'It all comes down to that passion' for Dalton High theater standout

Apr. 10—Dalton High School's Ariana Avila credits her selection as a 2019-20 Governor's Honors Program finalist in theater to her unalloyed passion for the art form.

"If you don't have that passion, then don't bother," said the junior. "The interviewer will see it."

Avila has that passion, especially for stage performance. Each year, she attends a theater camp — she went to New York in the summers of 2018 and 2019 — and she's constantly striving to improve: recent goals included learning stage combat, dancing in heels and performing outdoors.

In order to excel in any endeavor, "you have to accept the fact you still have a lot to learn," she said. "You can't be super cocky, because there's still room for improvement."

Avila, who was honored during a Sept. 14, 2020, Dalton Board of Education meeting for her Governor's Honors Program achievement, first landed on Wes Phinney's radar when she was in middle school productions, said the head of Dalton High School's theater program, and "(I) was very happy that she continued her participation in theater as a freshman at Dalton High in 2018."

"As a drama student, she is eager to learn all she can in class to improve and give the best performance possible," Phinney said. "She is willing to take chances to discover different ways of presenting the characters she portrays, a unique attribute in a young performer, and one that will serve her well if she pursues this profession."

Avila jumped into theater at age 7 with a production of "The Night at the Wax Museum" at the Artistic Civic Theatre, and "I love going on stage, making others feel what I feel," she said. "Being someone you're not, portraying different characters, is so much fun for me."

"I've always wanted to be an actress," she said. "It all led back to theater."

"A triple threat," Avila acts, dances and sings, she said. She takes voice lessons, she acts both in school and in community productions, and she's a member of the Dance Theatre of Dalton.

The Queen of Hearts, from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," whom she portrayed as an eighth-grader, is among her favorite roles, she said.

"Evil characters, I'm not (evil), but I do love working on those."

Perhaps the best production she's been involved with was Dalton High's "The Pirates of Penzance," even though she didn't play a starring role, she said. "It was a really, really great show, and we knew the audience loved it."

During rehearsals, Avila listens intently to direction and then "works very hard to achieve what she is asked to do," Phinney said. "Ariana is an ideal theater student, and we are fortunate that she is such a vital part of our program at Dalton High."

Avila heard about the Governor's Honors Program through friends, saw it on "a lot of Instagram bios," and discussed it with several of her theater people, she said. After passing through early rounds, she had to submit a video monologue.

"The application process was a ton of work," she said. "I put my heart and soul into it."

Avila, who earned Georgia High School Association Region 5 Class 6A One-Act Competition all-star status for her performance as Oberon in Dalton High's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" earlier this year, was eager to join other theater students from around the state at the Governor's Honors Program camp last summer, but that event was yet another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I had put so much work into doing it, and then it all got taken away," she said. "I'd already become friends with" some other theater students who were selected for the camp, and "we were excited."

"We were always talking about it and making plans for the future," she said. "It's really sad" the camp was canceled.

Even more frustrating, organizers emphasized from the first applications that students needed to clear their calendar for a month for the camp, she said.

"They tell you 'Don't plan anything, don't plan anything,'" so many students had already canceled other plans, such as family vacations.

Even though the camp wasn't offered, Avila remains "super proud of myself to get accepted as a finalist," especially in the competitive theater arena, she said.

"I'd been going through a little bit of a rough patch (at that time), so I needed that boost."

Avila has considered colleges "up north," perhaps New York University or the University of Michigan, she said. Both offer "musical theater programs that are rigorous and intense."

She received more than 20 callbacks from universities during the virtual 2021 Georgia Thespian Conference in February based on her video, which included a performance of the song "Lost in the Brass" from "Band Geeks," as well as "Anything Sweet Stays," a "standard monologue" for young females, she said. "Knowing there's interest in me from college" musical theater programs is rewarding, although "it's a little weird just connecting with them on Zoom" instead of in person.

She's also been involved with choreography for shows at Dalton High School, utilizing her dance training, and Phinney isn't surprised she was recognized by the Governor's Honors Program, he said, noting, "Ariana is a very talented young dancer and performer."

The French writer-philosopher Denis Diderot once observed, "Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things," and Avila wholeheartedly agrees with that sentiment.

"You can really get far, but it all comes down to that passion," she said. "You obviously have to have talent, but you also have to have that passion."