Success isn’t just handed to anyone, people have to work hard to earn it. Success is a word that can vary, depending on one’s goal and how they achieve it. Success is the accomplishment of pursuing a dream, with overcoming the obstacles and negativity. One very successful young lady, Misty Copeland is a ballet prodigy and the second African- American ballet soloist to perform with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). Copeland has inspired many African- Americans to become ballerinas, as she did. Misty Copeland exemplifies success by achieving her dream of being a ballerina, even as an African- American. During the mid 1980s it was difficult to dance as an African- American because people discriminated them. Misty Copeland wrote a book …show more content…
Through Misty Copeland’s journey of becoming a ballerina, she faced many obstacles in which she decided to write a book about. Her biography, “Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina”, was when people really discovered her. It increased her fame and inspired people tremendously. Another event that impacted her successful life was filming the Under Armour Commercial titled, “I Will What I Want”. The title of the commercial itself implies that she has a passion for something and is determined to fulfill her dream. The commercial spoke to people about her life and story. The book sold fast and people loved her perseverance and fight. Because of that, Misty Copeland was added to the list of “100 Most Influential People” in Time Magazine (“Misty Copeland”, Contemporary Authors”. Misty isn’t only the second African- American ballet soloist, she is a heart touching performer who has danced in several prestigious pieces. She proved to people that it race does not matter when dancing. Misty exemplifies success because she persevered through the discrimination and achieved her goal of not only becoming a professional ballerina, but inspiring people and being one of the most incredible ballerinas to dance with the
Michaela DePrince’s book Taking Flight is a memoir about her journey from being a war orphan to ballerina. This book has impact society by teaching young people that they can do whatever they put the mind to, no matter their race or background.
Her lasting career was not given to her easily, therefore, creating an inspiring story full of hardships and success. Ever since she was a little girl, her dream was to become a successful and famous dancer. In New York City, when she was trying to fulfill her dream, she was unable to find a job in the theatre department. Instead of being discouraged, she decided to make something good come from it. She choreographed her own routines, created her own costumes, and organized solo recitals for audiences to enjoy. This event led her to the biggest adventure in her life that would later impact the world. She was invited to return back to London to pursue her education in the performing arts, so that she could further improve her talents that would make up her entire career.
It started on one brisk morning that I had been waiting for throughout the entire summer. The day I will receive my first pair of pointe shoes. Today is the day I will dance en pointe for the first time. After what seemed like an eternity when we finally arrived at Patterson’s, the place where I will become a true ballerina.
The reason that I picked Paula is because I remember growing up watching So You Think You Can Dance, and American Idol with my family. Paula did many different things in her life time and still is doing a lot of new things. Abdul is a very talented singer, song writer choreographer, performer, designer, dancer, actor and business woman. She also has a lot of different awards. She is a two-time Emmy Award winner, Grammy Award winner, American Music Award winner, and multi-platinum recording artist. She has gotten these achievements over a span of twenty five years. Not many people notice that Paula Abdul is a choreographer. When you hear the name Paula Abdul you may think of her as a singer, performer,
Ballet is an athletic art form that utilizes muscle control, flexibility, and physical strength. It requires extreme discipline from the dancers and takes an extreme amount of mental concentration. This discipline causes dancers to have success throughout life and specifically in academic studies. There are many ways that dance can affect the success of a person’s life; however, there are two in specific that make dancers generally more successful. To begin, ballet causes dancers to be self-motivated workers; dancers cannot rely on others to push them to be better, but must have the drive within themselves.
Young girls and women symbolize femininity with being a ballerina. Kelso comments that in the shadows of the spotlight lurks an abusive world of eating disorders, verbal harassment, fierce competition, injuries, fatigued, and malnourished dancers (Kelso, 2003). In today’s world of ballet, dancers suffer from always being in pain, worrying their body image is not the right look they need to have to get lead roles resulting in the development of eating disorders, and male ballet dancers are stereotyped as being homosexual when most of the male dancers are in fact heterosexual.
