BELLA SHANK (9)

I began ballet when I was three years old, after I saw my sister doing it. My sister started because she wanted to improve while on Cheer, and being a little sister, I wanted to follow what she was doing. So, I started ballet at the age of three, quit when I was nine years old, and then came back when I was eleven.

Though I left, a large part of why I came back was because I really missed doing competitive dance. The studio I’m from usually does competitive dance with ballet, just as training to help you, but I really missed doing competition. I don’t feel that ballet has super impacted me as a person, but it did make me a little more used to being on stage and in front of others. It made me feel less insecure about being up performing or public speaking. 

My dance studio primarily does competitions, but they do classical ballet classes as well, so some dancers do ballet competitions though I don’t. While I want to do ballet in the future, or at least keep practicing it when I’m older, I don’t think I’m interested in pursuing a ballet career. Ballet’s a beautiful form of art, but it’s also extremely challenging. It takes a lot of core strength and strength from all over your body. You have to always be engaging our muscles constantly. The fun parts are mainly the performing.