Off the Line Dania Vizzi: The Skeet Shooting, Dancing Diva While smashing clays and
spending countless hours in the mud and unpredict- able weather of the shotgun range, there’s always one athlete we can count on to have a perfect manicure and glossy painted nails: Dania Vizzi (Odessa, Florida). Whether she’s in her heavily pin-decorated shooting vest or a couture evening dress,
National Junior Shotgun Team member Vizzi brings an overwhelming sense of style to the range with her, as well as a passion for dance. Taking some time off from cruising in her Benz, online shopping and bust- ing clays, Vizzi explained her passions of dance further and let us take a peek into how her Dancing Shotgun Diva culture began forming at the age of 16. “When I fi rst started out dancing at two-and-a-half, I had no idea my life would turn towards shotgun,” Vizzi said. “It gave me somewhere to be my hyperactive self.
Once I turned fi ve, I moved towards more of the com- petitive side of dance. My dance studio saw potential in me and asked me to be on their competitive dance team, around my sopho- more year in high school was when I knew I wanted to be a professional dancer. I was accepted into a summer pro- gram at Juilliard, and being part of that program meant I was a shoe-in for the college program, but, that dream only continued until I real- ized I needed to pour my passion into only one of my loves to be the best in it.” Dance has been in
Dania’s life much longer than her love for shotgun, but the overpowering love for competition and drive to be the best led her to the road rarely traveled by her dancing peers - the road to International Skeet. “The fi rst time I fi red a
shotgun was when I was 13, and I was so scared I cried and swore I’d never do it again. I picked it back up when I was 16 as a chal- lenge to myself, and since I’ve never set it back down. The thrill of international competitions and the hope of someday going to the Olympics made me start pursuing shooting more than dance.”
she did.
And challenge herself Dania rocked the
2014 World Championships last fall, bringing home the gold in the Junior Women’s
Skeet event and bringing her career to a new high. While attributing this great suc- cess to the time she put in behind her Perazzi, Dania also reaps the benefi ts of her past dancing career. “For dance, I took a fl ex-
ibility class twice a week, and we worked on every- thing from stretching to con- tortionism. All of my training in fl exibility helped improve my balance, which ended up being a huge benefi t when I began shooting Internation- al Skeet. I was able to have better form while shooting and I also had endurance early in the game.” Dancing still provides Dania with a past-time out- side of shooting, from rec- reational dance to the oc- casional high-level ballet classes. While dance may have suffered from the time put into shotgun and col- lege work at the University of Florida, it still remains a life- long source of enjoyment. “Some of my favorite
dancing experiences come from my summer at The Jul- liard School in New York City. It gave me a glance of what my life would be like if I had gone to college there and been a professional danc- er. It’s defi nitely one of the greatest opportunities I’ve ever had, and even though my career has shifted more towards shooting, I would never give up that experi- ence.”
July 2015 | USA Shooting News 21
By Lauren Phillips Media Intern
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