It gives me hope. From the moment you get up
and you feel your heart beating.
Life is very short, and you can’t abandon your dreams
for a paycheck.
My name is Juan Capellan, and I'm a professional ballet dancer.
I’m from the Dominican Republic.
I grew up in a country where you believe you can’t live from your art.
Well, I'm in Mexico living from my art.
I currently dance with the National Dance Company of Mexico.
I decided to be a dancer when I was 11, as a hobby.
But as time goes on,
you want to have more things,
and that’s when I said, “Yes, I want this.”
In the Dominican Republic,
I was in my ballet school graduation,
and a dancer from the National Dance Company of Mexico
saw me dance and told me I could be a professional dancer.
But your body has an expiration date,
and this is your time to fly.
My mom told me, “I gave birth to you and I can let you go.
You cannot stay here and risk ending up with nothing.
If I give you that freedom, take advantage of it."
I have often felt alone. Only the people who encouraged you,
you feel that you need them there, and they can't be there.
And it happened to me that, at the time,
my mom was there. My mom said, "Bravo."
And I was paralyzed for eight seconds.
It's like when you breathe, your heart beats and it stops.
A minute before going on stage,
that´s when you say to yourself, “I should have listened to my mom
and gone to college."
It makes me very nervous,
and I tell my colleagues when I go out to dance:
"When I stop feeling that,
I should stop dancing," because those nerves you feel
are because you care about what you're going to do.
But you know in your mind that this is your moment.
You go out and transform yourself
into the character, the story, the music...
It's about doing what you want without offending anyone.
It's about being fully you without anyone judging you.
I feel free.