I have many dreams. I dream to just
have a chance to let this feeling inside
of me out. This hurt, this desire, this insecurity and
this insanity. This thing that only feels
free when I dance. I dream to be a dancer
I dream to be an artist. This experience has
been an absolute dream come true. To be
commissioned by the Kennedy Center
to create a new work for this program--it's just
beyond my wildest dreams. I think there's
something really special about being
able to see the growth and development
of the dancer. Audience members generally
don't get to see that--we just see them
once they've arrived. To have this
opportunity to kind of get an inside
look at the creative process not only of
a ballet, but also the makings of a young
dancer is something really, really
special and rare.
I think I used to watch the Barbie Nutcracker
movie a lot and my mom was like, “Oh, do you want
to do that?" So I think that's how it
started. I started ballet when I was 9.
I'm from Spain and I was doing
flamenco before. I was 14 and I was one of the
snowflakes. I remember just sitting in
rehearsal thinking I could totally do
this for the rest of my life. When you grow up in
Africa you kind of see a lot of hardship
and poverty, and I remember just thinking
that the music was one place I could
always go to where everyone was equal, and
it was just beautiful and otherworldly.
I came here last September. I cried, like, every night. And now... I feel good.
I started when I was eight years old, but I
really didn't like it because of the
discipline. The discipline is hard, not the
ballet, the discipline is hard. I can't
really imagine myself not being a ballet
dancer. I mean, I like to think of myself
as, like, a normal teenager, but in school
I'm the ballerina in class. I go to
a specific high school. It's the only
public high school that would let me
leave early or come late. It's a huge
help because ballet is a huge commitment.
Ballet is one of those things that can
never be perfected, so the training never
stops. It's a lifestyle, it's not just an
after-school activity. It's, like, it's a job.
So because this is an entirely new ballet,
they're making costumes for us, the
movement's being made precisely for us.
It's exciting because, it kind of gives us a
glimpse into the world of what being a
professional dancer would be like.
Getting to work with different
choreographers, it really helps push you
to become more versatile, and I think that
by my giving these dancers movement that
may feel different than what they're
used to doing is really going to help
give them a fighting chance to have
a really diversified career in ballet.
I love music, so I'm always listening to
music everywhere. I'm always, like, dancing
even if it's just in my head.
Especially in Jeremy's piece, I try
to really, like, express what I'm feeling
that day or, like, feel the music and, like,
really move.
I think it's really important to
surround yourself with the environment
that you need to grow.
That means good
teachers, good training, good students in
the class to push you. For me that was
moving away from home when I was 14.
I moved to the city to pursue dance, but it
also comes with a lot of other
responsibilities now that I'm living
alone: the grocery shopping, the cooking,
the getting from point A to point B--all
of that. Sometimes we feel things that we
can't express and with the dance
you can express it. I think one of the most
beautiful things is, like, the art. It's art.
We've been training our whole lives for this, but
in reality, our careers haven't even started.
The work only starts once you get into
a company, and getting into a company's
really difficult. The uncertainty is
knowing we're all really kind of like
on the edge of trying to make it. The
audition process is very stressful. There's
probably 150 to 200 people, you all put
numbers on, and so the scary part is you
can make it to the end of 10 auditions and
you're still not exactly what they're
looking for. I did audition every weekend.
My mom and, like,
they expected some good news. "Hey, Mom... No, I didn't get in."
There definitely is a freedom I find in dance
because nobody dances just the way I do.
It's my most authentic form of
expression, so when I'm dancing I feel
like me, and no one else can replicate
that. No matter where you come from or
what you do, dance is a place for
everyone to see a bigger reality and
something else other than just daily
life--something more important. Our piece
is still in development right now, and we
have a lot of work left to do, but I am
really excited to see these dancers on
stage and see them bloom and blossom at
the Kennedy Center.