Hannah Craft, Alexis McIntye, Elena Sasso and Doreen Xiao, all of Carbondale, practice a warm-up routine Tuesday in an advanced ballet class taught by Patricia Krejcik at Willow Street Studios in Carbondale.

Krejcik has been volunteering at the studio for four years after moving to Carbondale in 2010 from São Paulo, Brazil.

“I love the sense of community at the studio,” Krejcik said. “It’s my home. And it’s a privilege to watch [my students] develop as dancers and blossom into amazing young women. … I get to be their friend, their taskmaster and their cheerleader.”

Throughout the year, Krejcik said those of her students, who are members of Susan Barnes Dance Company, work toward showcasing a variety of dance genres at the company’s annual Repertoire Show held in May.

Staff photographer Morgan Timms can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @morgan_timms.

To stay up to date with all your southern Illinois news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.

Advertisement