A 13-year-old native of Manhattan and Brazilian is taking the ballet scene by storm. Lara Galinari began her passion for dance at Montessori School in Astoria, 
Queens. In her first performance in a Mother’s Day musical, Lara used her creativity and natural charisma to earn many applause and excitement from the audience. Since then, Lara’s parents and peers knew she had a true natural talent for dance.
Lara’s parents support her dancing and always encourage her to do her best and focus on honing her own excellence and talent as an individual dancer. Monica Galinari, Lara’s mother, originally from Rio de Janeiro, understands that ballet is a competitive and tough career but believes in Lara’s dreams of becoming a professional dancer.
As soon as she turned 6, Lara auditioned at the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet. An extremely competitive school, Lara and over 300 prospective dance students competed for 30 spots in the program. Although there were many talented children, Lara’s parents never doubted her, and to their happy surprise, they received an acceptance letter for her a month later.
The training routine is intense. She studies from 8:00 AM until 2:30 PM and goes straight to ballet; every day, from Monday to Saturday. During performance times, rehearsals happen after classes, which also include weekends.
Today, Lara is 13 years old, and besides studying ballet, she is an exemplary student. She is part of the High Honor Roll and is a member of the National Junior Honor Society. Lara has participated in several productions of the New York City Ballet, such as: The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Harlequinade, and the premiere of La Sylphide. All productions are presented at Lincoln Center, at the David Koch Theater of the New York City Ballet and in Workshops at the Juilliard Theater. A dancer’s career is short, but that is not stopping Lara from pursuing success and fame.
Lara has a dream. She wishes to complete her ballet course and become the principal dancer of a renowned ballet company. With this experience, she dreams of getting involved in a social ballet project for underprivileged children in Brazil. Although ballet dancing can prove to be difficult and challenging at times, Lara does not get discouraged from pursuing her professional calling. As she says, “never stop in the middle of something, because you may never know how it will end or where the path may lead you.” Photos by Valeria’s Photo & Studio (www.valeriasphotostudio.com)
CLAUDIA KNUTSSON
Freelance Writer
https://ebarteldes.wordpress.com