By Sofia Puga 

Before joining Arizona Western's Dance team, freshman Aileen Sanchez had already made her mark as a dancer by traveling overseas to perform. 

"I tried out, two other girls and myself from our studio got it so we were able to travel to Italy and perform out there with other dancers around the country," Aileen Sanchez said. 

The experience motivated Sanchez to keep dancing and see more of the world. 

"Dancing in another country was crazy and surreal," Sanchez said. "So it definitely inspired me to keep dancing and maybe make a career out of it."

Sanchez grew up in San Luis, Arizona, she syas she started dancing at four years old. As she grew up, she learned a variety of styles, one in particular became a staple for her.

"I did folkloric, which is Mexican traditional dancing," Sanchez said. "I did that for about half the time."

Jazz is Sanchez's favorite style to perform, while Hip-Hop is a style she intends to learn.

"If I want to have a career in dance as a back-up dancer, it's definitely good to have those hip-hop skills," Sanchez said. 

When it comes to learning a new style or choreography, Sanchez has a process, emphasizing repetition. 

"Just repeat, repeat, repeat," Sanchez said. "Something I like to do to really lock in for choreography is to always go full out even when practicing by myself so that I know what I need to work on."

Sanchez believes that dance brings people together, and that belief was proven true when becoming a part of the Arizona Western Dance team. 

"I love working with the dance team," Sanchez said. "I feel like we all really connected well, especially since a lot of us didn't know each other coming from different schools. You're with these people almost everyday working for hours and working together, so it really builds that bond."

To balance dance and work, Aileen does her studies online, and is currently working on completing her general courses. Sanchez chose Arizona Western to stay closer to home. 

"I'm not really big on going to a big school," Sanchez said. "I'm just simple, and I like it here."

Although she considers dancing as her main hobby, Aileen also likes thrift shopping and enjoying old soul music.

"Right now I have been really into oldies, I've been listening to Thee Sacred Souls," Sanchez said. "I just went to their concert at a festival, it was really nice."