Local Teen Reflects on Her Ballet Journey

MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – Not everyone is born with the talent to dance ballet, much less with a delay in gross motor skills.

Ballerina Tayler Christianson rehearsed for the talent portion of Miss North Dakota Teen USA with a routine called “Le Esmeralda.”

Christianson said performing on stage is his favorite part and it's a quality that has developed over all his years of practice.

However, her dancing feet weren't always there.

During the first two years of her life, Christianson said she was in and out of the hospital learning to walk because of her delay in gross motor skills.

“My mom said she remembers them putting these huge rods in my legs, and she couldn't watch because it was so sad. So my family has definitely been through a lot. They didn’t know what to think,” Christianson said.

Nonetheless, Christianson said her mother enrolled her in ballet class at age two to improve her condition.

She said it helped her because although she started out awkwardly, her classes with ballet teacher and choreographer Rinat Mouzafarov pushed her physical abilities.

Mouzafarov said she trains seven days a week.

“She could become a professional dancer tomorrow by joining a company. It can be accepted,” Mouzafarov said.

Christianson is now a high school graduate and said she plans to attend NDSU.

She said she will continue her ballet training in case she decides to pursue it professionally.

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