It is therapeutic to focus fully on your body

I knew from a young age that I enjoyed performing, not on a stage back then, but just for family and friends. I wasn't dancing yet, but I told stories or jokes and sometimes acted a little. It wasn't until later that I became curious about dance and started exploring it.

I started at Danshuis Haarlem when I was eleven, and a few years later I was asked to join the preparatory course. Dance became my relaxation; the classes were sometimes difficult, tough, or stressful, but I always came back feeling better than when I left. It is therapeutic to focus completely on your body and let go of all thoughts.

I have been with the Dance Group for almost two years now. I found it nerve-wracking at the beginning, because I felt like a young (17 at the time) and inexperienced girl who might not belong. Fortunately, that tension disappeared within one rehearsal; it is impossible not to feel welcome among these people, and in no time at all, I felt like part of the group, not a newcomer.

There is nothing I love more than dancing, and my plan is to make it my career. It is an uncertain and winding road, but that uncertainty attracts me. I receive support from my fellow dancers and have confidence in myself; I don't need anything more.