Guam resident Alice Grunzke, 17, has been accepted to the University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts for the 2024 fall semester. Grunzke was 14 when she moved with her family from Atlanta, Ga. to Guam. Her parents, Andrew and Rebecca Grunzke are professors at the University of Guam. Having arrived on Guam amid the pandemic, Grunzke continued online high school and as soon as Guam opened up from COVID lockdowns, she enrolled in the ballet program under the direction of Eugene Bob Bordallo at Guam Conservatory of Arts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing pre-professional training in the performing arts.
Grunzke first began her ballet training when she was 5 years old and alongside her puppetry skills, has spent the better part of her youth involved in dance and theater, which she credits for nurturing her creativity, giving her a strong work ethic and developing perseverance. During Grunzke’s final year in high school, she simultaneously took college courses. In addition to those responsibilities, she taught ballet lessons to 5-7-year-olds at the Guam Conservatory of Arts three days a week and took ballet lessons from Bordallo four days a week. Puppetry will be her main focus in college.
Grunzke received her acceptance letter from the University of Connecticut on March 1, 2024, alongside a scholarship for $92,000 and a subsequent one for $3,666. While many parents hope their children receive sports scholarships for their athletic abilities, they should not disregard the fact that many universities bestow scholarships to students enrolled in fine arts programs. Grunzke’s story is one that hopefully inspires children to dream big and encourages parents to allow their children to pursue their passions in the performing arts.
Grunzke taught for a year at the Conservatory and is currently teaching until she leaves for her first semester this fall at U Conn.
The young puppetry artist says she looks forward to coming into her own this fall.
Grunzke calls Carol Spinney and Stacy Gordon as a couple of her mentors and role models.
“One of them was a puppeteer who hung out at Dragon Con in Atlanta, which is an event that I attended for many, many years, more years than I've been alive, as my mom, when she was pregnant with me, went,” she said. “She was one of my role models... she got her own puppet on Sesame Street. She plays Julia. The first autistic representation on Sesame Street,” she said.
Grunzke explained in this business, the line between role model and friend is very blurred.
“I have just admired that, and that's a lot of the reason why I wanted to go into puppetry specifically, as well as the history and anthropology in it,” she said.
She is leading a stretching and strengthening class, open to any student at the Conservatory and to their parents, which is interesting because it gives parents a chance to experience how difficult the work is for students.
“If they've never done it, if they've never sat in class and watched, they don't know how hard their children are working. We've got dads taking it so it's a beautiful thing,” said Bordallo.
Another interesting thing about the Conservatory is that the teachers do not receive payment for their services.
“All of our teachers are basically volunteering their time. All of them, some to a greater extent than others, volunteer their time.,” said Bordallo. Our teachers have decided to pour out their time and talent resources to how much we believe in this type of training.”
