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  • When I'm dancing it makes me feel like I'm flying.

  • It feels like I'm free and it's the best feeling.

  • I started dance when I was seven years old

  • and I didn’t know that I wanted to be a dancer,

  • but this was inside of me

  • and was so easy,

  • it was like my body was ready to do that.

  • I just realised that I want to keep doing this for life.

  • When I was a kid, I was the only black dancer in the studio

  • with more than 50 white ballerinas.

  • When you think ballet, you think about white people dancing.

  • I heard that I was never going to make any classical company

  • because I was a black ballerina.

  • How you say to someone that you're not going to make your dreams

  • and I never stop to fight and I'm here now.

  • Freedom came when I moved to London

  • and I can see that I could be a black ballerina.

  • I can dance with white dancers, black dancers

  • and it's just amazing.

  • When I'm improvising it's kind of my style of dance.

  • It's a mix of what I learned as a classical, as a contemporary dance

  • but it’s the way I move my body, it's not really choreographed.

  • I do love to dance the big classicals

  • and everybody looked the same - same arms.

  • This is like, technical.

  • But I do love to have this freedom as well - that I can move as me.

  • It's the movement, it's the music.

  • It's part of freedom -

  • that you connect to with your own body.

  • It's been a long journey

  • and I love how far and how beautiful I've become.

  • Inside the studio we have all types of bodies, all types of dancers,

  • and colours, we are mixed.

  • And we only have one single language and it's dance.

  • We are celebrating freedom.

  • We're celebrating diversity, equality in one studio

  • and I wish it wasn’t just inside this studio,

  • it was in the whole world.

  • I have a tattoo saying "believe" and it's like a note to...

  • I'd wake up or when I'm on the train or somewhere

  • and I look and say "you always have to believe

  • that you're going to get there."

  • To never forget.

When I'm dancing it makes me feel like I'm flying.

Subtitles and vocabulary

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A2 freedom studio ballerina dancing black dancer

'Why dancing brings me freedom' | BBC Ideas

  • 12 0
    Summer posted on 2022/08/04
Video vocabulary

Keywords

journey

US /ˈdʒɚni/

UK /'dʒɜ:nɪ/

  • noun
  • Act of traveling from one place to another; trip
  • verb
  • To travel through a place
diversity

US /dɪˈvə:sɪti, daɪ-/

UK /daɪ'vɜ:sətɪ/

  • noun
  • Having a range of different races, ideas etc.
  • The practice or policy of including or representing people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.
  • The state of being diverse; variety.
  • other
  • The state of being diverse; variety.
  • The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.
  • The range of different genetic traits within a species or population.
  • The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.
  • A range of different things.
  • The state of being diverse; variety.
contemporary

US /kənˈtɛmpəˌrɛri/

UK /kən'temprərɪ/

  • adjective
  • Existing or happening in the present time.
  • Relating to literature of the present or recent past.
  • Having a style that is modern and up-to-date.
  • Being modern, up -to-date, of this age
  • Relating to music of the present or recent past.
  • Happening in the same time period
  • Existing or occurring at the same time.
  • Belonging to the present time.
  • noun
  • A person living at the same time or during the same period.
  • Person doing things at the same time as you
movement

US /ˈmuvmənt/

UK /ˈmu:vmənt/

  • noun
  • A group of people working together to advance their shared political, social, or artistic ideas.
  • Part of a piece of classical music
  • Group with a shared interest or goal
  • Group sharing the same idea to change society, art
  • A particular way of moving in dance or exercise.
  • Action you do when exercising, e.g. in a gym
  • A group of people working together to advance their shared political, social, or artistic ideas.
  • The working parts of a mechanism, especially of a watch or clock.
  • A strategic relocation of troops or equipment.
  • Part of a piece of music
  • An organized effort by a group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a political or social one.
  • other
  • An act of changing physical location or position.
  • A trend or shift in opinion, behavior, or fashion.
  • The act or process of changing position or location; motion.
  • other
  • A particular step or figure in a dance, especially ballet.
  • An act of defecation.
  • A change or development.
  • An organized effort by a group of people to achieve a particular goal.
  • The working parts of a mechanism, such as a clock or watch.
  • A principal division or section of a longer piece of music.
company

US /ˈkʌmpəni/

UK /'kʌmpənɪ/

  • noun
  • Good feeling from being with someone else
  • A business that sells things or provides services
  • A group of people gathered together.
  • A group of people gathered together.
  • Guests, especially in your home
  • A military unit, typically consisting of around 100 soldiers.
  • A unit of soldiers.
  • A group of actors who perform together.
  • Being with another person rather than alone
single

US /ˈsɪŋɡəl/

UK /'sɪŋɡl/

  • noun
  • One run in cricket or a hit baseball
  • An individual song from a CD or album
  • Person who is not married or in a relationship
  • adjective
  • Being one only, without others
  • Only; merely
  • Not married or in a relationship
kind

US /kaɪnd/

UK /kaɪnd/

  • adjective
  • friendly and considerate
  • Having or showing a friendly, generous, and considerate nature
  • In a caring and helpful manner
  • noun
  • One type of thing
  • other
  • A class or category of things, people, etc. that share similar characteristics
learn

US /lɚn/

UK /lɜ:n/

  • verb
  • To get knowledge or skills by study or experience
  • To gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, or by being taught.
  • other
  • To gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, or by being taught.
  • other
  • To gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, or by being taught.
  • To find out something.
  • To find out something.
connect

US /kəˈnɛkt/

UK /kə'nekt/

  • verb
  • To associate a thing with something else
  • To establish a relationship or communication.
  • To join or attach things together
  • To become friends with another person
  • To transfer from one part of a trip to another
  • To understand or feel an affinity with someone or something.
  • other
  • To join (electrical devices) so as to provide an electrical circuit.
  • To join or link together.
  • To relate or associate in the mind.
  • other
  • To establish a relationship or communication.
improvise

US /ˈɪmprəˌvaɪz/

UK /ˈɪmprəvaɪz/

  • verb
  • To compose, speak or perform without preparation