Freshman Maja Vidinlic has known what she wants to be since the age of two. At least, that’s when her dance career first started. 

“I started dancing because of my sister,” Maja said. “She is actually about to be 24 [years old], but at the time, I basically started because she started, and I just fell in love with it from there on out. I started dancing and taking classes around [when I was] two and a half. Then started really competing around five or six.”

Maja currently dances for Imprint Dance Co.; however, she hasn’t always danced there.

When Maja first started dancing, she was with a different studio for the first seven or eight years of her career. It wasn’t until she realized that she might want to do this professionally that Maja and her family made the decision to move her somewhere that would challenge her more. 

“I am currently dancing at Imprint, and I love it there,” Maja said. “It’s been a really nice push that I needed. Especially when I was younger, I didn’t have that much of a challenge, and I’ve improved so much since then.”

However, that improvement doesn’t come easy. Maja practices seven days a week, and sometimes weekends can be six hours long depending on what she has going on. 

During these long days, Maja is partaking in a variety of different styles of dance: contemporary, lyrical,  jazz, hip-hop, and many more. However, her favorite is contemporary.

“I love contemporary because it’s the most fun to dance to,” Maja said, “and when I am having a hard day, it’s really relaxing to dance it out, and I feel a lot better after.”

It’s really important that Maja can use dance as an outlet or stress reliever in addition to loving it in general because of how much time she spends in the studio.

Given the hours and hours she dedicates to dance each week, sometimes it’s hard to balance school, dance, and a social life. 

“It’s definitely been really hard [to balance everything], and over the years, I’ve definitely had some downs,” Maja said. “Especially during [the] COVID-19 [pandemic], it was especially hard with zooming while dancing, but I have gotten used to it a little bit more now. I do homework during my breaks or while eating, which can be hard but worth it at the end of the day.”

In addition to trying to fit homework into little pockets of time during her day, Maja knows it’s also really important to listen to her body and take breaks when necessary. 

Luckily for Maja, she has dance teachers and family that only want the best for her, so even though dance takes an incredible amount of dedication and discipline, Maja always has someone she can turn to. 

“If you need to take a break, then that’s okay,” Maja said, “My teachers always tell us this. You don’t have to always be perfect, and you don’t always have to get the best grades. Obviously, trying your best is important, but you don’t have to be so hard on yourself.”

Along with her love for dance in general, Maja has also made incredible friends and long-lasting relationships through dance because of all the time they spend together at the studio.

In fact, Maja’s friendship has become one of the most important parts of dance and ultimately is her favorite part.

“Over time, the relationships I’ve built have become my favorite part about dance,” Maja said. “If I’m having a bad day or if I just need to get something off my chest, then I can go to my friends’ dance. Because you’re spending hours and hours with them, they see your faults as well as the good things about you, so they become like your sisters.”