Life-Changing Event

"I think it's very important. I knew when I was six years old. I was taken to a dance class, and I felt like I was where I needed to be. I remember I was dancing, and it felt like something opened up from above and hit me like a ray, a shaft of light, and I just knew I was supposed to be there. I remember I was in the Augo Flicker School of Ballet, practicing for a recital. I was six years old, and I really wasn't sure I was supposed to be there because I felt like I was not skinny, not white, not blonde, not pretty. But that shaft of light told me that I was supposed to be. It was hard, really hard. My parents didn't want me to dance. I immediately got in the car with my mom. She was a writer and very aware of a lot of things, and I just said I wanted to come here every day and study. I had my mission statement that I wanted to be a prima ballerina. My parents were really concerned. My dad was a doctor. They tried to block me from going. I remember we had a recital. I was put in the front row and I made a mistake. My mom had the teacher tell me that I wasn't suitable for ballet, and it broke my heart."