By Alice Hickson ’17

A swirl of tight brown curls fell from Sarah Barnett’s ’17 ballerina bun at Pane e Bene. She had changed out of her leotard and pink tights into a sleek black dress, ready to work the Saturday night shift as a hostess. In between greeting customers and practicing her Spanish with the waiters and waitresses, she completed the weekend’s calculus homework concealed under her host stand.

This is a common routine for Barnett, who has grown accustomed to driving from Trumbull’s Performing Arts Center of Connecticut, where she tops off her weekly 15 hour rehearsal schedule, to Westport for work. But, for Barnett, the pay-off has outweighed any inconvenience.

Barnett began dancing seriously when she was in eighth grade and has now reached the highest level of dance at the Performing Arts Center by being part of the pre-professional company.

“I’d been doing silly jazz classes since I was little, but one day we were in dance ‘show and tell’ and this ballet group came in en pointe and did their dance. I remember thinking ‘That was beautiful. I want to do that,’” Barnett said. “Since I started kind of late, I had to be in younger kids’ classes,” Barnett added.  “As an eighth grader in sixth grade classes, I had to work extra hard to be where I am now.”

Before her sophomore year, Barnett moved from her home of Westchester, New York to Westport. Having never done any type of theater before, she auditioned for Staples Players’ “Hello, Dolly!” and scored a dancing role.

“I remember when Sarah asked me about Players one day and whether or not she should audition,” Zoe Samuels ’17, a close friend of Barnett’s and fellow Staples Player, said. “We had so much fun joking around together at rehearsals. She is literally the best friend a girl could ask for.”

Now, in addition to the dancing Barnett does for her studio, she fulfills an extra 15 hours per week as the dance captain for Staples Players, a role she was awarded her junior year.

Moving to Staples didn’t just allow Barnett to perform more, but it also became an opportunity for her to discover her passion for science, with the help of leveled classes and the advanced science research (ASR) class. She conducted research on how to increase the prevention of colorectal cancer by changing the rating scale that physicians use to assess their colonoscopies.

Now as a senior, she no longer takes ASR but continues to complete her formal research presentations through an independent study under the guidance of science teacher Karen Thompson.

“[Barnett] is driven by self motivation and personal goals,” Thompson said. “She remains focused regardless of other activities and academic strains that are being put on her.”

As the top research student in the ASR class, Barnett and one other student were selected to attend the International Science Youth Forum hosted by the Hwa Chong Institute in Singapore, joining 120 other students from across the globe. The forum aimed to “create greater awareness among the youth about the importance of broad-based knowledge, keen curiosity, relentless tenacity and a global outlook in the pursuit of scientific excellence,” according to their website.

“I met so many incredibly smart people from different cultures,” Barnett, who roomed with girls from Singapore, China and Australia while attending the forum, said. “It was one of the best experiences of my life so far.”

Barnett had the opportunity to present her research to Singaporean doctors, other students at the forum and even distinguished scientists. She also took lessons at the Nanyang Technological University and engaged in dialogue with Nobel laureates. Five students’ research made it past the preliminary round and into the semifinals, and Barnett was one of them.

“Even though she does all this amazing stuff, she’s still humble as hell and never even talks about it unless we ask,” Colin McKechnie ’17 said. “When you first meet her, you would have no idea she’s doing all these incredible things because she doesn’t want to brag.”

McKechnie and Barnett became close friends as they danced together in Staples Players and at the Performing Arts Center of Connecticut. “We  spend our free periods self-choreographing   on   the stage and  just  having fun  with music,” McKechnie   added  with  a smile.

Despite being the dance captain for Staples Players’ upcoming musical “Urinetown,” Barnett will not participate in the show as she will be off on her newest endeavor: attending the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) semi-finals in Boston with her dance company. According to their website, YAGP is “the world’s largest network of dance” and is where many dancers get their start in professional companies. “Scouts from all of the big ballet schools will be there like American Ballet Theater and the New York City Ballet,” Barnett said.

Although Barnett earned her spot at the YAGP through a selective audition within her pre-professional company, she does not foresee a future as a professional dancer.

“I don’t think I could do it because I want to go to college and then medical school.  I don’t think they have doctor ballerinas,” Barnett said with a laugh.