Judah junior James Griffiths spent his summer training his body for ballet — because James is an extraordinary ballet dancer.
In fact, after he auditioned to train at the nation’s most prestigious summer ballet intensives, James received more than a dozen acceptance letters from ballet companies all across America, from New York City to Sacramento, California. Nearly all of these ballet companies offered him a full tuition scholarship.
James ultimately decided to attend the BalletMet Summer Intensive in Columbus, Ohio. BalletMet is a nationally known dance company. It operates a dance academy that helps train everyone from children just starting out to aspiring professional dancers.
Not only did BalletMet offer James a full tuition scholarship, they also paid for his room and board. What’s more, as a result of his auditions, they extended his summer intensive training from five weeks to seven. James said, “I was invited originally to be in a five-week intensive with a full-ride scholarship, until they saw my national tour auditions. When they saw those, they wanted two extra weeks.”
Training at BalletMet for seven weeks is not exactly like going to prom. Students at BalletMet train from 9 am to 5 pm, six days a week, with only a 45-minute break for lunch. James said, “When I first started dancing, I trained seven days a week. Dancing really takes a lot of athleticism, and many times people don’t understand that. Ballet is an art form in which you tell a story with your body. It’s like poetry, but you use your body to tell a story instead of words. It’s so poetic but so athletic at the same time, and that’s why I love it.”
Despite the long hours of training, the recreation was lavishly planned as well, with excursions to places like the Cincinnati Zoo. James said, “The zoo had a couple of exhibits that weren’t there before, so we got to see those specific exhibits. We got to see things that not a lot of people get to see. Really, we got to learn, and that’s the most important part about dancing. Part of why they gave us these field trips is because anything you do in dance, you are learning it. You have to learn how to learn, how to make it your own.”
On Sundays, BalletMet arranged trips to various churches. As an Orthodox Christian, James went to an Orthodox church — accompanied by a friend who was an atheist. James said, “He did not believe in any god or in God Himself. But he wanted to experience what church was like, as he had never been to a church. So I was like, ‘Okay, well, I’m going to the Orthodox church. Would you like to come with me?’ So he came with me.”
James also shared his faith at the camp. James spoke of a girl he met there who was struggling. James joined other friends, and together they tried to be a support. James said, “I came at it from a Christian point of view and said, ‘Let God push you and guide you in your life.’ It was hard for her. She didn’t want to do it anymore. That’s one of the hardest things about dance, seeing someone you know really well just choose no. It can be hard to see people just move on.” Eventually, she left the camp.
Overall, James loved the intensive training he received at BalletMet. He said, “The training I got there was really good. It was from world-class dancers.” The training also taught him something important about dance. “I learned that dance isn’t just about dancing,” he said. “Dance is about art and creating your own art. It’s art in motion, that’s what this is. Ballet and all dances are art in motion.” Even here, James connected the art of dance back to God. “Being able to be artistic,” he said, “means letting God guide me through that art, letting God take me step by step where I need to be, letting God take ownership of the art I’ve done, or of which I’ve done through Him.”
As a student at Judah for a year now, James knows that this school is for him, both because of its people and because of the educational opportunities it offers. “I’ve grown so much more here than I have at any other school I’ve done,” he says. “I thank Judah, but most of all, I thank God. I really appreciate this school, I really do.”
James used to go to public schools and even online schools. He kind of drifted around schools for a while to find the best fit of teaching and curriculum for him.
In public school, he felt that he was not being given a chance to grow. In his online classroom, the work started out simple and slow at first, but as James went into eighth grade, the sudden spike in difficulty caught James off guard. He said, “Going into eighth grade was rough. They taught things that I couldn’t understand well, especially with science, and I had no one in front of me to ask for help.”
At Judah, James had a much easier time adjusting, especially to the curriculum. He said, “My finals were actually really good, surprisingly. In algebra, I got a 99, which was my highest grade on any of my finals, in algebra of all things. Getting the help that I need from my teachers has been amazing. This is the first time I’ve ever felt academic success.”
James has been an illumination to many of his classmates, who see his involvement in his classes, in the Judah Newsroom, and in the GodTreks Adventure Club, among other things. And Judah has been a revelation to James. He said, “I love this school. I love being here. Every day I come here, I learn something new about myself and about others around me.”
On the question of taking dance to the next level and genuinely pursuing it as a career, James only says, “I haven’t gotten there yet. I’m more focused on the present for now. But once I get there, I guess I can tell you.” One thing is for sure: this athletic artist has jumped into Judah Christian School with style.
—Michael Oshimokun, class of ’26