Kate Flowers
Kate always knew that dancing was her destiny. As a little girl growing up in New York City she danced around the living room often executing ballet moves long before any formal training. At 6 years old, she stepped into her very first dance class. Kate began dancing in earnest at the age of 8 years attending the School for the Creative and Performing Arts after her family relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio. Going forward she had no other dream nor vision for her life aside from becoming a professional ballet dancer. In high school she was fortunate enough to perform many lead roles such as The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Juliet in Romeo & Juliet's balcony pas de deux, and Lucy in Dracula.
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After being invited to attend the year round trainee program at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City when she was 16 years old, Kate finished her high school credits early and graduated within 3 months. During this time she was secretly struggling with eating disorders that had been brought about by some of the unhealthy elements within ballet culture. By the time she took the solo journey back to NYC, she was already suffering from a severe drug addiction that was triggered by her eating disorder. That same year she was unable to continue dancing and spent the next 10+ years focusing on her mental health and recovery and sadly, stepping away from her lifelong dream.
Within that time she found joy in learning about self-care through health and wellness. In 2016 Kate transformed her newfound passion into a successful career. Over the course of its lifetime, that online business generated a following of 400,000 people with over 40 million total views on YouTube. Inspiring others to live healthy, happier lives through practicing self-love brought Kate a deep sense of fulfillment.
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In the fall of 2016, while her new self-made business was still blooming, Kate began dancing and training again for the first time in over 12 years. She was fortunate enough to dance with De La Dance Company in Cincinnati, Ohio for one season. Kate was thrilled to be performing again and particularly enjoyed dancing the roles of Cinderella in Cinderella and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker. Unfortunately, running a business while dancing full time was not sustainable. At that time, the dancing position was not a primary source of income, so she made the only responsible and logical choice she had, to focus on her business.
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Another 4 years flew by without dance in her life after leaving the small dance company in Ohio. Familiar regrets of quitting "the dream" crept back in and she wondered if there would ever be a way for her to dance again. With no plan of how or where she might have the opportunity to perform, in the summer of 2021 Kate slowly started training again with a private coach holding to the belief that anything was possible.
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In 2022 came the brave decision to create and dedicate her life to what she felt was her true purpose, dance. Taking a leap of faith, Kate co-founded Azara Ballet as a non-profit organization with her partner Martin Roosaare. When in doubt, Kate reminds herself that she was born to do this. It is the seemingly impossible dream coming to fruition. She looks forward to every step of the way.