Royal invitations are an exciting benefit that Marcie Anglen, 21, enjoys after getting the highest statewide score at the Royal Dance Academy.
The academy, a worldwide organization, is based in England and has 12 skill levels. It is like the black belt of ballet.
Every dance student across the globe receives the same syllabus. It is up to the dancers to test and place themselves if they choose to. Anglen, a Bakersfield College student, studied and passed 11 levels.
“They test on everything, like grace and form,” she said. After passing the first 11, Anglen was then ready for the 12th level, held last year in Long Beach and termed the ballet Super Bowl. Not only did she pass with a high score, she also received the highest marks in California.
“I am now an official ‘Royal Member of Queen Elizabeth in the Royal Court,’ ” she said, adding that she’d like to RSVP to one of the public Royal events “before she dies.” Several production companies have offered her opportunities to dance professionally, but Anglen has other pots on the burner.Although she loves ballet, she has many other interests.
People may have even seen her on the Bakersfield College commercial with Michael Rubio or heard her on the radio, for a BC advertisement, with Don Clark.
When asked why she doesn’t want to dance in something like The Nutcracker or in European productions, Anglen said, “The Lord never led me to go professional and make a career out of it. I just always sensed that it wasn’t the direction to go in. I know He has great things for my life and I’m open, but I know that full-time dancing isn’t it.”
Anglen has been studying ballet since she was six. She was part of the Kern Classical Ballet Company for 12 years and has been at the Santa Clarita Ballet Company for the past two years.
She graduated high school at Bakersfield Adventist Academy and has been attending BC for three years.
Her first major was architecture, but after an internship, she realized that designing buildings didn’t click with her.
“My passion now is nutrition,” she said. “I’ve grown up a vegetarian, and my mom’s a personal trainer. It (nutrition) just fits.”
Anglen plans to transfer to La Sierra University after finishing at BC. She wants to work toward a career in public health.
Anglen doesn’t limit her dancing to ballet. She is learning West Coast swing, which she says “is really fun.”
She said that anyone can succeed as long as he or she is focused and doesn’t feel like they have to take the most predictable path.