When "Alice (in Wonderland)" returns for a three-performance run at Blaisdell Concert Hall this week, it will mark a farewell to Hawaii’s latest ballet prodigy.

Gabby Chock, a 17-year-old performer who began dance studies at age 3, will join the Washington (D.C.) Ballet studio company this fall on a nine-month contract. For a young ballet dancer, it could be a major leap toward a career on stage.

"It’s kind of like a stepping stone from student to an actual full-on company member," said Chock. "You get to see what company life is like."

She will appear as a flamingo and a playing card in "Alice (in Wonderland)," which is being brought back by Ballet Hawaii in collaboration with Washington Ballet. The production debuted here three years ago to wide acclaim for its colorful, high-fashion Victorian costumes, energetic original music and "glam rock" choreography by Septime Webre.

Chock may be following in the toe shoes of Hawaii ballet dancers such as Romi Beppu, the first Hawaii dancer to become a principal dancer at a mainland company, or Amanda Schull, whose dancing vaulted her to an acting career.

It’s what Chock has wanted for a long time. She remembers playing a mouse in a performance during her first year of dance lessons, and when faced with a choice between ballet and gymnastics a few years later, she picked ballet.

"I just loved performing," she said. "That was my favorite. It makes it all worth it, all the long hours and hard work."

She has been competing in major ballet competitions since age 10, traveling the globe to test her abilities against the world’s best young dancers. At age 12 she won her division in the Youth America Grand Prix, which is considered the largest network of competitions for developing dancers, and two years ago she received a bronze medal in an international competition in South Africa.

Last year she was a semifinalist in the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Miss., a quadrennial event described by The New York Times as "the most important ballet competition in the United States."

It takes discipline and sacrifice to attain such excellence. Chock is in training seven to eight hours a day, dancing or working out or practicing "pretty much the whole time," which takes a toll on her 5-foot-4-inch, 104-pound frame. "There’s a lot of ice packs and stuff like that," she said with a laugh.

She has spent much of the last two years away from Hawaii, living in Florida while preparing for ballet competitions. With that kind of commitment, she has not had time for school, so she’s been taking courses online since before her middle school years, squeezing in studying during breaks in training.

"I have my books in the studio, and I have online tutors that I’d Skype," said Chock, who expects someday to attend college. "Any hour of the day, I’d be doing school work."

Ballet Hawaii’s Pam Taylor-Tongg, who has seen Chock develop from toddler to the young talent she is today, said she has that special quality needed to become a star.

"She had the inner drive," Taylor-Tongg said. "You have to have the inner drive, and also to try and maintain your joy in dancing, because dancing is difficult work. It’s very hard, it’s very consuming and many times you don’t have another life. Your life is in the studio."

Though Chock had the opportunity to join other dance companies — New York City’s Joffrey Ballet also offered her a contract position — Chock is especially happy to be joining the Washington Ballet, having worked with Webre many times over the years.

"I really love his shows," she said. "My first show with Washington was, like, when I was 9, so after all these years to be able to work with them, it’s a dream come true."

The ballet version of "Alice" is one of two Honolulu productions commemorating the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll’s beloved children’s tale. On Aug. 14, Honolulu Theatre for Youth will premiere "Anime Alice and Her Adventures in Wonderland." Visit htyweb.org for details.