Lola Pimentel-Barker is 8 and has already plotted her future.

There’s a lot of dance involved.

First, she wants to teach it. And then she wants to take over In Motion, the company her mother Lizz Pimentel started nearly two decades ago.

It’s not a pipe dream.

She’s already been singled out for her potential by the Grier School. She’ll head to the Pennsylvania institution next summer, for three weeks of training.

“It was really nice that I got a scholarship,” the Warwick Academy student said. “I didn’t expect one and it was really surprising for me.”

She received the award after the annual gala the US school holds each November.

“In Motion has been going to the Grier School for about three years for its annual gala,” Ms Pimentel said. “For the annual gala they invite companies from across the country to present and perform and do workshops and classes.

“At the end of the workshop, the companies there, as well as Grier, issue scholarships. This year was no different.

“We have two [In Motion] students there studying on scholarship and of the five that travelled there, two received scholarships. One was Lola. At 8 she was one of the youngest we’ve taken so far and one of the youngest that Grier has given a scholarship to.”

The school’s director had hinted at what might come after she saw Lola dance in the summer.

“[She] expressed how well Lola was doing in the programme but I dismissed it and we went about our classes,” Ms Pimentel said. “When we went back for November weekend and she took the classes, the director said they needed to give her a scholarship as she’s done so well. She’s so little and was thrown in with older girls but always seems to rise to the occasion. All the girls did well.”

Lola studies “mainly modern dance but also jazz and ballet, hip-hop and a little bit of tap” at In Motion.

Her mother insisted she had made a conscious effort “to not push her into it”.

“It’s tricky because the love and passion I have for dance I developed on my own and don’t want to push that onto her,” she said. “I don’t want her to feel she has to pursue what my dream was. I decided to let her do it and if she enjoys it, fantastic. She’s also tried other activities but I think she’s just so happy with dance. It’s the one thing that really stuck. I think people expect that we go home and we spend all our time practising; most of the time it’s my staff who remind me of what she’s capable of.

“It’s nice to see she has an interest in it. I think for her, it’s the work she has put into it. It’s a good trait to have because the work never ends in dance. You can never perfect a pirouette, it just changes from day to day depending on what’s going on.”

Added Lola: “It was a really great experience and I would love to go back. I love dance.

“I want to own In Motion one day and I really want to teach.”