And she's already racking up prestigious awards. Welik was among 20 college students to earn a 2004 Princess Grace Award in dance, theater or film. All recipients met Prince Albert of Monaco at an Oct. 26 luncheon and attended an Oct. 27 awards ceremony in Manhattan, hosted by Sharon Stone.

"It was extravagant," Welik says of the ceremony. "There were so many people there, and they were all dressed like royalty."

Welik was recognized not only for her work as a dancer, which includes apprenticeships with Ballet Divertimento in Montreal and with the Cedar Lake Ensemble in New York, but for her community outreach. In June 2002, Welik and her fiancé co-founded ArtREACH, a New York-based community outreach organization that uses art as a means of communication to penetrate cultural, racial and ethnic barriers.

"We're turning [ArtREACH] into a nonprofit when we graduate," Welik says. "We want to develop that further and do as much teaching as we can. I'd love to still be dancing in 10 years, but that's where I see myself growing the most."

Welik's immediate future involves auditions and classes with some European dance companies in January.

"I'm going to Montreal at some point" for the same purpose, Welik says. "It's so hard to tell where I'm going to end up."

"The hardest part about being an artist is that you can't plan," Welik says. "My fiancé's willing and excited about going anywhere. (He studies acting at Juilliard.) We're seeing what opportunities come our direction, and we'll figure it out from there."

According to her mother Peggy Welik, the Homestead High School graduate began taking classes at age 3 at Dance Academy USA, which used to be in Sunnyvale and is now in Cupertino.

"She knew what she wanted and had natural talent," her mother says.

"I'm really good at picking up different styles of dance, especially when working with a new choreographer," she says. "I'm a very passionate dancer, so I think that stands out."

Welik says her parents helped her cultivate this passion by sending her around the country to study dance.

"I started taking classes in Los Angeles and San Francisco over the summer. I went to conventions in New York. I think that's where I got the ability to pick up different styles." She says she favors a style that combines the two forms.

"Most dancers tend to go in the direction of contemporary ballet," Welik adds. "That's what I really enjoy. I started out as a jazz dancer, but I think I'm headed in that direction now. It's more challenging for me. I'm able to tell more of a story through contemporary dance."

At Juilliard, Welik is studying ballet and modern dance. Welik, one of 16 students in her graduating class. "The great part about Juilliard is that it's such a small school that you can connect with all your teachers and with the artistic director. They stay in contact [after you graduate], and they're willing to offer you recommendations."

Lawrence Rhodes, Welik's artistic director at Juilliard nominated the dancer for the Princess Grace Award, and Welik says the scholarship she received from the Princess Grace Foundation USA "almost covers my tuition for this final year of school."