Keep Dancing

Palisadian Ballerina Addison Moss Shares Her Experience of Training Through the COVID-19 Pandemic

By ELSA O’DONNELL | Intern

Palisadian high school sophomore Addison Moss shared that she is determined to be a principal dancer for the New York City Ballet. She dedicates upward of six hours of ballet rehearsal per day toward this goal.

When the Palisadian-Post first checked in with Moss in 2018, the Bluffs resident was heading to New York City for a summer intensive program at the age of 12. Now, she currently attends Stanford Online High School to make more time for ballet—and had to pivot over the past year and a half to continue training throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Around my age is when you need to decide whether or not you’re going to commit fully,” Moss said. “When most kids are at school, I’m dancing. Ballet is not an extracurricular for me anymore.”

Moss began dancing at the age of 4 at Palisades Recreation Center.

“The teacher went to my mom and told her that I should look into being a little more disciplined in my training,” Moss recalled. Moss then trained at Los Angeles Ballet and Ballet Conservatory West before finding her place at Colburn, a performing arts school located in downtown Los Angeles.

“When I was 12, I was at a point where I needed to have something more rigorous and full time,” Moss explained. “So, I started at Colburn, and I’ve been there ever since.”

That same year, Moss auditioned for the School of American Ballet in New York City, and attended the five- to six-week-long summer program. She returned the next summer at the age of 13.

“I love just being there and being around girls that can empathize with the difficulties you’re having,” Moss said. “There’s a sense of community among the dancers because you’re at the top of the top.”

“And, of course, I loved the training,” Moss added.

In October 2019, Moss faced a setback when she fractured her ankle.

“It wasn’t acute,” she explained. “It was just working the wrong way for a while.”

Moss was finally able to permanently remove her ankle boot after eight weeks of wearing it in the beginning of 2020. She said she immediately began focusing on “regaining my strength and reworking on my technique, and then COVID happened.”

Instead of attending virtual Colburn rehearsals, Moss decided to work with private teachers through the pandemic.

“I felt mentally and physically unstable, and I wasn’t ready to dance by myself without someone really guiding and correcting me,” she explained.

Moss returned to SAB in the summer 2021.

“Because of COVID, this year was really, really different,” Moss shared. “It was distant, and I felt a little bit isolated.”

In previous years, staying in dorms was optional, but this summer, it was prohibited and masks were mandatory.

“We normally become close like a family, but because of masks and how distanced we were, we never got to that point,” Moss explained.

Due to the lack of interaction with the other dancers, however, Moss was able to focus mainly on ballet while attending SAB. She spent the mornings preparing for the daily rehearsals, which started at 1 p.m. and never lasted for more than four hours.

“That’s less than I’m doing now,” Moss said. “SAB didn’t overwork us, they were good about that, and I felt like I really grew, in terms of ballet.”

Colburn reopened for in-person rehearsals at the end of August, and Moss returned to rehearsing Monday through Saturday with other dancers.

“Everything’s almost the same again, we’re just all wearing masks now,” Moss explained. “We also get COVID tested on Fridays and being vaccinated is encouraged … I love working with other dancers for inspiration, and to have that again is amazing.”

After dancing through the COVID-19 pandemic, Moss continues to further her ballet career. At Colburn, she is already rehearsing for a performance in March, as well as practicing for her SAB audition in January 2022.

“Ideally, I would be asked to stay at SAB for the winter program after the summer program, and I would move to New York,” Moss said. “That’s the portal to New York City Ballet,” which is where Moss aspires to be a principal dancer.

Reflecting back on the pandemic, Moss said that overall, “COVID was really unifying for the dance community. We’re all sort of weathering this storm and navigating it together.”