WAKONDA — When she started dancing as a toddler, Rebekah Sharples-Schmidt dreamed of performing on the big stage. Now, the 17-year-old Wakonda native is taking her talents to New York City next week to attend the world-renowned Joffrey Ballet School. On weekends, she will prepare for a world competition in Europe set for fall.
And she doesn’t officially graduate from Irene-Wakonda High School until December, when she finishes online courses. Before departing for NYC, Sharples-Schmidt spoke with the Press & Dakotan this week about her meteoric rise at a young age and the bright lights that await her in the coming months. “I started dance classes when I was 3 years old, learning from Dorota Dannenbring at the Academy of Dance in Yankton,” she said.
“I started competing when I was 7 years old, and I knew I wanted dance as my career when I was 12 or 13.” She studied all genres of dance: ballet, character, lyrical, jazz, musical theater, tap, contemporary, acro, pointe and more. After studying under Dannenbring for 10 years, she attended the Heartland Conservatory of Dance in Omaha for two years and the Dance Gallery in Sioux Falls for the past three years.
She has been a member of several youth dance companies: Heartland Youth Ballet in Omaha; Dance Gallery Youth Ballet in Sioux Falls; and LiRa Dance Theater Company in Sioux Falls. “I wanted to be a professional dancer, and now I’m focusing on ballet,” she explained. She will complete two major strides toward th.