Josh Garrick: World Ballet Competition offers Orlando beauty, hope

The World Ballet Competition is live streamed online at worldballetcompetition.com. The 10th anniversary Gala Performance is this Saturday, June 18, in the Linda Chapin Theater at the Orange County Convention Center. Visit worldballetcompeition.com

Not every story of Sunday June 12 is one of tragedy and bloodshed. There is a beautiful confluence of art, talent, creativity, and courage in the 169 competitors — from 20 countries — speaking 12 languages – who arrived in Orlando on Sunday, June 12, to compete in the World Ballet Competition – “the Olympics of Ballet” – and not one of them turned around to go home in fear.

We told them, “Today Orlando needs you. While we acknowledge that for many of you, this is your first trip to the United States – we need your youth, your talent and your courage, because today your talent is our statement of worldwide triumph over barbarism. Never before has your talent made such an important statement.”

And they accepted the challenge of going on, and this extraordinary group of 169 competitors are working harder than ever – literally determined that art will be victorious over evil.

There is a level of hope and harmony among these dancers that I've never seen at a competition. Some competitions succumb to spitefulness and jealousy, but none of that is in the Linda Chapin Theater this time. As in the "tough-love" intro with which we challenged them on Sunday evening – it’s hard to think that our introduction, prior to registration, was the same day as the shooting, and while there were, of course, questions related to the event, not one young person was overly distressed or afraid. Rather, these young people shake their heads at the world they will inherit and then they go on and get the job done.

The road to becoming a ballet dancer is at least as hard as becoming an international sports figure with much less return, so these young people have already known difficulty and hardship from the loneliness of being home-schooled or worse being bullied in public school, to the injuries that can ruin a whole season, or even a career.

They are intelligent, courageous, and well-spoken, way beyond their years. It is their talent and courage that makes doing this — in this surreal week — worth doing.

We told them, “Imagine, before you go on-stage, that each of your variations is a statement to the world: “Art will win. Knowledge is valuable. Truth brings light to bigotry.”

We asked them to share their light of hope with each other, with the judges, and with their potential audience. We will never forget the senseless bloodshed and heartache, but the story of these 169 young people is magnificently real, and it is taking place daily — this week — at the Orange County Convention Center.

Some of these young dancers began rehearsing their ‘variations’ a year in advance. Ballet is all about training and rehearsing. The intelligence, talent, and very real courage of these young dancers reminds us that what is most important now is that “life goes on.”

It is up to us to give these extraordinary young people the moment they so deserve.

The “magic” is that, in return, they give us hope.