She went from dances with wolves to twirling alongside ballerinas.
Karina Chikitova, a real-life “Mowgli” girl who was discovered living wild in Siberia, is one step closer to becoming a professional ballerina after landing a spot at a prestigious dance academy in Russia.
“This is the start of a new chapter in Karina’s life,” proud guardian Albina Cherepanova, 61, told East2West News of the tiny dancer, 11, who is now the newest member of Yakut Ballet School — the world’s northernmost professional ballet school.
The adoptive parent, who first inspired Chikitova to take up the art, added that this is the “next major step on her way to becoming a ballerina.”
This marks a major accomplishment for the former wild child, who made international headlines in 2014 after surviving for two weeks alone in the remote Olyokminsky district in southwestern Yakutia — one of the coldest regions on Earth. The survival saga began after the then 4-year-old Chikitova wandered into the woods after her father, who claimed he had no idea she was trailing him.
By the time her parents realized she was missing, the tyke was hopelessly lost.
For the next 12 days, the tough tot was left to fend for herself in a forest teeming with wolves and bears, East2West News reported. She ate wild berries for sustenance, slept in a bed of tall grass, and clung to her dog, Naida, for warmth, as she waited to be rescued from her unforgiving surroundings.
Resourceful pooch Naida eventually returned to the village, giving the rescuers hope the courageous girl was still alive. When they finally found Chikitova, she was dehydrated, exhausted and covered in mosquito bites and cuts from walking in the woods. After she returned home, a statue of the hardy girl and her faithful pooch was erected in her in honor in Yakutsk, the capital city of Yakutia.
Chikitova has since become a global sensation, inspiring a children’s book based on her exploits and winning a Mini Miss beauty pageant in her region in 2018. A film about her life is also reportedly in the works.
Now with her placement in Yakut’s advanced ballet program, Chikitova is closer than ever to her goal of dancing at Russia’s iconic Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
“I am very pleased Karina’s hard work and dedication has paid off,” gushed Cherepanova. She found Chikitova’s achievement especially amazing as half the girls in her class were cut from the internationally renowned dance school.
Of course, her adoptive daughter’s not yet out of the woods (so to speak). According to Cherepanova, the plucky pupil will now undergo years of “rigorous training and performances,” and one-on-one coaching — all while completing her general education.
If that wasn’t arduous enough, her boarding school only has breaks in winter and summer, during which the devoted daughter visits her mother in the Olyokminsk district, some 350 miles away.
Nonetheless, as with her Siberian survival saga, Chikitova is reportedly rising to the occasion. “She is wise beyond her years,” said Cherepanova of the statuesque prodigy, who at almost 12 years old, is also half a head or more taller than her classmates.
Chikitova’s surrogate mom says she would like to take the “dreamer” to Moscow when winter exams are over, so she can check out the Bolshoi Theatre and perhaps see a performance of “The Nutcracker.”
Despite her arduous childhood, Cherepanova says her pride and joy “has a wonderful personality” and is “very inquisitive, happy and down-to-earth.”
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