Talented Ballerina needs your Support!
My name is Ashley Madrid-Olekna from King City, California. I am 15 years of age and have studied dance since I was 3 ½ years old.
My ballet classes began there with my mentor/teacher Janette Harkness at Monterey County Dance Theatre in King City. My journey
began as humbly as imaginable. I am the proud daughter of a farm laborer Dad and a Ukrainian-born Mother who fled oppression so I could
live as an American citizen.
When I received my invitation from the Kirov Ballet Academy of Washington, DC to study classical ballet on scholarship in the pre-professional division for September 2021 I cried. Tears for my achievement and tears of anxiety fell down my cheeks.
https://kion546.com/news/local-news/top-stories/2021/08/15/local-teen-raises-money-to-attend-a-prestigious-dance-academy/
My family barely gets by financially. I know what it is to not have money to heat our house, buy new clothes, have phone services, and power disconnected. My family has found ways to provide the warmth and care needed in spite of these situations. Education and cultural
enrichment have been a high priority guided especially by my Mother. I am an honor student in academic classes. Determination runs deep in my genes, to work hard to obtain my goals…that goal is to be a professional ballet dancer. My Dad has worked long overtime hours to help me with my dance study. My mother has baked endlessly going door to door, trying to sell online to raise money for my dance study.
We have worked endless garage sales. Somehow we have got this far where I have been awarded an opportunity few from a farm worker’s
family could even imagine. Please help me get to the Kirov. I have been offered scholarships from the school. I am honored to have been bestowed on these. But I am way short of the $40,000 more I need to attend. Please go fund me…Ashley Madrid –Olekna.
The Nighingale the first ever ballet composed in Monterey County
https://kingcityrustler.com/local-dancers-perform-south-countys-first-original-ballet-the-nightingale/