Danny Tidwell - Early Career and Training

Early Career and Training

Commenting on his early days in training, he said, "I hated ballet and would skip every chance I got." More interested in jazz as a child, the flips, turns, and chance for expression appealed to him. However, his real motivation was competition, which would prepare him for his future endeavors more than he could have known at the time. "I was a competition kid. We used to do competitions every other weekend," he told Dance Magazine.

In his early teens, Tidwell met several outstanding young dancers, including his favorite - Rasta Thomas, and it motivated him to take his dance to a new height. He set the goal to attend the Kirov Academy of Ballet (also known as Universal Ballet Academy) in Washington, DC and, at the age of fifteen, he was invited to study at Kirov on scholarship. It turned out to be up to that time, what he calls, "the best and the worst experience" of his life. He began receiving high-level classical ballet training with Vladimir Djouloukhadze and Anatoli Kucheruk, at first to improve his jazz dance. However, he soon found that the difficulty of ballet was the perfect outlet for his need of a constant challenge, and switched concentrations - a late start by ballet standards. While excelling in dance, he found the environment at Kirov demanding and isolating. As summer approached, he prepared for and participated in the Shanghai International Ballet Competition and took home a silver medal (no gold was awarded that year). However, the stress of Kirov had been too much, and he quit the school after the competition.

After leaving, Tidwell got the opportunity to perform principal roles in two original shows created by Debbie Allen, including Dreams and Pearl, which he performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in front of President George W. Bush. He also had a two-month stint at the School of American Ballet, where he found both the teachers and students unaccepting and remote. In 2002, Tidwell submitted his audition tape to participate in the prestigious, quadrennial USA International Ballet Competition (USA IBC). He was invited to compete, and went on to receive the silver medal. Unbeknownst to Tidwell, the win would launch his career.