Before she danced through soccer games. Now this Louisiana teen’s heading to Joffrey.

Kylie Prejean, 17, is a senior graduating in May from Ovey Comeaux High School in Lafayette. She is the daughter of Katherine and Keith Prejean. In March, Kylie was accepted into Joffrey Ballet School, a long-standing, renowned studio based in New York, which has three U.S. locations: Dallas, New York and Chicago. She was given the option to choose which school she would like to attend and currently plans to attend school in Dallas. 

Kylie currently dances with The Ballet Studio in Lafayette. Her favorite dance position is anything that requires flexibility, and her favorite ballet is Swan Lake. Prejean hopes, one day, to complete her studies with Joffrey and earn a teaching degree, with aspirations to teach in a school or open her own studio.

How did you get into ballet? 

My parents tried to put me in different sports when I was really young. I did soccer and T-ball. I started ballet when I was 4 years old, but they realized that ballet was my calling when I was dancing on the soccer field instead of actually playing the game.

What does your practice schedule look like, and how do you balance it with school? 

During the week, for ballet classes, I usually go Tuesday and Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and then Saturday mornings from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. 

I think of ballet and my academic pursuits as two separate lives. I have my school life and my school friends, and then after that I go to ballet. Ballet is a safe place for me — even when I’m having a bad day, having a stressful day, it all blows out the window when I go to dance and I’m able to express myself. 

Have you had any tough spots in your dance career thus far?

A month before I tried out for Joffrey, I tried out for a different school — and I ended up not making it. I remember my confidence being absolutely shattered. I just thought, “If you can’t make this school, what are you doing? Why are you trying out for Joffrey? Maybe you should just not do it.”

The night before the Joffrey audition, I told my mom, “I don’t know if I should be here. What if they don’t think I’m good enough?”

It was a very emotional moment. We were crying, and she was telling me, “You are good enough. Whether they accept you or not, that’s nothing to do with who you are as a person or how far you’ve pushed yourself.”

It’s hard to remind myself, especially when I see other girls dancing — thinking she can do that and I can’t — that, no, I can’t do it now, but eventually I will. I have to remind myself, “You have the drive and the passion, and you’re gonna make it one day. You need to give yourself time, and you need to go easy on yourself.”

What was the application process like for Joffrey? 

It was just like applying for a college. We picked a date and drove up to Texas. The day of, I got there around 8:30 a.m. — it was me and three other girls — and we were taking classes with all the other girls in the company. I did four classes: ballet, partnering, modern and contemporary.

I loved the environment and the people. I didn’t feel anxious or intimidated walking into the studio or preparing for the audition. I just walked in there, and I gave it the best I could.

For some auditions, they ask you to make up your own dance. For this one, you go in and take a normal dance class, and they judge your worth ethic and everything else.

Ballet is sometimes known as having a toxic environment. Do you think that reputation is changing? 

Ballet can be a very toxic place, but I was blessed with an amazing environment — an amazing studio with teachers who didn’t make me feel like I was worthless. Instead, they were uplifting. So, yes, ballet is seen as very demanding, or many teachers are portrayed as rude, but I’ve never had a teacher like that.

Where do you think that stigma comes from? Is it too dramatized on television? 

I don’t think it’s dramatized. There are some teachers in the world who are like that, very mean and strict and scary.

With ballet, there’s an association with very skinny girls, and teachers who enforce that body image. As society progresses, I think there’s more teachers who are nicer and more open.

Do you think there’s a lack of diversity with body image and race in ballet? 

I feel like the original image of a ballerina was a very dainty, skinny and light-looking girl. 

My main role model is Misty Copeland because she talks about how she was not the ideal ballerina, but she pushed standards. She was able to become one of the lead principle dance ballerinas in the world because she wasn’t like everybody else.

She wasn’t slim and skinny and White, and she changed a lot of perspective for me. I was never degraded because of my race or weight, but I felt like I wasn’t the ideal person. (Copeland) pushed that boundary, and she helped me understand that not everybody looks the same and that you can still be an amazing dancer without being the slim, dainty girl. 

What would you tell your younger self — the little girl who was dancing on the soccer field — about where you are now? 

To just embrace it and be the best you can be. Some days you can only give 80%, and that’s OK, but push yourself. Be the best person that you could possibly be because you’re never going to look back and doubt going all out or going 100%. 

This interview was edited for length and clarity.