RIVERTON — Dancing in an off-Broadway show and getting a casting callback for the musical "Movin' Out" seems a worthy distraction from the three R's.

But Riverton High senior Garrett Smith kept up on his studies, completing work by mail to graduate from Utah's largest high school while living hundreds of miles away.

The honor roll student and Presidential Scholar in the Arts is training at the Houston Ballet Academy. He just got word that he's been accepted into Houston Ballet's second company, HB2, which performs contemporary and classical pieces in the United States and abroad.

But first up is high school graduation. His mom, Tamara Smith, says she's mailing him a cap and gown so he can flip his tassel from afar.

"I wanted to have him walk down the hallway or whatever, just to say he 'walked,'" she says.

The diploma means a lot to the decorated teen artist.

"As a dancer, your career can end at age 35 or age 40, depending on how well your body is," Garrett Smith says. "It's extremely important to graduate from at least high school. I'll still have my diploma, so in the future I can go to college."

Smith kicked his world-class soccer dreams as soon as he enrolled in a dance class at age 9. He's gone on to train at the Utah Regional Ballet, Odyssey 2 and Classical Ballet Academy in Provo.

He is one of 37 National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts' young ARTS winners. It came with $3,000 and a brush with greatness — personal congratulations from dance legend Mikhail Baryshnikov.

He also danced in the off-Broadway show, "Breakthrough," as part of the program. He received a Presidential Scholar in the Arts award — one of 20 nationwide. And he was named Teen Male Outstanding Dancer at the New York City Dance Alliance Competition.

"When others dance, they dance to the music," his mom says. "When Garrett dances, he becomes the music. I never tire of watching him."

Though he's had opportunities extended by local dance companies and universities, he wants to stretch his wings elsewhere. He hopes to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints next year, then one day be part of the Houston Ballet, and ultimately, Nederlands Dans Theater.

"I think he'll go places," his mom says.

---

E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com