The typical idea of a dancer is that they are tall, slender, full of energy, and lucky because they dance with all of the “stars”. Much of this is true, however, what many people do not think of are the many hardships that a dancer goes through in order to achieve their high status in the dance world. It takes much hard work and determination along with good direction to become a dancer. However, nothing good comes without a price. Dancers often times have many pressures put on them which can lead to physical and emotional damages. These damages occur through the pressures from the media, parents, teammates, and the stereotype that society has placed on dancers.
Tallchief, M., & Kaplan, L. (1997). Chapter 1. Maria Tallchief: America's prima ballerina (pp. 4-18). New York: Henry Holt.
In Small Shoes, Camille Licate shares her story of how she has learned to let go of the things in life that had been holding her back, so that she could be open to new opportunities. She does this by using the metaphor of shoes. While there are some opportunities in life that help to carry you forward, eventually, you may need to let go of them in order to take advantage of other opportunities. Likewise, you cannot keep using the same pair of shoes forever. At some point, you will outgrow them, and need a new pair to help you get to the place where you need to be. Through this metaphor, Licate explains how your plans for the future may change with time and dance is not the only career path out there for dance majors. She also relates
According to Katherine, “A creative person has to create. It doesn’t really matter what they create. If such a dance wanted to go out and build the cactus gardens where he could, in Mexico, let him do that, but something that is creative has to go on. (Katherine, Dunham, Dancing a life, 2002)”. It has been said that an idol is someone whom everyone looks up to because of the great things they accomplished throughout their life span. Acknowledged as an African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, civil activist and writer. Katherine Dunham, not only normally known for the generous acts of kindness but also for the huge impact she had in incorporating different dance styles and creating them into her very own ballet pieces. An influential woman who supported African American culture and believed there shouldn’t be any divisions between people. Not completely another mother of modern dance but a women who greatly influenced modern dance to enhance it in many ways. Katherine is and was famous for her anthropology movement in the world of dance, her creativity and dedication.
in order to succeed. Ballet should be recognized as a sport due to the fitness, dedication, and
However, New York Public Schools offered ballroom dancing classes to low-income students of color, which allowed the arts to be included in their curriculum. Watching the film, I observed the positive reaction the children had to the dance classes. Overall, they were exposed to different cultures, made new friendships, became more confident, and aware of different career options such as professional dancers or singers (Agrelo, 2005).
When she began, one dance company told her that she could not make it as a ballet dancer, but they were wrong Misty did believe in herself and she keeps looking for what she dreamed of. I chose to talk about her because she has a persistent and motivated story. Misty is innovated person even thought that she lived in a motel she knew how to train without resources, well she used the balcony bars to practice her ballet lesson. I like the way how she dances, when I watched her dancing is like a magical inspiration because she does all those movements very relax and she felt what she is doing or the character that she
Ballet is a beautiful and romantic type of performance art. It originated in the Italian court systems in the 15th century (Jonas). Since its origination, ballet has undergone many changes and gained worldwide recognition. Filled with elaborate costumes, cheering audiences, lights, weightless movements and beauty; ballet is admired by many. On the magical stage ballerinas can become whoever they wan to be, and perform in a world of fantasy. For these reasons, children, especially little girls, all over the world dream of becoming ballerinas when they grow up. However, becoming a professional ballerina is an extremely difficult accomplishment, in which few will achieve (Kelso 1). The world of ballet may seem to be filled with glitz and glamor but, behind the curtain there is an entirely different story. There are extreme demands and pressures put on these young dancers to be very thin and nearly perfect. Some of which include body and weight demands, competition, and social pressures. These constant pressures can lead to a negative body-image and even debilitating eating disorders (Price and Pettijohn).
Isadora Duncan was born in California in 1877. As a child she studied ballet, and skirt dancing. Her mother was an accomplished pianist, and her music later inspired the genius of Duncan’s contributions to dance. Duncan began her professional career in Chicago in 1896, and joined a professional touring company; within the company she starred in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Geisha.” Duncan, however, soon left the company to begin performing solo dances at the homes of wealthy patrons. Influenced by Americanized Delsarte movement, the dances were not widely noticed by press. Duncan’s talents were appreciated by her family when she was young, but her revolutionary ideas on dance were not well accepted in America. Thus, Duncan moved to Europe to pursue her dance career; however, her funds were not sufficient to support her and her family.