There’s dancing. And then there is ballet. There are dancers. And then there is Anna Grace Boudreaux.
The only initial hint that the 14-year-old St. Joseph’s Academy freshman is a nationally recognized ballet dancer who trains 27 hours each week might be that she sits up a lot straighter in her chair than most teens would.
On a sweltering August day outside Rêve Coffee Lab, Anna Grace reflects on the five whirlwind weeks she has just spent training in three of the most elite dance schools in the world: Princess Grace Academy in Monaco, Ellison Ballet in New York City and the Paris Opera Ballet School.
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There she honed her craft, listened to seasoned masters, befriended young dancers from all over the world, and, yes, went sightseeing in Italy.
“They want you in Paris” has to be the coolest thing a teenager can be told while in carpool, but that’s exactly what Anna Grace heard when her mom picked her up and broke the news.
“I made you show me the email so I could believe it,” Anna Grace says to her mom, Shanna Boudreaux, owner of Rodéo Boutique. “They told us they don’t accept very many Americans, so I was shocked but so excited.”
“It’s really rare to have the success Anna Grace has had, and it’s unheard of out of Louisiana.”
[Ivy Delk, Anna Grace Boudreaux’s longtime ballet instructor at Tari’s School of Dance ]
Most dancers chosen through video auditions are those already training at these famous schools, or those who have other connections.
“It’s so hard to break into these elite European dance schools if you’re growing up here in America,” says Ivy Delk, Anna Grace’s ballet instructor for the last seven years at Tari’s School of Dance. “It’s really rare to have the success Anna Grace has had, and it’s unheard of out of Louisiana.”
In dance classes since she was 2-and-a-half, Anna Grace was drawn to the structured fundamentals of ballet that require incredible mental and physical focus, and a lot of body awareness. She sees ballet as the most beautiful way to express herself.
“When I dance, when I learn choreography and get comfortable with it and embrace the character of the performance, it feels really cool,” she says. “You get to act a little bit and express yourself in a way that’s elegant and pretty.”
Despite the reputation Tari’s has for producing accomplished jazz, hip-hop and contemporary dancers, too, Anna Grace zeroed in on classical ballet from day one.
“I like the structure of ballet, how the fundamentals are so consistent,” Anna Grace says. “As I’ve gotten older, we add movement to that base structure, and you can build on ballet as you go, and it gets more fun.”
Anna Grace definitely is having fun now. Two years ago, the Houston Ballet chose her for its acclaimed performance of The Nutcracker, and she has finished in the Youth America Grand Prix’s Top 12 three years running. That’s out of more than 500 girls in the world’s largest international scholarship competition for pre-professional dancers.
“Anna Grace is consistent, above all else,” Delk says. “She focuses on details, and she does it until she gets it right. At the same time, she’s the friendliest girl you’ll ever meet. I always tell her, ‘You’ve never met a stranger,’ because at competitions she’s always connecting with new people and other dancers in her really sweet way.”
As she settles into a new school and campus for ninth grade, Anna Grace is training for next year’s Youth American Grand Prix. Her mom reflects on her achievements and dedication with pride and awe.
“It made me so proud to see Anna Grace be so brave, put herself out there and take a chance,” Shanna says. “She walked into a room of kids who speak a different language, in a foreign country, and she embraced the opportunity to the fullest, made lifelong friends and learned so much.”
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Anna Grace’s experience this summer has sharpened the vision she has for life as a professional ballet dancer. She says the intense training she did with contemporary instruction at some of Europe’s most heralded schools has helped improve her fluidity—both onstage and off.
“It opened my eyes,” Anna Grace says. “After dancing in New York, and Paris and Monaco, I can see myself moving somewhere like that in the future. I feel like I came back more confident as a dancer and just more confident overall.”
This article was originally published in the November 2024 issue of 225 Magazine.