Wayland Patch 3/16/12: Wayland Teen Dances Her Way to a Fairy Tale. Dana Vanderburgh remembers the moment she fell in love with ballet and it has nothing to do with her favorite tutu or pair of ballet shoes.

Vanderburgh had been dancing for a couple of years — she thinks she was about 5 at the time — when her director at Wayland’s New England Ballet asked her to present a visiting ballerina with flowers at the end of the guest performance.

“I was amazed and enthralled and excited and so inspired to give these flowers to what was this prima ballerina in my mind,” Vanderburgh said. That moment sealed the dancing deal for Vanderburgh, who will next perform as a Royal Court Dancer in the upcoming Walnut Hill School for the Arts opera production of “Cinderella.”