Who knew that something your mother signed you up for could turn into something that you’d absolutely love doing? For junior Caitlyn Ferrara, that is exactly the case.
When Caitlyn was only 5 years old, her mother signed her up for Irish dance classes because she felt that it was a good way for her to connect with her heritage. With her best friend by her side, her dance career took off, and by the next year she was dancing competitively.
When she’s not dancing you can find her reading, hanging out with friends, attending country music concerts, or traveling abroad. If you plan on sitting down and talking to her, like HC Ramapo got to do, make sure you put down your phone and listen!
Her Campus: What are your plans for after graduation?
Caitlyn Ferrara: To get a job hopefully in the city and something with fashion– have my own apartment hopefully and to be able to travel
HC: Do you have a pre- or post- performance tradition/ritual?
CF: I always have to be wearing my lucky necklace for every competition. I also always do three butt-kick jumps right before I go on stage and I pray that I don’t forget my steps every time.
HC: What do you do if you make a mistake while performing?
CF: If you make a mistake, you have to show no emotion in your face and just keep going until you get back in time with the music. The judges don’t know your exact steps so we’re always taught to bluff it.
HC: What’s the biggest challenged you’ve faced in your dance career?
CF: The biggest challenge that I faced in my dance career was overcoming all of the downfalls and training my mind to never give up even if I didn’t place as high as I wanted.
HC: What is your most notable competition?
CF: My most notable competition was the Worlds Competition that was held in Belfast, Ireland. It had always been my dream since I started dancing to qualify for the Worlds Competition and it is extremely hard because only the top 15% of the competition qualifies for it.
HC: What gives you the most inspiration?
CF: My dance teacher definitely inspired me the most because she was
always pushing me to reach my full potential and made me realize that this isn’t an accomplishment that everyone achieves especially in such a hard competition that I worked so hard to achieve it.
HC: If you could give one tip to other dancers or girl interested in dancing what would it be?
CF: Dancing is a very tough sport because you’re being judged by people that have very different opinions, so my advice would be to never give up even if you don’t get the placement that you want because every judge is different and you shouldn’t let one opinion stop you.
It was great being able to interview such a talented dancer. As Caitlyn told us, “don’t ever give up on something you love.”