TIMMINS - Eat, sleep, ballet, repeat.
It's a routine a young Timmins dancer is familiar with as she makes her mark in the dance world.
For the past two years, 12-year-old Zoe McLister has spent three weeks each summer training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
This year, the Grade 7 student at École catholique Sacré-Coeur was offered a spot in its academic program, which would have seen her move to Manitoba for the school year. She turned it down and has been accepted to next year's summer program, which she would normally have to audition for.
“I almost went — I was like this close to going —but I would have missed this place too much. I would have missed Miss Cathy and all my friends, and I would have been too sad leaving this place,” she said.
Classical Dance Arts by Cathy McKeown is the studio McLister's talking about.
The dance season started about a month ago and the young dancer trains four days a week, for a total of about 14 hours.
The last time TimminsToday caught up with McLister was several years ago — before her first time going to Winnipeg.
Since then, she's also added pointe shoes to her collection.
“I've always been wanting to do it, and I'm glad I got the opportunity to do it because it's just painful, but so beautiful and fun, and I just love it a lot.”
The two summers she's spent at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet have been really fun.
"All the teachers there are so sweet and they all make sure everyone's at the same page,” she said.
“They were always so sweet to everyone. No one ever got in trouble, no matter how bad they were. They always respected everyone the same. And it was really good. I really liked it.”
Going into this year's camp, she wasn't as shy.
The first year, she said, was scary. Having more experience, knowing all the teachers and being with most of the same dancers helped her transition more easily the second time.
One of the main takeaways for McLister is posture.
“That was my main correction," she said.
"It's just really hard to have the perfect posture. But I think I learned a little bit of what it's kind of supposed to be like along the way."
Her tips on good posture: Keep your hips forward, squeeze your butt and activate all your muscles.
While McLister has an offer for the 2025 RWB summer program, she hasn't accepted yet.
