Darien High School puts a big emphasis on sports and top athletes are getting recruited to some of the best colleges in the country. Sports are not for everyone though. Senior Caroline Schau’s is into ballet dancing, and she plans on pursuing this passion as long as she can.
Many children dance ballet when they are younger and slowly stop participating throughout elementary and middle school. Schau has been dancing since she was three years old and enjoyed it so much that she has continued throughout high school. “Elementary school and middle school were hard,” Schau said. “I was made fun of countless times because people stereotype ballet as ‘girlie’ or ‘weak.’ But it is far from either of those things.”
Schau contemplated quitting numerous times, but she stuck with her dancing and considers it the best decision of her life. She attributes ballet to what has made her the strong person she is today. “Through the bullying I got tougher mentally and ballet made me tougher physically,” Schau said. “Ballet teaches you a lot of discipline because it is very physically demanding.
Schau played sports such as soccer, softball, and swimming, when she was younger, but claims she was not very good at them. She decided to focus on ballet and now dances at one of the best dance schools in the area, the New England Academy of Dance. It is well known for its pre-professional training company. Not only is Schau a part of this school but she is a part of the company that only admits the top 25 dancers at the school.
Every year around Christmas time, the school puts on a performance of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. Schau has been in the show since she was in first grade and now that she is a senior she has earned a principle role as the Dew Drop Fairy. “It is exciting to have such a high role because all of the little kids in the show look up to you,” Schau said. “We put a lot of work into the show and work for three months to prepare for it.” Schau’s good friend, senior Emily Hardin, goes to all of the recitals. “The shows are always very professional and well put together,” Hardin said.
“[Caroline] spends a lot of time at the studio, probably just as much as any varsity sport, if not more,” Hardin said. Schau says she spends six days a week at the studio, for a total of about twenty hours per week. At the school, Schau has found a diverse group of people who went through the same bullying that she did. They are now all very good friends, spending hours together every week. Schau learned to maintain a balance between academics and dance because dance is so time consuming. Ted Thomas, Schau’s dance teacher, said, “Her approach to class and life in general is very outgoing.
Schau spoke about her experiences with bullying on Name’s Day her sophomore year. She was on the panel and spoke about a hurtful comment someone made in elementary school about ballet. Schau questioned why she should do something that made her not like going to school. “But this made me realize that if you’re passionate about something you shouldn’t let other people interfere with that,” Schau said. “[Schau] does not let ballet define her and take over her life, but it’s still an important part of her and is her favorite thing to do,” Hardin said. “Ballet makes her look at life in more creative way. It enhances her love for music and art,” Thomas said.
In the future, Schau hopes to minor in dance in college. She wants to major in something other than dance so that she has more options career-wise. “I can’t dance forever because I’ll be old one day, but I want to dance as much as I can while I still am able to,” Schau said.
As a senior, this is Schau’s last year at the New England Dance Academy. “It’s sad to be leaving the school because it has been my second home for almost all of my life,” Schau said. “But I’ll be dancing for a long time, so this is only the beginning.”
For a look into another DHS dancer from years past, read about Rachel McGlade by clicking here.
