SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Hailey McLeod is preparing to dance her way to a degree this month. McLeod, 18, is heading to Alberta this weekend where she will soon begin classes at the University of Calgary. The Sir John Franklin High School grad is pursuing a bachelor of fine arts with a major in dance.

Hailey McLeod portrays The Scarecrow in the Bella Dance Academy production of The Wizard of Oz at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre last June. - Daron Letts/NNSL photo

"When I sat down and thought about what I wanted to do after graduation I thought why not try something that I love doing and see where it takes me," she said.

Last fall McLeod auditioned for the program, which accepts only 30 students each year. The process involved a day-and-a-half of dance, challenging McLeod's jazz, ballet, and contemporary dance skills with technical exercises and improvisation.

"It was a cool experience to be there with all the other kids auditioning," she said. "A lot of auditions can be scary, but it was a lot of fun. When I got accepted I thought if this is the opportunity they're giving me I might as well take it. I felt so ready to go out there and learn more."

McLeod began highland dancing at around six. In high school she developed her skills on stage in a variety of student musicals, including Grease, Footloose, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Too Darn Hot and, most recently, Werewolf's Curse.

"That really got me into in theatre and performing and dance," she said. "Once you start doing classes and shows here and there you get a feeling that's kind of indescribable. You just feel like you have to be doing it."

McLeod enrolled in classes at Bella Dance Academy and in the summers of 2008 and 2009 studied at the Crazy Legs Contemporary Dance summer school program. She danced on stage at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre as part of the Crazy Legs productions of Hockey Stories for Boys last year and Carnival of the Animals in 2008. She also travelled to B.C. to study dance for a summer.

McLeod credits her Yellowknife instructors Lina Ball, Karen Wasicuna, and Tomiko Robson with pushing her to progress as a dancer.

"They really helped me try to achieve this dream," she said. "They are the ones that said go for it and inspired me to do this."

In addition to dance, McLeod's program will cover choreography, writing and elements of kinesiology. She is focused on her education, she said, and will wait to make plans for her future career closer to graduation.

"I know that I want to keep performing, but I'm also interested in teaching and doing choreography would also be really interesting. There are a lot of options," she said. "I am going with this mantra that I don't know where I'll be next week or next year, but I'll just kind of go with it and see what happens."

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