SCARBOROUGH — Arianna Lawson, who was invited to study at the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, will have to wait a little bit longer before she heads overseas.

“She was supposed to leave October 15, but we pushed it back to November 1,” her mother Michelle Lawson said. “It’s still kind of up in the air.”

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Arianna Lawson, 16, of Scarborough has been offered a spot at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. ALL

The delay in Arianna’s departure is due in part to a lack of funds and the family struggling to iron out all the details, such as her medical insurance, visa and other things she needs while studying abroad.

The offer to study at the academy came after the 16-year-old from Scarborough danced for more than a month at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive Program in New York City.

Tuition at the school is $18,000 annually. After a story that ran in the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram Aug. 25, the family has managed to raise nearly $10,000 through donations and various fundraisers, such as a golf tournament.

If the family can get Arianna to Moscow, she will stay at the academy as long as they can afford to keep her there.

“Arianna is dying to get there, she really is,” her mother said.

Since the offer, Arianna has continued dancing at the Portland School of Ballet and has been speaking with other students currently studying at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy.

“The kids that are over there are loving the school,” Michelle Lawson said. “The training is superb.”

The family has set up a scholarship fund for Arianna, and donations can be made to Arianna’s Ballet Fund at any TD Bank location or by mail at 10 Berry Road, Scarborough, ME, 04074.

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