Arts & Entertainment
VIDEO: New Trier Dancer Receives Presidential Honor
Max Perkins is among an elite class of 20 seniors to get the nation's highest award for artistic talent.
senior Max Perkins is only 18 years old, but he's already built an impressive dance resume.
In a short time span, he has already trained at New York City's Juilliard School and American Ballet Theatre, the San Francisco Ballet, the Milwaukee Ballet and the Haird Conservatory in Boca Raton, FL.
But Perkin's latest distinction is one that very few can add to their resume.
Find out what's happening in Winnetka-Glencoewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Winnetka native was recently named one of 20 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an artistically talented high school senior. Perkins is one of only two students to be selected for the award who's primary discipline is in dance.
The scholars are nominated by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and its core Young Arts program. As many as 7,000 applications are received annually by the selection committee.
Find out what's happening in Winnetka-Glencoewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Perkins will be traveling to Washington, D.C., for the June 18 gathering of all the recipients during a National Recognition Weekend. He will also get the opportunity to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on June 20.
Perkins began dancing at age 11 and started to take it more serious in the summer of 2006 when he attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan.
"For me to see other people do what they love to do and be so proud of it was an eye opener," Perkins said. "It made me feel like, wait, I could do this. I could be like this back home."
While traveling across the country for summer programs and apprenticeships, Perkins has also spent the last three years training with the Extensions Dance Company in Chicago, under the direction of Lizzie MacKenzie. Perkins nominated her for the Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Award and she will also be making the trip to Washington.
"I guess it's kind of like the Oscar's or the Grammy's of teenage dance in this country," MacKenzie said. "It's crazy that we get to go."
"She's like a second mom to me," Perkins said. "She just has a huge impact in my dancing."
Perkins will also be taking part in a summer apprenticeship with the River North Dance Company in Chicago before heading to this fall to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
To hear how a babysitter got him started in dance, click on the video link above.
