A local dancer is making worldwide strides. Malibu’s Nicholle Rochelle Moffit has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the Princess Grace Dance Fellowship Award for Ballet. The Princess Grace Awards, which also include theater and playwriting, are named in honor of the former Princess Grace of Monaco, who worked to help aspiring artists pursue their goals.
Prince Rainier and his family established the Princess Grace Foundation-USA in 1982 to offer grants in the form of tuition assistance, scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships to gifted young artists in the United States. The winners were announced recently at a black tie gala held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. Those attending included HSH Crown Prince Albert of Monaco, HRH Prince and Princess of Hanover, Renee Flemming, Michael Bolton and Princess Grace Foundation Chairman John F. Lehman.
Moffit, 20, says she was completely comfortable talking with Princess Caroline, whom she was seated next to during the awards luncheon.
“She’s so knowledgeable about dance. Without a doubt, the event was one of the highlights of my life.”
Also attending were Moffit’s mother, Cheri, and JoAnna Jarvis, owner of Malibu’s Ballet by the Sea and Moffit’s first dance teacher. Moffit began her training with Jarvis at an early age and took the Royal Academy of Dance examinations each year.
“The first year, Nicholle forgot about the exams,” Jarvis says. “I had to go over to Webster Elementary School and get her out of class so she could take her exam.”
Moffit was a student in Malibu in 1993, when fire destroyed her family’s home.
“They salvaged only one thing-Nicholle’s dance bag,” Jarvis recalls.
Moffit went on to study at the Miami City Ballet and the Idyllwild Arts Academy. In 1999, she was awarded a medal at The Royal Academy of Dancing’s Adeline Genee Awards in London and in 2000 she received a medal from the National Arts and Council Society in Florida.
“By focusing on the present moment and applying the training I have been given, I am able to diligently perform my professional tasks and express myself freely,” Moffit explains. “Having technical security on stage not only allows me the freedom to express and interpret the music without artistic limitation, but also creates a sense of abandonment within my dancing.
“Simply put, I love my work!”
The Princess Grace Foundation will award a grant in the amount of Moffit’s salary for the year 2003 to the North Carolina Dance Theater where Moffit has worked for the last two years.