• 3 days ago
One teaches, the other dances — both are using an infused ballet/hip-hop movement to inspire kids of all backgrounds to reach for the stars.
Transcript
00:00My daughter was born with cerebral palsy.
00:02When I would bring her to ballet class in her wheelchair,
00:05she would move her little fingers
00:07because she would hear the music.
00:09I would say to the kids,
00:11you see there? There's a dancer inside there.
00:13Don't ever tell me anything hurts.
00:16You have to tell me it's slightly uncomfortable
00:19because you know what?
00:21Life will be slightly uncomfortable.
00:23And that is why I do what I do.
00:30If you don't see yourself somewhere,
00:37what are you going to do?
00:39Especially if you don't feel like you can break that mold
00:41or break that glass ceiling,
00:43whatever you want to call it.
00:45If you don't see yourself,
00:47it's hard for you to try to insert yourself
00:49into a world that's kind of like,
00:51no.
01:01To get kids involved,
01:03I started to put rap and ballet together.
01:06Hip play is urban.
01:09It's a combination.
01:11It's a marriage.
01:13It's a blending of your hip hop,
01:15your Latino influence,
01:17and all the dances from your urban streets
01:19and the urban communities.
01:21So it's a blending of cultures,
01:23and people can relate to that.
01:25It's a feel-good thing.
01:30electronic music plays
01:39By the 11 years old,
01:41I learned that dance was for rich folks
01:43and predominantly white folks.
01:45If I did not have the opportunity
01:47to do what I'm doing now,
01:49and then the opportunity and the gift
01:51of giving back to kids,
01:53a lot of these kids
01:55wouldn't be in the situation they're in.
02:00electronic music plays
02:04A lot of us, you know,
02:06we train in ballet and we love it,
02:08but realistically, especially as black women,
02:10we're not going to get into a ballet company
02:12like that, you know?
02:14It's harder for us.
02:16So we kind of just found,
02:18we created a safe space for ourselves,
02:20pretty much, to experiment,
02:22see what we could do.
02:24electronic music plays
02:28We can do anything
02:30that we put our minds to,
02:32and especially through the discipline
02:34of dance for these kids.
02:36Coordination brings discipline.
02:38Coordination brings
02:40brain stimulation,
02:42brings high expectations.
02:44So it helps you to be
02:46the best that you can be.
02:48That's the thing about
02:50studying classical ballet.
02:52And the hiplet is so freeing
02:54that you have a sense of enjoyment
02:56and a sense of movement.
02:58We're changing lives here.
03:00Through the discipline of dance,
03:02we're making better human beings.