Sofia Bianchi

Modern Ballerina/Teenager

My mother could not understand what was happening to me one summer afternoon as she passed through the living room to discover her seven year old daughter sitting on the couch with tears streaming down her face, solemnly gazing at the television. Suddenly noticing that I seemed very upset, she quickly came to my side to console me and to discover why I was randomly crying all alone in the living room, instead of outside pretending I was a fairy in the garden like I normally would have been doing. “Sofia! What’s wrong!” She asked, very concerned, setting down her laundry basket and cleaning supplies. Through tears I tried to explain to her how moved I was, watching this documentary that happened to be playing on television that talked about the lives of ballet dancers, and all of the sacrifices that had to be made for them to pursue their craft. I felt so touched to be witnessing such a level of discipline taking the form of sheer beauty, when transfused with breathtaking music and time-stopping dance sequences. My mother was shocked and slightly haunted that her normally happy, carefree daughter was literally brought to tears watching a program about ballet. Nevertheless, this moment influenced her to pick up the phone several days later to sign me up for ballet classes in the fall, thus beginning the eleven year odyssey which has henceforth been my life.