“Doing competitions helped me prepare for the professional ballet world in many ways. I learned to pick up choreography very quickly. I learned what it’s like to be on a stage a lot and to feel comfortable performing. I started doing competitions when I was 3 years old, so it felt like second nature after a while. It also helped with my competitive side which has helped and been a disadvantage at the same time.” 

“My transition to Broadway from the classical ballet world was a very full-circle moment for me. I dreamt of Broadway since I first saw “Sweet Charity” when I was ten years old. My mom knew my love for dance and enrolled me in every single class available at our local dance school. Thankfully my ballet teacher at the time, Tara Hench, recognized my passion and steered me in the direction of a more serious school: Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. It was there that I realized I had a lot of work to do if I wanted to be a professional dancer. I spent five years training under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary & slowly my dream of being a Broadway dancer morphed into the dream of being a professional ballet dancer. I worked at this dream tirelessly and it simply felt like I was knocking on a door that wouldn’t open. After another unsuccessful year of auditioning for ballet companies, I moved to NYC and rediscovered jazz dance! I slowly started auditioning for musical theatre shows while simultaneously auditioning for ballet companies. I found that not only did I have more success in a musical theatre audition but also that I had much more joy in this department! I felt free to really express myself and reconnect with that kid who had those starry eyes for the Broadway stage. Within a couple years of training vocally and building my musical theatre resume, my childhood dream came true and I made my Broadway debut with “The Phantom of the Opera”. I am so grateful to my ballet training for giving me the tools to achieve this dream. But I am even more grateful for the people in my life who encouraged an open-mind and an open-heart so that I could rediscover my love for Broadway.”