Andalusia High School alumna Gabby Godwin’s love for ballet and Jesus Christ led her to audition for Ballet Magnificat!, a premiere Christian Dance Company.

After a lengthy audition, Godwin was accepted into the program as a trainee this month.

“This is a Christian dancing company,” Godwin said. “So I wanted to use my love of dancing to glorify God.”

To prepare for the audition, Godwin not only had to work on dance, but she had to brush up on her testimony.

“I took a lot of classes to work on my ballet like everyday,” the LBW student said. “I also had to share my testimony, so I had a lot of people from my church work with me.”

Godwin has been dancing since she was three years old, and is most excited to use this opportunity to minister to people.

“I am really excited to travel and perform with this company,” Godwin said. “But I am looking forward to ministering to people the most.”

She believes that being a part of Andalusia Ballet for almost 17 years has helped prepare her for this journey.

“Mrs. Meryane Murphy really does train us to be as professional as we can be,” Godwin said. “So I had a lot of confidence going into the audition.”

Godwin hopes to one day perform for Ballet Magnificat!’s professional company.

“I would really love to travel all over the world with them,” Godwin said. “Ten years from now, I hope to be at that point.”

Godwin plans to head to Jackson, Miss., which is where the Ballet Magnificat! Headquarters are, at the end of August, to begin a rigorous schedule.

“I know that I will have to wake up and be at worship at 9:30 a.m.,” Godwin said. “Then I will have to go to a ballet class, lunch, rehearsal and another class. It is a lot of dancing, but it is what I want to do.”

She said that the people in the community have been very supportive, but confused about the company.

“They are all very excited for me,” Godwin said. “But some of them are very confused when I tell them what I am going to be doing, because I guess it is something new to this area.”

Godwin plans to graduate from LBW Community College this May, before she heads to Jackson, Miss.

She is the daughter of Charlotte and Kenny Godwin.