For Audrey DiFilippo (11), ballet dancing has been all she has ever known. From long hours at rehearsal and even more hours put into teaching young children, her life revolves around dance.

   “[I have been dancing for] fourteen years. I mostly focus on classical dancing and techniques such as ballet, however, [I] still [practice] tap, jazz, hip hop, modern and contemporary,” DiFilippo said.

   With dance being a large part of her life, DiFilippo is always trying to take care of her body. In seventh grade, she switched dance academies for that sole reason.

   “[At Donna Brum, it] is more competition style and you don’t focus on ballet as much. Ballet was my favorite type of dance so I decided I was going to switch to Indiana Ballet Theatre and focus on a more classical outlook on things. Competition dancers don’t focus as much on preserving their muscles and ligaments [and] making sure that they don’t get injured as much. Where [as with] ballet, [instructors] don’t want you to do anything that is going to end up hurting you in the future,” DiFilippo said.

   DiFilippo’s love for ballet drove her to become a teacher. She teaches young children at the studio she attends on Tuesday nights on top of all of her own rehearsals.

   “I love to teach children. I like exposing [the kids] to different forms of dance and different ways to do stretches or different types of choreography. Instead of just using my ballet technique in class, I’ll do little aspects of competition dance to expose them to different types of dancing. They are going to be the future [dancers, so] I want to help them in every way I can,” DiFilippo said.