Next week, 14-year-old Abigail Hallman — Abby to just about everyone — packs up and moves 500 miles from Elizabethton to start high school in a state she’s never lived in. She’s going to study ballet as a pre-professional student, and she’s ready.
Abby has been accepted into the year-long program at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) in Carlisle, one of the most respected pre-professional ballet schools in the country. The invitation came after she spent five weeks there this summer at CPYB’s intensive.
“I’m so excited,” Abby told us. “All my hard work paid off.”
She’s dreamed of a life in dance since she was 8, and she’s trained locally ever since — with Watts Dance Studio under Chrisanne Watts Tull, Jamie Ledford and Annalee Tull Lanier, and with East Tennessee Ballet Academy under Cynthia Bernshausen. This year, she auditioned on the National Summer Intensive Audition tour and got into 12 different summer programs. She picked CPYB because of its connection to East Tennessee Ballet Academy.
Once she’s in Carlisle, her days look nothing like a typical freshman’s. Mornings run 7:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at Carlisle High School. Then it’s the studio from 3 to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays, with Sundays off. She’ll live with a host family whose one son is a professional dancer and CPYB alumni — so she’s landing somewhere that already understands the life she’s chosen.
Ask her about leaving friends and family behind, and she doesn’t hesitate. None of it scares her. She’s looking ahead — to dancing with a professional company one day. Cincinnati Ballet and American Ballet Theatre are both on her list. She’s also started choreographing her own contemporary work.
Here’s where we get to brag a little: you may already know Abby and her parents, Todd and Tabitha Hallman, she sells handmade bracelets through her own small business, ABC — Abby’s Bracelet Company at the Eagle Center Antiques downtown. She has also raised money selling candy and snacks in front of the store for First Friday.
Training at this level isn’t cheap. Pointe shoes alone run $130 to $150 a pair, and one pair might last a month. Abby will continue to make bracelets. Every bracelet sold helps cover that cost, and watching her build that little business alongside her training has been one of our favorite things about having her in the shop.
Her advice for an 8-year-old just starting dance says everything about who she is: “Dreams can come true, just be willing to work so hard you’re on a shelf that nobody else can reach.”
Her goal is simple: “To be extraordinary.”
We believe her.
If you’d like to keep up with Abbi’s journey, give her a follow on Instagram: Abbi_kh. And next time you’re in the shop, ask us where her bracelets are — buying one means you’re helping send a hometown dancer 500 miles down the road toward a professional stage.