Every Sunday, a group of High School students come to the Greenwich Arts Council and volunteer their time and work with our special needs dancers. They are all so passionate and love to be there and it is truly magical to be in a room filled with such positivity.
Angelica Cilio and Katherine Reynolds were the first teachers at FlowerPetals. They both have brothers on the Autism Spectrum. They saw how difficult it is to find recreational programs for children with special needs. They decided to share their love of dance with the special needs community and the girls became certified to teach adaptive ballet by taking a training course at The Boston Ballet in the summer of 2021. Since then, they have moved onto College but left the legacy of compassion volunteering.
Clips from Classes
"About Us" Video
Alina began her ballet studies in a local Connecticut ballet school at age 4, before joining the Greenwich Ballet Academy when she was 6. During her time at GBA she continued to foster her passion for ballet through classical and contemporary training, along with multiple performance opportunities during the annual Nutcracker (including the role of Clara in 2018) and Spring Gala productions, as well as multiple ballet competition appearances. At age 14 Alina was accepted into Ellison Ballet, a professional training program in New York City. For the next two years she commuted to NYC from suburban Connecticut daily. While at Ellison, Alina had the opportunity of performing excerpts from Don Quixote, La Bayadere, La Esmeralda, Giselle, and original choreography by Jolanta Valeikaite and Ashley Carter. In 2023 Alina was accepted into the highest level class at the American Ballet Theatre JKO School, and has been training there ever since. Over her short time at ABT she has already participated in workshops focusing on choreography by Justin Peck, Twyla Tharp, and Complexions NIQUE. She also performed in an ensemble piece at the 2023 ABT Fall Gala choreographed by Lauren Lovette. Since early 2023 Alina has been volunteering at the Flower Petals Adaptive Dance Company in Greenwich CT, and hopes to continue doing so!
Throughout Alina’s dance education, she had the opportunity to attend several Bolshoi Ballet Summer Intensives, the New York Dance Project Summer Intensive, several Ellison Ballet Summer Intensives, and the European School of Ballet’s Balanchine and Bournonville Intensive taught by Suki Schorer (where Alina performed the lead in Serenade).
At various points in her career Alina participated in several ballet competitions including YAGP (2nd place Boston 2019, Grand Defile in the YAGP Finals 2019, Top-12 NYC 2020 and 2021, 1st place NYC Ensamble 2022), Universal Ballet Competition (Virtual Nutcracker - Marzipan 2020, Platinum 2021), and the Connecticut Classic (1st Place Junior 2019, 6th Place Junior 2020).
Katherine Reynolds is a senior at Greenwich High School. She has 3 siblings and has been dancing ballet since she was 3 years of age. Katherine has attended the Greenwich Ballet Academy since 2010 and has performed in 12 Nutrackers. She has attended several summer intensive programs at the Bolshoi School of Ballet Summer intensives in NYC. Katherine has participated on the JV High School Dance team as Captain. In 2021, she was certified to teach Adaptive Dance by The Boston School of Ballet and she and her mother started FlowerPetalsAdaptiveDance. Katherine currently teaches the beginning dance on Sundays. She is an active partcipant in the Special Needs community because her little brother Christopher has Autism. Katherine co-created Dance Buddies at her High School and has recruited other high school studetns to join our club. She is on the Teen Board of another non-profit called CoffeeForGood Inc. located in Greenwich, CT. The Teen board partners with the employees that have special needs who work there.
Mika joined The Greenwich Ballet Academy at the age of 4. At the age of twelve, Mika began to compete at ballet competitions such as Youth America Grand Prix, Universal Ballet Competition, and Connecticut Classic. In 2019, Mika was awarded tenth place for her classical variation at the Universal Ballet Competition. Mika also received top 24 for her classical variations at the YAGP Boston Semi-Finals in both 2020 and 2021. In 2022, she attended the YAGP Tampa Finals as a member of Maybe, a contemporary ensemble. In 2023, Mika received a scholarship for the Ballet Hispánico Summer Intensive at the Universal Ballet Competition. Additionally, Mika received top 24 for her classical variation, top 12 for her contemporary solo, Its Torn, and placed 3rd in the ensemble category for If You Go Away, a contemporary ensemble, at the YAGP NY Semi-Finals. Soon after, she attended the YAGP Tampa Finals as a member of If You Go Away. Mika has also attended numerous distinguished summer intensive programs including the Bolshoi Ballet Summer Intensive Program in NYC (2017, 2018, 2019), the Kirov Ballet Academy Summer Intensive Program in Washington, D.C. (2020, 2021), and the Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program (2022). With GBA, Mika was also able to attend the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia at the age of 11 for a week. It was an unforgettable experience. Mika is now a Junior at Hackley School in Tarrytown. She is an exceptional student excelling in advanced and AP courses. Mika volunteers as a ballet teacher with the Flower Petals Adaptive Dance Company
Ella Ryb, a senior at Greenwich High School, is a company member of Allegra Dance Greenwich Studio. She performs annually at Stamford's Palace Theatre and at community and fundraising events. In addion to be co-president of Dance Buddies of GHS, Ella also teaches adaptive dance at FlowerPetals. Ella is an All-State chorus member of the performing arts community. Ella is an experienced youth leader, both in local summer camps and a member of Generation Impact.
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