Longview’s Beckanne Sisk appears in reality show

"I was really intimidated by Beckanne when she first came here," says Katie Martin.

Beckanne Sisk, Hometown: Longview, Texas. Joined Ballet West in 2011.

LONGVIEW — Television viewers have the chance this summer to watch the young careers of dancers from one of America’s most prestigious ballet companies. An East Texan from Longview has emerged as one of the show’s stars.

Beckanne Sisk, 19, of Longview, is one of the stars of Breaking Pointe, a documentary on the CW Network that goes backstage at Ballet West in Utah and explores the drive, preparations and jealousies of the dancers, Sisk among them.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, this is not Sisk’s first foray into TV documentaries. She also made a brief appearance in First Position when she was a student at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia.

"I was really intimidated by Beckanne when she first came here," says Katie Martin, 23, in The Inquirer. "I think I wanted to not like her, but she’s so nice. You almost wish someone with that much talent was a brat, because then you would feel better about being jealous of her."

Ballet West was established in Salt Lake City in 1963 by Willam F. Christensen, the company’s first artistic director. For more than 45 years, Christensen and Ballet West have developed and influenced such notable figures in ballet as Bart Cook, Finis Jhung, Jay Jolley, Victoria Morgan, Tomm Ruud, Michael Smuin, Richard Tanner and Kent Stowell.

Sisk joined Ballet West II in 2010 and joined Ballet West in 2011.

Sisk has garnered attention with the unveiling of Breaking Pointe, a six-part TV series documenting the trials of professional dancers. The show premiered May 31 and appears at 7 p.m. Thursdays this summer on the CW network.

In May, Dance Spirit Magazine published a Q&A with Sisk.

When asked by Dance Spirit how filming the documentary changed her rehearsals and performances, Sisk responded, “We tried to forget the cameras were there. But they did motivate us – I made sure I was always wearing makeup! Constantly having a camera on me made me really push myself. It’s kind of quiet and unexciting now that they’re gone.”

Beckanne Sisk, The Rock School for Dance Education, Philadelphia, Pa.

Among her three reasons why viewers should tune in to Breaking Pointe, Sisk told Dance Spirit, “Every little girl who’s dreamed of becoming a ballerina will see there’s so much more to being a ballet dancer than just performing beautifully and receiving praise.”

A YouTube video of Sisk dancing a classical variation from “Diana and Acteon” at the 2009 New York finals of the Youth America Grand Prix annual student ballet competition has attracted more than 113,000 views.

Sisk began dancing with the Rock School when she was 13 years old. According to therockschool.org, she first appeared during a summer intensive session and later joined the Residence and Rock Academics program, graduating from the program in 2010 after four years.

Sisk did not return phone and email messages from Piney Woods Live.