Northville Teen Dances With Bolshoi Ballet

NORTHVILLE (WWJ) --It's a dream come true for a local teen who will get the opportunity to travel to Russia to learn dance from one of the most famous ballet companies in the world.

Anna Pearson of Northville won a scholarship from the U.S. State Department and The Russian-American Federation to study at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. She is one of only 15 students across the country to win one of the prestigious scholarships.

"I was extremely shocked and amazed," said Pearson. "I had no idea that I would win it. I thought that I would just apply on a whim, and hope and pray that I might get it, but I never thought it would come true."

Pearson tells WWJ that her mom first took her to ballet class when she was just three years old.

"I fell in love with it right away, said Pearson. "And it turned out that my ballet caused her to have to stop playing tennis, and she devoted her time and money to my ballet. So it sort of backfired on her. But she has been supporting me all the way. From that moment, I haven't stopped since I was three. So I fell in love with it, and it's my passion."

Before she travels to Russia, Pearson is spending the next three weeks at the Bolshoi Intensive workshop in New York. Then she and the other students will travel to Moscow, where she will study for six weeks.

Pearson says for her, there is something magical about ballet.

"It's so hard and so rigorous to get perfection that we all strike for. It helps me become more disciplined and actually do better in school. When we perform in front of an audience, I feel this joy and happiness that I don't feel anywhere else."