THESE young ballet dancers from St George are stepping closer to their dream of becoming professional ballerinas.
The dancers are students of the Rogerson Elite Classical Training at Mortdale and have been accepted into professional dance schools in New York and Europe.
Rogerson Dance Studios director Nicole Dunn said elite training schools were the objective of the full-time dance program.
Finola Xie, 17, of Arncliffe, recently returned from the Joffrey Ballet Summer School program in New York.
She has since been awarded a scholarship to a The Ballettschule Theater Basel in Switzerland.
Miss Xie has been dancing for 11 years.
"I started in November to train full-time and now it has become my goal," Finola said.
"Europe is exciting, and with dance I can truly express myself and just get completely lost in it.
"I have worked hard to get here."
But the hard work is far from over, with each professional dancing program lasting three to four years.
At just 15, Sophia Kaloudis of Riverwood will take off to New York in February to take up her spot at the Joffrey Ballet School.
Her sister Christina Kaloudis, 13, has been offered a spot in the level three interstate trainee program at the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne.
Emily Quain, 18, of Mortdale has a spot waiting at Joffrey's jazz and contemporary stream.
She has decided to defer this placement for 12 months so she can finish her HSC.
Emily Gomersall, 14, of Riverwood has just returned from finals week at the Australian Ballet School Melbourne.
She will soon find out if she has been accepted into their full-time program.
Ms Dunn said the girls' success was because of their commitment to dance and the small size of their training program.
"The girls train for three hours during the day so they can do their school work, as they range from 13 to 18 years, and then join in for the evening classes," she said.
"They are getting full-time training hours, although we are accommodating the fact that they are all still students."
Did you dream of becoming a prima ballerina?