on a freezing moscow morning, anastasia connors came quietly in the world. in fact, so quietly that there was a split second of panic in her parents' minds that she had choosen that exact moment to stop breathing. it should have been a good indication of what her life would be like. however the moment would soon be forgotten, only to be repeated to her by her grandmother who remembered her mother jokingly telling her story in the hours after she was born. the girl, born to a young russian ballerina and an american classical musician and composer, would spend the first four years of her life in moscow with her parents, being raised mostly by her grandmother.

after a few years of domestic life, her father decided that parenthood just wasn't for him. he found that a young child was hampering his creative output. divorce was never brought up but it was the start of his nomadic lifestyle and the somewhat unconventional relationship stasia would have with her father. her father would pop in and out of her life for the most part, traveling around the world and sending her postcards when he could't be around. he never had a true sense of time and sometimes wouldn't come and visit for two years or he would be gone only for a few days. he never stayed too long, two weeks at most. gradually, they became more and more estranged through stasia's own efforts to avoid his presence in her life.

her mother started to teach dance instead of be a dancer and stasia soon latched onto that, finding it the only way to connect with her mother. since she could walk she was dancing, constantly seeking out her mother's approval. it's a stark change to see stasia in and out of the presence of her mother. her body language changes from expressive to rigid, constantly nodding at her mother's words. she spent most of her time in the dance studio, no time for much else. although, as a teenager stasia found herself often sneaking out in the middle of the night to make up for the time she lost to her training.

although her dancing seemed to be the one major part of her life, stasia eventually found that she enjoyed teaching way more than performing. telling her mother that she wanted to quit her budding career as a ballerina to teach little kids was one of the most nerve-wracking things in her life. after a couple weeks of classic nadia connors freeze out, her mother gave in and gave her blessing to stasia's career change. after giving up her rigorous training routine and starting to teaching ballet for kids, stasia went through a change. once perpetually focused on her dancing to an almost obsessive degree, she started to really loosen up and embrace the things she had shunned in the hopes of becoming a star dancer. it was during this time that she really started to find herself, and although shy and timid most of the time, she gradually started to stand up for herself. although that is still a difficult process for her most days.

STASIA, ALTHOUGH A PERFORMER FOR MOST HER LIFE, CAN BE BEST DESCRIBED AS AN INTROVERT. HER ONSTAGE PERSONA IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON FROM STASIA IN REAL LIFE. EXPRESSIVE ON STAGE BUT SHE'S BEEN KNOWN TO BE ACCUSED OF RESTING BITCH FACE, WITH A STRONG TENDENCY TO BE MONOTONE. KNOWN TO BE A BIT OF A PUSHOVER, STASIA FEARS CONFRONTATION AND HAS OFTEN KEPT QUIET ABOUT HER OWN FEELINGS IN ORDER TO AVOID CAUSING DRAMA. HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER MOTHER HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THAT, THE OVERLY DRAMATIC AND LOUD WOMAN WHO TENDS TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF SELF-INVOLVED PARENTING LED TO STASIA BEING FAIRLY LOW MAINTENANCE, PREFERRING TO TAKE CARE OF HERSELF RATHER THAN BOTHER ANYONE ELSE. THIS HAS OFTEN RESULTED IN HER BURYING HER OWN FEELINGS ABOUT SITUATIONS IN THE HOPES OF THEM JUST FADING AWAY. ALTHOUGH SHE'S BEEN TRYING TO CHANGE THAT THE PAST FEW YEARS, SHE CAN'T HELP BUT BE THAT GIRL.