Interview with Viola - Studying to Become a Ballerina

Q: When and why and how did you start with ballet?

A: I started dancing when I was five years old. First I did Hip Hop at ATG´s in Graz. Later I changed and attended courses in the dancing school Aichler. Since my childhood I had a high stretch ability. Hip Hop was no longer a challenge so I decided something other. My mother advised to take classes of classic ballet to better develop my physical and artistic abilities. I did my first year of ballet training at the Tanzschule Ashmawy. As they were more concentrated on belly dancing I changed

to Karl Reinisch´s ballet school (s. photos above, always right – 10 years between, always the same place) where my mother also had taken classes as a child. Until I was 14 years old ballet was only a hobby I exercised once a week. When I was told that I had the perfect body to become a dancer I decided, encouraged by Karl Reinisch, to study professional dance (and attending secondary school of course).

Q: What does the daily training mean to you?

The daily training can sometimes be frustrating and physically stressing but otherwise you are almost delirious with joy if there is a progress. The daily training means much more to me than doing fitness, it also means trying to achieve a perfect expression while performing art.

… to be continued