On her toes: Determined West High graduate dances into professional ballet

When Gabriella Hayes Moore received the call from Ballet West artistic director Adam Sklute, who offered her a contract with the Ballet West II, she felt a "wave of emotions."

"I was so happy and relieved that they accepted me into the company, but I was also terrified," Moore said during an interview with the Deseret News. "All the hard work and dedication got me there, but then I started thinking to myself, 'What if I can't do it?' 'What if I'm not physically and emotionally prepared?' But as Ballet West's ballet master Mark Goldweber told me, 'It's mind over matter. If you think you can do it, you can.' "

Ballet West II is the company's training ground for young, pre-professional dancers, according to Ballet West public-relations manager Jodi Fisher. And Fisher said Moore is the "first female Ballet West Academy student to join Ballet West II in more than 15 years."

Moore, who was born and raised in Salt Lake City, joined Ballet West II on April 3 after three years of training at the Ballet West Academy. It was a dream come true, but her dance training actually started more than a decade ago.

"When I was 7, my mother asked me if I wanted to take ballet," she said. "I always loved it. My mother danced. My aunt danced in the same company that Mark Goldweber did, and she had a wonderful career. I always knew that I wanted to dance ballet."

For most of her training, Moore was taught by Jan Clark Fugit, a renowned instructor throughout the Intermountain West. And as circumstances would have it, Fugit was asked to be a member of the Ballet West Academy faculty when Moore entered the program.

"I started classes at the academy three years ago," said Moore, who graduated from West High School earlier this year. "The training was intense."

For those three years, Moore danced three hours a day Mondays through Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

"It got more intense in my last year at the academy," she said. "My schedule was very demanding."

Moore would go to class at West High School, walk to the academy in the middle of the day and take dance classes, walk back to West to finish up her academic studies and then return to the academy for more dance, she said.

"The dance classes ranged from technique to pointe to pas de deux, jazz, character and repertory," she said.

Though her training was demanding, she never let her goal of joining Ballet West II waver. And that focus helped during some of the trials that she faced outside of the conservatory.