Tell us about your dance background and training:

I started dancing at the age of 18 when I was attending Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. My mother was a dancer and I have always loved to dance, so I decided to take a beginning modern dance class my first semester. It was love at first sight. I transferred to the null my third year of college and continued to study dance through the University. I auditioned for the Charlottesville Ballet during my final year at UVA and was hired as an Apprentice with the company, simultaneously balancing my work with the company with finishing my final year of college. After graduating, I completed summer intensives with the American Ballet Theater and the Joffrey Ballet School. I am continuing to study and grow as a dancer with the Charlottesville Ballet during the 2012/2013 season.

 

One of my role models is actually a former dancer for Charlottesville Ballet, Voltaire Wade-Green. His work ethic, humility, versatility, and talent are all things that I strive to attain.

For me, dance is just as necessary as oxygen is. I feel full of life with it and feel empty without it. It is a challenge for me – physically, emotionally, and and mentally. It allows me to express with my body what I cannot express in words. I simply could not live without it. Dance brings me more joy than anything that I have ever tried before, so why would I ever stop?

What other jobs/activities/pursuits are you involved in?

I work at the Whiskey Jar on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall and I teach Contemporary and Hip Hop dance classes at Charlottesville Ballet Academy.

 

I can sing, do yoga, do lots of handstands, and I am working on my breakdancing skills!

I cannot express how much I appreciate all that Sara Clayborne and Emily Mott do – for me, for the company, and for Charlottesville and its surrounding area. They have given me the opportunity to follow my dreams to become a professional dancer and are an integral part of the dancer I am today.