Even though there are set steps and choreography, junior Ariel McCowan can still make it her own and is inspired to dance with her team to victory.

As a student of the Texas Ballet Theatre, McCowan attended the Youth Grand Prix dance competition Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 with her dance ensemble where they won best overall. They made it to the finals in New York, where they competed for the best overall ensembles but did not win the title.

“It is a really big competition, so people around the world come to dance,” McCowan said. “[People from] China, Japan, Brazil, basically anywhere come and compete, so we never expected to win, but it is such an honor just to get to go compete and meet these people.”

Starting at a young age, McCowan has trained almost her whole life to be a dancer.

“When I was 3 my mom put me in a dance class because I had too much energy, and she didn’t know what to do with me,” McCowan said. “I really liked it, so I just stuck with it.”

McCowan said she dances at least three hours on weekdays and about seven hours on Saturdays.

“Sometimes it gets frustrating because my friends will want to hang out, and my excuse is always dance, and now they even know, ‘Oh, you have dance,’” McCowan said. “But at the same time, when I get [to the studio] and I start dancing, it’s like I forget about everything. For me all the hours are worth it.”

With all the hours of dance and school and trying to maintain other aspects of her life, McCowan said she barely manages to keep up with her three AP classes and other extracurricular activities.

“All my teachers are really understanding about it, and they know my situation,” McCowan said. “It hasn’t been as difficult as it could have been.”

McCowan said she wants to continue dancing until she is part of a professional ballet company.

“Right now I’m looking into joining a professional ballet company,” McCowan said. “Of course I will be auditioning for the big ones like the American Ballet Theatre and San Francisco, but I think [it] would be really fun after I establish my career to go for dancing on Broadway.”

McCowan has done dance for almost her whole life but said she still has doubts sometimes about dancing.

“Sometimes, especially because of schoolwork, I get really overwhelmed, and I think about quitting,” McCowan said. “Then I try to imagine myself not dancing, and I don’t know what I would do without it. It would just be really weird.”