A lot of young girls dream of becoming ballerinas, but only very few are prepared to do all it takes and make the sacrifices that such a dream demands. The Vaganova Ballet Academy in St.Petersburg welcomes the most talented and determined young dancers, but first, they have to make it through a series of rigorous and often heartbreaking auditions. And even if they make it to the final few, their stellar ballet career is far from being guaranteed. Being a professional ballet dancer is an exhausting job. To live a fairy-tale on stage, ballet dancers have to suffer for their art behind the scenes: they follow a grueling training schedule and stick to a strict diet. From an early age, they live away from their families, on the ballet academy campus, to enable them concentrate and dedicate all of their time to practice and horn their skills. They leave behind their friends and studies, and enter a very new, competitive environment, where it’s difficult to make friends and trust anyone, as their classmates are also their rivals.
