Just 20 minutes before ballet class, Cinthia Conlon sits around in her leotard and tights waiting to start dancing. A ballerina since she was a little girl, "Kitty," as most people know her, talks joyfully about her goal of becoming a ballerina.

"I've enjoyed dancing since I was very young. There's something about it that's so freeing for me. I can just escape from everything when I'm out there dancing," says Conlon. "I'll enjoy doing it for the rest of my life."

As a young 17-year-old in college, making a career as a ballerina is not easy.

Currently a student at American River College, Conlon is taking classes such as ballet, math, and journalism - her fallback should her career as a ballerina not work out. She attended three different high schools, starting with Tuxedo High in New York, and then on to Folsom High and then Academia Cotopaxi in Ecuador, then passed the high school proficiency exam and graduated after 3 years.

But Conlon's talent isn't only in ballet; she also is a pianist. She began as a toddler, at just 5 years old, studying the Suzuki Piano Method with Shirlee Rickman, from Fair Oaks.

"Kitty was always an excellent student," according to Rickman. "She was always prepared for her lesson and put so much into her performances."

Conlon participated in two Suzuki International 10 Piano Concerts, a well-known event among Suzuki pianists.

"Playing the piano was something I always got joy out of, but on a less serious level," said Conlon of her eight years as a pianist. "I can still play, but it's not something I see myself pursuing as I get older."

Conlon has been dancing since she was two years old. At age 7, she decided it's what she wanted to do. At two, she performed in her first dance recital. Being so young she had trouble pronouncing her name, and would say "Cinta" instead of Cinthia, "so I just started telling people my name was Kitty, and it stuck!" she remarks. Apparently, so did her love for ballet.

Growing up in ballet schools all over the country, she has plenty of experience in the world of ballet. In 2001 at age 13, Conlon attended the Harid Conservatory in Florida, the most prestigious ballet boarding school in the United States.

"They don't even give scholarships over the summer. But they liked me and really wanted me there. That was the best experience."  

Out of 120, she was accepted and offered a $500 scholarship. Since she was so young and still in school, serious ballet would have to wait until the summer. While in school, Conlon danced with several different companies, then dedicated her summers to ballet schools.

Recently, Conlon auditioned to dance in a Surewest cell phone commercial, which she said went well, but she "wasn't what they were looking for. Most of the girls were hip-hop dancers," said Conlon, "and I was the only one wearing ballet shoes. We had to dance around with a phone in our hand and refer to it while we were dancing."

Between becoming a ballerina and attending school fulltime, finding time to have fun outside of that life is something Conlon has to wait for.

"My Kitty's such a good girl," says her mother, Yadi, as she proudly puts her arm around her daughter, as Kitty turns her head and whispers "but my life is a party."