Ballet dancer eyes modelling

She's been doing ballet since she was four years old at Vicker's Dance Studio and is now at Advanced II, the highest Royal Academy dance grade.

All that hard work has paid off, in a sense.

Today, Antonia Larissa Ann George is Pulse's Caribbean Model Search Petite Model winner.

The petite George was born in London, England, on May 1, 1994. She is the second of three daughters born to Jane and Conrad George, and moved to her father's home country, Jamaica, before she was two years old.

She attended Mona Preparatory School, where she was head girl, then moved on to Campion College and then to Hillel Academy.

Though she practices ballet four times of a week, George has obviously also had her eye on modelling.

Strong support

One of the models she admires is Kate Moss. Apart from a successful modelling career, Moss has created her own perfume and fashion line, something George is very interested in.

No man - or woman for that matter - is an island, and George has had to lean on others like anyone else. That support, she explains comes from her friends, Ramone and Lisa, as well as her sister. Those towers of strength, she says have been the most supportive of her modelling dreams.

As has been made clear, at 16 years old, George is not limiting herself to one career and is hoping to attend boarding school in England next year to continue her studies. She wants to be a chartered accountant.

The Gleaner: How did you start modelling?

Larissa Ann George : Well, I heard about the competition through someone who works at Pulse and I thought ... okay, well its summer, so let me give it (modelling) a try seeing that it's always been something I was interested in. So I just went to Pulse and did the auditions and, apparently, blew the competition away.

GL: Describe your style.

LG: I think I'm a very fashionable person. I really think sometimes I step out of what everyone else is wearing and kinda be out there and crazy. I like to wear things that will get me noticed and to be the centre of attention. Being a little bit out there but at the same time modest.

GL: What are your plans now that you have won the competition?

LG: My plans are just to finish high school and go to college and continue to do modelling.

GL: Who do you look up to in the modelling industry?

LG: Nell Robinson who won the competition in 2002. She's someone who I really look up to as she has really hit the international scene and she's really doing well in the industry for a model coming from Pulse.

GL: Where in the industry do you see yourself five years from today?

LG: Hopefully, somewhere exciting like Rome. I hope to go international and be somewhere really interesting as soon as I grow to be fashion model height. Pulse does a really good job of putting their models out there on the international market and getting them really far, so as soon as I'm tall enough I know they'll do that.

GL: What was on your mind while you walked the catwalk?

LG: Walking down the catwalk, all I was really think about was trying to remember everything I learnt in the classes that we had to do at Pulse, like pulling up, sucking in, pleasant face, long neck and all of that.

GL: How did you feel when you won the competition?

LG: When I won, it was a mixture of shock and excitement. I was really overwhelmed. Many thoughts were running through my mind and it was like the whole world froze around me.