Allison Centanni (11) has been dancing since she was a young age. This winter, Centanni’s company is putting on The Nutcracker and has the roles of a rat, pink angel, Russian trepak, and butterfly. The show brings lot of excitement, but with all the performances, there are a few downsides.

“I’m not excited that there are twelve shows and four of them are school days but because the shows are right before finals, I’ve decided to make school my number one priority and only miss two shows,” Centanni said.

Since Centanni has been dancing most of her life, she has learned many lessons about herself and the art of dance. The things she has learned because of dance have made her a better dancer and a better person.

“Dance has taught me many things like learning how to work cohesively together with others, learning how our muscles and bones work together, how to manage time between school and dance, and how to perform and act. I think the most important thing dance has taught me is that there’s no such thing as perfect. In dance, someone can be a strong beautiful dancer but there’s always room for improvement,” Centanni said.

Dance takes up most of Centanni’s time so she has to teach herself time management and figure out her top priorities. School is Centanni’s main focus and knows that she has to balance the two.

“Dance does interfere with school a lot. I’m constantly juggling the two. It’s kind of hard sometimes because I have dance until 8:30 or 9 and always on nights before big tests and quizzes,” Centanni said.

Although dance has taken up a majority of Centanni’s time, she doesn’t see it in her future. Centanni doesn’t have any set plans for after school, but is thankful for dance because of the great friends she has meet along with unforgettable experiences.

“Dance is definitely not in my future. I know it’s going to be super sad next year when I graduate because I won’t get to see my dance friends everyday for hours on end like I’m used to,” Centanni said.