SALT LAKE CITY — Sounds of pointe shoes can always be heard inside the studios of Ballet West, but you would never guess the person wearing those shoes is 23-year-old Jonas Malinka-Thompson.

His ballet journey started when he was just six years old.

“My parents had me on our kindergarten soccer team,” Thompson said, "but I was never really focused on the ball. I was always kind of off to the side, twirling and leaping around.”

When he started dancing, it felt like the right fit, but nearly 17 years later, he was cast in a role that required him to do the unthinkable.

“I had never put my foot in a pointe shoe before I learned I was doing this role,” Thompson said. "It was really just, 'Here, you're going to be learning this. You're going to be doing it, so start practicing.'”

He was ca

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