Kerridwyn Schanck
Kerridwyn began training in 2006 at The Portland Ballet under Nancy Davis. Starting in 2011, she began to attend summer programs including Houston Ballet, The School of American Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet. While at The Portland Ballet some of her favorite performance opportunities included Valse Fantasie and Who Cares by George Balanchine, as well as Bournoville’s Napoli, Les Sylphides, and John Clifford’s A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ms. Schanck joined Ballet Idaho in 2017 as an apprentice and remained there until 2019. Her repertoire included corps de ballet roles in Swan Lake and Raymonda by Peter Anastos, Agon by George Balanchine, Ambiguous Content by Craig Davidson, Dreamland by Danielle Rowe, Cinderella by Edward Liang, and featured roles in Peter Anastos' Nutcracker and Daniel Ojeda's A Great Unbridgeable Distance. In her first year with Northwest Arkansas Ballet Theater she performed in multiple works choreographed by Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye, including his Cinderella. She was also featured in James Vessell's Lost and Found. In March of 2020 she made her choreographic debut with A Blessed Unrest. It is her second year with the company.
get to know the dancer
Where are you from?
Portland, OR
In one sentence, describe your "discovery" of ballet. Or, what was your pathway to ballet?
Watching Oregon Ballet Theater perform the Nutcracker when I was 3, and I asked my parents to put me in classes.
Do you remember the first ballet you ever saw? What was it and how did it affect you?
See answer to previous question!
What do you like to do outside of dance (hobbies, interests, etc.)?
Read, thrift shop, and listen to music.
What are some of your other talents?
An relatively esoteric knowledge of history.
What are some of your indulgences?
Kit Kats and buying jewelry.
What is your favorite role that you have performed? Have not performed?
My favorite performance opportunity was dancing in the corps of Balanchine's Agon my first year as a professional. My favorite role that I have not performed is the titular role in Manon.
Do you have any pre-performance rituals?
Listening to Fleetwood Mac.
If you weren’t a dancer, what would you be?
A history teacher
How do you spend your summer breaks?
Working, seeing old friends, and hanging out with my Dad.
If I could visit any country in the world it would be….
Ireland
What does Northwest Arkansas mean to you? Why is it special or different from other places you've danced/trained?
The people here have shown such a consistent enthusiasm for our work regardless of their previous exposure to concert dance, a fact for which I will always be grateful. I also feel less weird about listening to country music in my car here, and the waterfalls are very beautiful.
What are three things people might not know about you?
My favorite book is the Iliad
I love hummus
I hope to someday own a hairless cat.