Bonita Springs 16-year-old dances her way into elite New York ballet program

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. (WINK) — A Bonita Springs High School student is turning a childhood passion into a life-changing opportunity.

Sixteen-year-old Kaiya Shelly has been accepted into the Joffrey Ballet School's four-year trainee program in New York City. Shelly has been on an accelerated academic track since elementary school and is already earning college credit through FGCU.

She is preparing to leave high school and Southwest Florida behind next fall, moving to New York to follow her dreams. WINK News sports reporter Lauren Halpern spoke with Shelly about her journey.

"There's not a point in my time of life that dance wasn't a part of me. Like dance has always been there," Shelly said.

She started dancing at four, but years later, a serious foot injury forced Shelly to decide just how much it mattered.

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"There's two ways I could go with this right now: go to high school and dance isn't a thing anymore, or fix it… And I literally had no question. I had to keep going," Shelly said.

She fought her way back, guided by her longtime teacher, Miss Judy. Judy was the first to take Shelly to New York and helped her recognize the talent she hadn't yet seen in herself.

"She believed in me to believe in myself. She definitely was the one who knocked it in my head like to be confident and to get myself out there," Shelly said.

Shelly auditioned for a summer intensive in January.

"When I was there, I was like, 'Oh, this is like where I'm meant to be. This is my place. Like I felt like I found a home in a place I'd never been before,'" Shelly said.

Once she found out she was accepted, the moment felt surreal.

"It was just like, 'That's it, Kaiya. Like you got it. Let's see you next August,' and I was like, 'Oh my gosh! Like, all right, let's do it,'" Shelly said.

Shelly will move to New York next fall and spend four years in the trainee program. During that time, she'll be old enough to audition for her ultimate dream — becoming a New York City Rockette.