Since the age of five, Launceston born and raised ballerina Dayla Bowman knew she wanted to perform under the bright lights.
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That dream is one step closer as she soon heads to the USA to attend the Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago, one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the world.
Only 10 students are accepted from around the world each year, and Ms Bowman said it was "a dream come true."
"I'm very grateful to have been one of 10 dancers worldwide to be accepted; I'm incredibly excited to be dancing on an international level," Ms Bowman said.
Achieving a dream doesn't come without some sacrifice.
At 13 years old, Ms Bowman moved to Sydney, alone, to train full-time at Tanya Pearson Academy and would later on move to the USA for the first time to train at San Francisco Ballet School.
"I've definitely sacrificed a lot with my family to get to this point," Ms Bowman said.
"Moving to Sydney and then halfway across the world to San Francisco were both pretty huge sacrifices; but it was absolutely worth it in the end."
She said from a young age, she felt strongly that she wanted to pursue a career in ballet.
"It's always been something that I've loved, I've put my whole life into it really; it just it brings me so much freedom when I'm on stage," she said.
"I'm quite an introverted person on the outside but when I get on stage I feel like I'm a whole new person.
"I also love the constant strive for perfection that comes with ballet ... there's never a point where everything is perfect and there's just that constant strive to reach that point."
Ms Bowman will undertake a nine-month contract at the Joffrey Ballet Academy, and will continue the audition process worldwide.
"The outcome of whether I'll be able to further my career at Joffrey Ballet won't come until later in the year, so everyone keeps doing the audition process throughout the year," she said.
"They'll provide a lot of stage experience that will allow me to reach that next step, so I'll be doing a lot of performing as well as continuing to enhance my training."
The new phase in Ms Bowman's career called for a time of reflection, and she said she couldn't be more excited to start the new chapter.
"It means so much to me that everything that my family and I have sacrificed has led me to this point," she said.
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