Artist Spotlight: First Company Artist Sophie Zoricic
Out of all of the big roles that Sophie has performed as a professional ballerina that spans over 14 years with Queensland Ballet, her biggest role to date is as a mother to her gorgeous, almost one year old daughter, Rikki Rose. Sophie Zoricic is also known as Soph by her colleagues, Squirrel (how cute) by her Dad and ‘work wife’ by her bestie Vanessa. She spent the first 6 birthdays of her life in 6 different countries. Soph was born in Brisbane, but soon after moved to Zimbabwe, South Africa, where a safari of animals would roam the local streets. Through all of the travel in her childhood, dance has always been a constant in Soph’s life and became a sanctuary for her in every city she lived in.
Soph prefers Autumn time in Brisbane when it’s sunny but the air is crisp. She is always the first to sniff out a pool when the dancers are on tour, and is known to have a dip pre or post show. You can also find Soph near a beach in most of her spare time! She adores weekending in the Northern Rivers, and if she is holidaying her choice is the Whitsundays which holds a special place in her heart – the place she got engaged, married and where she hopes to take her daughter soon to make new memories all together.
Soph was well known for her dance moves in her youth, specifically performing ‘the worm’, at school discos. Nowadays she is known for her effortless style and fashion statements amongst her coworkers. Soph doesn’t leave home without her lip liner, and her favourite brunch spot in Brisbane is Pitch and Fork in Toowong. She loves listening to podcasts, however, if she is warming up for a show backstage she will pop on some Frank Ocean tunes to get her in the zone. Aldi’s Dark chocolate block features as Soph’s must-have comfort food after a performance.
Sophie can disclose an on-stage fail when she was performing Serenade by George Balanchine. This particular show she was dancing a demanding lead role, when one of her fake eyelashes started to sweat off. Soph recalls the huge hairy lash dangling into one eye and impairing her vision mid pirouette (spinning). It is a memory that still sticks with her to this day, even if her eyelash did not…
Photography and interview by First Company Artist Vanessa Morelli.
