Celebrating 2023 Academy Seniors!

Our 2023 Spring Show is upon us, bringing about bittersweet celebrations and farewells as our graduating Seniors conclude their final performance. With five graduates this year, we reflect upon how these incredible students have devoted themselves to the study of dance and grown into passionate, driven, and mature young adults.

While Academy studios foster great growth in students’ technical dance training, it is the valuable life skills and supportive community that our students will take with them in all their future endeavors. In saying goodbye to these five graduates, we are confident that their self-discipline, strong work ethics, creativity, and positive attitudes will take them far in life.

Chiloh Straub

Chiloh Straub graduates from Henry D. Sheldon High School as a member of the National Honors Society. She plans to pursue a college education and continue to dance and teach whenever possible. Chiloh has danced with the Academy for seven years and has also served as a mentor and member of Eugene Ballet Youth (EBY). In addition to her time with the Academy, Chiloh shared that a highlight of her time at EBA has been the opportunities she has had to perform with the Eugene Ballet (EB) company dancers during The Nutcracker season.

Shaye Hazen

Shaye Hazen graduates from South Eugene High School as an AP Scholar with distinction. She has been awarded the Tiffany Wang Arts Scholarship, Fred G. Lee Scholarship, PEO Star Scholarship, and the Chamlers Family Scholarship. Shaye will be attending Barnard College of Columbia next year and plans to double major in dance and urban studies. Along with her academic successes, Shaye has been a student at the Academy for eight years and has assumed the roles of a mentor, teaching assistant, and member of EBY. Additionally, Shaye was a member of EBY’s Contemporary Practices which she shared was one of her favorite experiences at EBA.

Priscilla Tam

Priscilla Tam graduates from South Eugene High School with a 4J Honors Diploma and was a member of the National Honors Society. Next year Priscilla will be attending Purdue Polytechnic Institute where she will study computer systems analysis. She has received the Northwestern Mutual Childhood Cancer Sibling Scholarship and SELCO Scholarship for her academic pursuits. Priscilla has danced with the Academy since the age of three and has been a valuable member of EBY for six years.

Indigo Duvall

Indigo Duvall graduates from Classical Conversations and Academy for Charter Education and has been awarded the Summit Scholarship from the University of Oregon to continue her education. In the fall, she will begin her studies there as an English major supplemented by a dance minor. For five years, Indigo has been a devoted student at the Academy and has participated in the EBY Performing and Competition Teams. She had the opportunity to play Fritz in EBY’s The Nutcracker, which she describes as one of her favorite memories.

Mailin Kulm

Mailin Kulm graduates from Winston Churchill High School with a 4.0 GPA. Next year she will be attending the University of Colorado Boulder to major in integrative physiology with the future goal of attending dental school to specialize in orthodontics. Mailin has dedicated 11 years to the Academy and has had many opportunities to perform with the EB company dancers, her favorites of which were Romeo and Juliet, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella. Mailin recalls one of her favorite moments at EBA being when she played a wolf cub in the EB production of Mowgli.