Zoe Saldana was born in New Jersey and raised in Queens, New York. When she was 10 years old, she and her family moved to the Dominican Republic where they would live for the next 7 years. While living in the Dominican Republic, Zoe discovered a keen interest in performance dance and began her training at the prestigious ECOS Espacio de Danza Dance Academy where she learned ballet as well as other dance forms. Not only did her training provide an excellent outlet for the enthusiastic and energetic youngster, it would also prove to be a fortunate precursor for the start of her professional acting career. At age 17, Zoe and her family moved back to the United States where her love for dance followed and an interest in theater performance became stronger.