I was lucky to be at the audition. I was lucky that Joffrey was looking for people to be in the ballet school. All of that is a huge part of how I got this opportunity. And other people should not compare themselves to my circumstances,” she said
When she’s not thinking about New York, Jane is daydreaming about roles she hopes to dance one day.
“My favorite ballet is La Bayadere… It’s a beautiful ballet, and it’s very emotional and very passionate… And I would love, love to dance that main role of Nikia. I think that would be amazing. That’d be so fun,” she said.
Whether she ends up at Joffrey this fall will depend on what her family can pull together in the coming months. But the goal remains clear.
“Just dancing is my dream, and it would be incredible if I could get paid to do what I love,” Jane said.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
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