The Sault’s Celia Higo, at 17, has already excelled as a student with the Sault’s Elite Dance Force.
Now, Higo is going professional.
After graduation from St. Mary’s College this month, she will begin a 10-month course at the CLI Conservatory in Southampton, Massachusetts in September.
“If I’m signed to an agency, then I can work with that agency and they will give me information on jobs in the dance world. Most dancers from CLI move to New York City or Los Angeles because that's where most of the work is. I definitely plan to live in the U.S. in the future,” Higo told SooToday.
The CLI Conservatory program prepares its students for the professional dance world through 40 hours of dance training per week, being taught how to dance on camera for music videos, how to choreograph original productions and teach others.
The program’s students also perform in two major shows.
From there, CLI grads make connections with dance industry choreographers.
“I'm excited to go because I know dance is what I want to do. I know that if I go and do it with all my heart I can only go up,” Higo said.
The young dancer has good reason to ooze confidence.
Higo began dancing competitively at a young age, winning Miss Petite Dancer of the Year at the Rainbow Dance Competition at the age of seven.
“It was very exciting to experience that,” she recalled.
Higo also won a Prodigy scholarship from the Beverly Hills-based NRG Dance Project in 2024.
She appreciates her supportive family and Elite Dance Force instructors Kaitlin Pelletier and Christina Trevisan for their help in getting her on the road to success.
“I feel that Elite is definitely a great community. I think that they're invested in their dancers and I'm one of the products of that. I'm very grateful to be a part of their community,” Higo said.
Elite Dance Force instructors Pelletier and Trevisan said Higo will be missed but both are excited to see where the dancer will go in her chosen profession.
“I wouldn't be surprised if she was on Broadway or in movies. She could do any of those things that she puts her mind to. Any dance company would be lucky to hire her. Celia belongs to a team of dancers who emerge only a few times in a career, defined by extraordinary talent, dedication and hard work,” Pelletier said.
Both instructors said it has been a privilege watching Higo grow from a young student into the dancer she is today.
“Even though she is graduating and we will miss her, her dance journey is just beginning. I’m excited to see where her love for dance will take her,” Trevisan said.
Higo, stating she would like to appear in large productions, said she will be passionate about dance for life.
“I feel like it's always going to be inside me and just rooted in my soul. I want to experience it as long as I can and even past the professional stage of dancing on my own, I want to be able to teach others and educate and share what I know.”