Brooklyn Mack's dancing career should be subtitled: against all odds. And his silver medal win at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition in June was no exception. The competition is held once every four years, and it was the second time Mack had competed in Helsinki. This time around preparation time was short.

"We did it all in about three weeks," Mack said to his long- time instructor and friend Radenko Pavlovich. "That's pretty amazing."

Mack returned to Columbia and Pavlovich's studio in May for intensive training to prepare for the competition that included top dancers from over 25 countries. But the challenges began well before he came home. The competition is broken down into three rounds with the first being classical, the second modern, and the third being the dancer's choice.

As part of the application process Mack had to decide which two classical variations he would perform in the first round.

"We went back and forth on the phone about it forever," Pavlovich said. With the deadline drawing near, Mack decided on a variation from "Swan Lake" and one from "Diana and Acteon." His mentor was not pleased.

"He said 'No, don't do Swan Lake' I want you do to something else!" Mack said with a smile. "But it was too late."

Despite Pavlovich's reservations, "Swan Lake" was Mack's ticket to the second round where he performed a piece he choreographed to Donny Hathaway's "A Song For You." It was a bold move that almost turned disastrous.

Mack began the creative process about three weeks before returning to Columbia while he was still at the Orlando Ballet. He took his camcorder into the studio and allowed the music to carry him away, relying on the footage to help him tie it all together later.

"But someone stole my camcorder right before I left," Mack said. "It was awful. I hadn't memorized any of it. I got here and just had to start from scratch again.

With a lot of hard work and the help of Pavlovich and his mother, Mack eventually created his piece, even though he was tweaking it right up until the performance.

"I was kind of in a panic," Pavlovich said. "But he was really cool about it all."

For his final piece, Mack danced "Cadence," a work by Columbia choreographer Terrance Henderson and Mack walked away with the silver award that earned him a special diploma and 6,000 Euros. It was a triumphant return for Mack who four years ago earned the encouragement prize. But a lot had changed in that time. He had won a silver medal in the 2006 USA International Ballet Competition, was presented the Princess Grace Award in 2007, and has had a stellar career with the Orlando Ballet.

Mack's future is even brighter as he will be a principal dancer in the Washington Ballet in Washington, DC where he will dance at the Kennedy Center and be featured in large roles in ballets like "Don Quixote." He will also appear on the cover

It has been an amazing ride for a young man, who by all counts didn't have much of a shot in the dance world. Mack started taking dance lessons from Pavlovich as a way to improve his football skills but ended up choosing it as a profession. He took the bus from Elgin six days a week to train. Now Pavlovich considers him a great inspiration to young men.

"That's one of my goals, to inspire people," Mack said. "That's one of the reasons I dance. When I can inspire someone to do anything, to laugh or cry, that's a great feeling."