Not many children are looking ahead to possible careers at the age of 11.
But that’s exactly what talented Aria Izik-Dzurko is planning as she gets ready to spend a month studying with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
The Just For Kicks student not only passed the recent Royal Academy of Dance ballet exams in Kelowna, she auditioned and was accepted into Winnipeg Ballet’s elite summer ballet program.
“I’m excited to have this experience; not that many people get to go to Winnipeg,” said the self-possessed youngster Monday. “I want to learn what it’s like to be a ballerina.”
Four or five when she started dancing, Aria has taken lessons in jazz, tap and more.
But it was ballet that captured her young heart.
Aria says one of the main attractions is the classical music most ballets feature, music she says that makes her happy.
The young dancer is also drawn to the challenge of ballet – to see how much she can push herself to become stronger and more flexible.
“I think getting to meet kids that are like me, that love ballet and are really into working hard to get good at it,” Aria says in response to what excites her the most about going to Winnipeg.
“None of my friends really like it that much.”
Aria began dancing with Just For Kicks when she was about six, says her mother, Patricia. She recalls how early on, teacher Sonja Woods pulled her aside to tell her she saw potential in Aria.
When Izik-Dzurko and her husband David were unable to get away from their teaching jobs at Salmon Arm Secondary, it was Woods who took Aria to the Kelowna audition, leaving at 6 one morning last fall.
As to how the young dancer will be, away from her family for a month, Izik-Dzurko describes her daughter as “pretty independent.”
“Our attitude with this is what an amazing opportunity to learn ballet from some of the most wonderful teachers and see how she feels about the ballet,” she says. “They really work them hard. The idea, I think, is to really let them know what it involves.
