American Ballet Theatre Studio Firm dancer Audrey Tovar-Dunster performs with maturity and ability past her years, however not past her experiences. The 17-year-old, who started her coaching on the Philadelphia Ballet Faculty at age 6, joined its trainee program at 12 and moved as much as the second firm by the point she was 14. A 12 months later, she determined to proceed to refine her approach at ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Faculty in New York Metropolis. She joined the Studio Firm after one season.
Now, Tovar-Dunster is bringing her skills to a brand new elevation. She’ll attend Colorado’s Vail Dance Competition July 31–August 10 as a scholar in residence—a coveted alternative to obtain mentorship and take firm class alongside the pageant’s starry performing artists.
Born to Dance
Tovar-Dunster grew up in a ballet household. Each her mom, Samantha Dunster, and father, Eddy Tovar, had been principal dancers earlier than transitioning into creative management. (Samantha is the present creative director of American Repertory Ballet and the Princeton Ballet Faculty, and Eddy leads the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre and Academy in Maryland.) Her aunts, uncles, and grandmother work within the ballet business as dancers and in administrative roles. “I grew up surrounded by the humanities, and watching my dad dance after I was little made me wish to be like him,” she says. “However like loads of dancers, I additionally fell in love with dancing in the lounge and the way in which it feels to specific myself in that method.”
Going Up
As Vail’s 2026 scholar in residence, Tovar-Dunster joins the ranks of earlier students Kayla Mak, Daniel Guzmán, and Elijah Geolina, who’ve every since joined ABT’s corps the ballet.
“The dancers I do know who’ve gone to Vail communicate so extremely of it, and I look as much as them a lot,” Tovar-Dunster says. “The setting appears so open to progress and enchancment. You’ve gotten these principal dancers there on the top of their profession, however they’re additionally desperate to develop, and be taught, and evolve.”
Tovar-Dunster says she appears to be like ahead to the prospect to work with the pageant’s many dancers, choreographers, and coaches. “I’m excited to look at and be taught,” she says. She additionally loves when dancing affords her the chance to journey. And whereas she hasn’t been to Vail earlier than, she has danced at venues at excessive elevations—this previous 12 months, for instance, with the ABT Studio Firm on tour. “It’s a complete separate problem, discovering methods to relaxation and regroup onstage so that you aren’t respiratory closely.” (Colorado isn’t Tovar-Dunster’s solely cease this summer time. She may even be returning to Italy and Eire for Alessio Carbone’s Balletto di Venezia, which she took half in final summer time.)
Holding the Love Alive
When she’s not dancing, Tovar-Dunster likes to journal and bake. She would love to go to her roommate’s residence in South Africa, and her dream roles embody Juliet, Manon, and Odette/Odile. (“I watched Chloe Misseldine in Swan Lake not too long ago, and it was actually like I used to be seeing it for the primary time.”) And whereas her profession is simply starting, she nonetheless needs to really feel just like the dancer in her front room each time she steps onstage. “The viewers feels what you’re feeling,” she says. “As a lot as I wish to evolve my approach, I wish to bear in mind why I do what I do and never lose the enjoyment.”
