By Giselle Dalili ’20

Chelsea Cho ’21 became passionate about ballet while she was surrounded by the dance scene in New York City. She started ballet when she was in third grade at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.
“I’m someone who likes to feel beautiful and see pretty things, and while living in NYC I was surrounded by a very ’ballet’ environment, so I immediately fell in love,” Cho said.
Cho said she wanted to be physically and mentally challenged, and ballet seemed to fit perfectly for her. Cho also said she enjoys the opportunity to express herself through dance.
“My favorite part about ballet is being able to interpret classical music with my movement and a guiding story line, and ultimately being able to touch an audience,” Cho said.
Cho said that she has worked hard at the sport for years, and her dance studio is like a second home to her.
“By now, hearing my teachers voice and corrections is so familiar to me and feels like home also,” Cho said.
Cho is working hard in order to place in the top 24 in Youth America Grand Prix semi-finals and make it into the World Ballet Competition Finals in Orlando, Florida. She thinks of her ballet teacher as a source of motivation due to the humbling life story.
“My ballet teacher Olga Tozyiakova is my main inspiration relating to ballet. I admire her for dedicating her entire life to ballet and the amount of passion she holds for it. To start ballet, she had to take money from her mom’s wallet and ride the train alone to a big city to audition at the age of nine, which really shows how much she loves ballet,” Cho said.
Cho said that she hopes to keep doing ballet and hopefully dance at a more professional level in the future.
“I love ballet, and I want to keep at it for the years to come,” Cho said.