As previously noted, the Hawthorne High School Clarion is now publishing older articles from past Clarion issues. What is featured here is an article from Volume 3, Issue III published in March of 2004.

For Hawthorne senior Eric Tamm, dance has been a part of his life almost as long as some of us have known our alphabet. At age five, Eric’s family moved to New Jersey from San Francisco. When sign ups were posted at a local dance studio, Eric’s family thought that dance might be something that he would be interested in, and he quickly became enrolled in the school.

Twelve years later, Eric has much more experience than when he was a beginning five year old. He has performed throughout the east coast, including such venues as the Intrepid in New York City and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Tamm was even given the opportunity to dance in St. Petersburg, Russia, but the war in the Middle East unfortunately cancelled the trip. Now Eric is up to tackle his most distinguished feat yet: his acceptance to the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company Associate Program.

The program held open auditions to anyone throughout the nation. The American Ballet Theatre bases its decision on the potential of each participant. They see if the dancer has the possibility to excel into a professional company when they mature. Out of such a vast number of people, only ten were chosen, Tamm being one of them.

“Receiving the acceptance phone call from the ABT was probably the most memorable moment of my career,” claims Tamm.

The American Ballet Theatre will be another task added to Tamm’s already busy schedule. He is a member of SHARE, the Italian Club, National Honor Society and PEER Listening. College plans will also be placed on hold until Tamm’s dancing career is over, but if he were to choose a major, it would probably be in the forensic science field. Sacrifice is not unknown to Tamm, though. Weekend relaxation and time with family can be easily replaced with dance practice and rehearsals. Physical fatigue and injuries can also be a strain. Time management is constantly a factor in life as well. Tamm does claim though, “Dance taught me discipline more than anything.”

Tamm has never been discouraged to the point where quitting was an option. He remains motivated by watching professional dancers that give him inspiration.

“I am very excited about the direction my life is headed in. I feel there’s a long road ahead of me and maybe it will be with ABT, but it may take me elsewhere. Part of the excitement is not knowing,” says Tamm.