Issue 2 : The second issue has exclusive content you won’t see here.
On stage is a striking young woman who looks completely at home under the bright lights. Effortlessly, she moves across the stage in precise and fluid motions, connecting lines from finger to toe, utilizing her strong, muscular legs to move through each extension, as if her pointe shoes could at any moment hit the stage lights above.
There’s an energy emanating from Jaeden Johnson that no audience member can ignore. You can see it in her elegant, upturned face that her eyes are dancing with light.
It takes years of discipline to learn ballet, but even the most talented teacher can’t force passion from a dancer.
“When she performs, you can see her joy and love of dance,” says Juliette Henning, Jaeden’s teacher at Omaha Academy of Ballet. “It comes out naturally; there’s nothing fake or insincere about her.”
Watching her perform, it’s easy to forget that Jaeden is only 16 years old. Her poise, unassuming demeanor and relentless dedication to her craft speaks to someone much further along in their career. Meanwhile, offstage, this young teenage girl has already learned the sacrifice that comes with trying to pursue a dream. Jaeden has turned down more social events that she can count to pursue dance, but her dedication to ballet outshines any feelings of missing out.
“I don’t know what else I’d be doing,” says Jaeden. “You don’t quit dance. I’m constantly thinking about it, and when I stand around [outside of class], I’m always doing little routines or stretching out.”
Jaeden has been a rising star at the Omaha Academy of Ballet (OAB) since she entered the doors 11 years ago at the age of 5. She now considers the studio a second home.
“I dance six days a week for three hours at a time,” says Jaeden.
It wasn’t always this way. Jaeden’s had her fair share of crossroads – decisions between commitment to her art vs. just being a kid.
Lisa, Jaeden’s mom, put her into a Premier gymnastics class at the age of 3. As a former gymnast and current P.E. teacher at Davis Middle School, Lisa hoped that Jaeden would love the sport as much as she did. There was a catch.
“Half of the class was gymnastics and half was dance,” says Lisa.
Jaeden said she preferred dance, so Lisa moved her to the OAB to receive classical training, but like many young people who want to keep a variety of interests, Jaeden kept up with both dance and gymnastics for a few years.
“To do the routine well you have to be consumed by it. Someone once told me, ‘A dancer can’t just walk on stage, do a pirouette, and walk off. You always have to be dancing.’”
It wasn’t until her dance teachers began to notice and critique gymnastics’ negative effect on Jaeden’s dancing that she came to a crossroad.
Jaeden had to determine if she was serious enough about dance to give up her dream of being the next Gabby Douglas.
In the end, she chose dance.
After committing herself to dance, Jaeden’s turning point came at age 11, when one of the OAB teachers, Juliette, approached Jaeden and her mom offering private lessons.
“I immediately noticed Jaeden,” Juliette recalls. “She had great feet and lines.”
Juliette is no stranger to talent. Following a long career dancing for companies such as The Cincinnati Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, and Ballet Omaha, she’s also been teaching for 25 years. Since starting her teaching position at OAB, Julliette takes time each year to watch performances of the younger girls, looking for potential.
The offer to give private lessons was a first for Juliette since starting at OAB, but she says she saw something in Jaeden.
“She’s beautiful on stage and there was something special about her,” says Juliette. “She doesn’t have the typical ballerina look, but she’s strong and knows how to put her body in the best line.”
Private lessons with Juliette began, but when Jaeden went from a group classroom setting to one-on-one training, things got intense – mentally and physically.
“It was a struggle for her at first, but there was one day when suddenly everything clicked,” recalls Juliette. “She [now] has super clean technique, and if she’s doing things wrong she always fixes corrections.”
Beyond natural talent, it was ultimately Jaeden’s quiet resilience and mental strength that let her to her break. Jaeden agrees things became much more fun once she was able to nail down the fundamentals.
“With ballet, it takes a while to get the basics and technique,” says Jaeden, “now I get to work on the artistry.”
Since private lessons, Jaeden’s growing list of achievements includes landing a variety local parts, such as four different roles in The Nutcracker at Creighton University.
As OAB doesn’t travel or compete in dance competitions, Jaeden and her mother have also spent the last few years traveling across the U.S. to see how she ranks among dancers out-of-state. She’s traveled to intensives with companies such as the Kansas City Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, and more recently, The School of Washington Ballet in Washington D.C.
When asked about her favorite part of it all, Jaeden’s answer comes easily.
“Performing,” she says, “I get a whole new level of confidence.”
This January, Jaeden’s talents will be on full display as she takes the lead in her sixth Omaha Dance Project (ODP). The ODP is an annual citywide celebration of dance put on by Omaha Academy of Ballet. To date, Jaeden’s most significant accomplishment was playing the principal dancer in “The Fairy Doll”, for last year’s ODP at age 15. This January, she will take the stage again as the lead in the 2020 ODP, this time, as the principal dancer in the two-act piece “La Esmeralda.” Juliette says she selects the classical ballet each year based on the talent at OAB.
The role of Esmerelda will include extensive preparation and practice every day of the week for the months leading up to the show. The performance totals a whopping 75 minutes of dance; not for the faint of heart.
“This is the biggest ballet we’ve ever done,” says Juliette.
Jaeden says she’s ecstatic to begin preparations for the role, which means dance every day of the week.
“To do the routine well you have to be consumed by it,” says Jaeden. “Someone once told me ‘you can’t walk on a stage, do a pirouette, and walk off. You have to always be dancing. ”
If there’s one thing everyone around Jaeden agrees on, it’s her commitment to her art.
“She’s one of the most driven people I’ve ever come across in my entire life,” says Juliette. “She would dance 24 hours a day if she could.”
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