From the age of 3, Caitlyn Carradine already knew what she wanted to be–a ballerina.
While the dream of being a ballerina is not uncommon for little girls, Carradine took it seriously enough to make it a career choice.
“I pretty much knew I wanted to dance professionally in a ballet company, and for that you have to start pretty young,” said Carradine, as she dwelled on her professional aspirations while on summer break, at home in Malibu.
The 19-year-old daughter of Malibu residents Carolyn and Christopher Carradine just came back from Austria where she graduated from the Vienna State Opera Ballet School.
Carradine’s talent and perseverance had earned her a full scholarship to the reputable ballet school, and her love for ballet has blossomed even more. Though she talked about attending college in California upon her return, her plans have changed. Instead, she will return to Europe where she intends to audition wherever she can.
But this privilege to study in a top European ballet school came with a price, demanding endurance and persistence.
A difficulty she faced was that classes where all taught in German, and for three years Carradine studied under the patronage of a Russian teacher, Nadja Tikhonova, who demanded excellence and who, at first, did not want the American student in her class. However, Carradine’s willingness to learn and work hard converted the teacher to think otherwise.
And when she was not dancing, Carradine was working on her American high school credits via correspondence.
“School was in German and I realized after a while that I could not follow the academic curriculum, so I earned a high school diploma doing courses by mail,” she said.
Carradine, who is now fluent in German, achieved both of her goals; completing the academic track in English and earning a valuable dance credential from the ballet school as well.
“She was with a group of girls who were very experienced, but she ended up the only one out of 17 who got the certificate even though she started with a disadvantage,” said her mother, Carolyn Carradine.
With the sounds of a classical piano and a chatty parrot in the background, Carradine acknowledged the toughest part of being away was the separation from her family “because they are the most important to me,” she said.
“In the first years it was hard to connect even by phone,” she explained. “The first year I was there, I would send a fax to my mom every single day.” But during the last year communication was made easier when the Internet became available at a nearby cyber cafe.
Carradine’s time spent in Europe has also changed her perspective on the world. “I went there loving America and now I love Europe so much more,” she said.
The history, multiple opera houses and vivid cultural ties to this classic dance style that the old continent offers for ballet aficionados made it easy for Carradine to fall in love with Europe.
“One of my best experiences there was when I got to perform in an opera and get paid for it,” she said, speaking about her role in “Aida” as a featured dancer.
Now the ballet graduate is even more hooked, and when she goes back to Europe she hopes to join the professional circuit.
She will also make a stop in New York as she heads back, hoping to audition for the American Ballet Theater, Ballet Hispanico and the Metropolitan Ballet.
Aside from ballet, Carradine enjoys fashion design and plays classical guitar. When she is not dancing in her downstairs studio, filled with mirrors and worn and out-grown dance slippers, the slender, brown-eyed young woman also works out with her mother to stay in shape.
“My grandmother said that for grace I needed to take dance lessons,” said Carradine, who also took tap, jazz, modern and waltz dancing lessons. “But ballet is the foundation for pretty much everything, and it’s my favorite.”