I had the opportunity recently to ask Ella Conroy some questions about her time as a ballerina. Ella is an amazing dancer, she graces the stage with great poise and elegance. Her love for ballet is incredible. Below are her responses.

Q1: When did you start ballet?

When I was 2 years old

Q2: Where do you currently dance?

Previously Queensland National Ballet School, I had to leave full time due to medical conditions so I now do drop in classes where I can

Q3: How long have you been en pointe for?

Since 2012, 8 years

Q4: What pointe shoes do you currently wear?

Grishko 2007s

Q5: How did you first get involved in ballet?

My grandmother owns a studio, so I was born into the dance world

Q6: What is your favourite variation?

Aurora act 3

Q7: What company would you love to work for?

I never really had a company in mind, but NYCB used to be my dream one

Q8: Do you have a favourite memory/moment in ballet?

My favourite memories were just to be able to forget about my worries in life and express myself in ballet, but seeing NYCB perform nutcracker is pretty high up there 🙂

Q9: Who are your ballet roles models? Dancers that inspire you.

Katie Morgan has always been my favourite ballerina and I’m so glad that she’s spreading her message to the world at this point in time especially

Q10: Best advice you’ve ever received from a teacher?

Ballet is like maths, it’s a combination of exact positions and technique to achieve the coveted end result

Q11: Advise you’d give a young version of yourself?

Your mental and physical health have to come before ballet, as hard as that decision is to make sometimes

Q12: Best thing about being a ballerina?

Working and improving everyday to get one step closer to this lifelong goal

Q13: Hardest thing about being a ballerina?

Taking care of your mental health, and learning that life exists outside of ballet, even though it might not seem like it

Q14: It seems like such hard work, did you ever have days growing up where you were like “ugh maybe I’ll just pick an easier career so I can be like a normal teenager”?

I never wanted to quit to pursue an easier career, but I always had this ongoing battle in my head between going with my heart and choosing ballet and going with my head and choosing a medical career

Q15: Classical or romantic tutu?

Classical

Q16: Have you ever suffered a serious injury?

I suffer from many chronic mental health conditions and a few physical ones too, unfortunately my Tietze Syndrome ended up being the one that forced me to quit my full time school

Q17: What do you like to do when you aren’t dancing (your free time)?

I love to teach myself new things! I’m studying pre-med and multiple languages at the moment, and I absolutely love to play the piano too 🙂