My name is Chelsea Henry and I am 20 years old and I have been dancing for 18 years. When I first began my journey, I was a shy little girl surrounded by people that didn’t look like me. It didn’t bother me too much, nothing really does at 2 or 3 years old though. As I continued to grow as a dancer I began to dance for my church, which at the time was a truly life changing experience I just didn’t see it that way at the time. This was the first time in my life where I was surrounded completely by people that looked like me and I was dancing for more than just myself. This is when I think I truly fell in love with the artform. As much as I loved dancing for my church, I didn’t feel I was growing as a dancer technically like I wanted to. When I was in elementary school, I had the opportunity to go to a Magnet School which was also a performing arts school. After applying and being accepted I stayed there until I graduated, since the school was a middle and a high school. My time at this school really gave me the opportunity to grow and be introduced to different styles of dance. Fortunately, while I was there I never felt out of place, because majority of the girls I was dancing with were African American like myself. My dance teacher always wanted us to be our most authentic selves and never try to be something we weren’t. This idea has always stuck with me even within other parts of my life. The girls I met back in sixth grade became my best friends and some of the stronger black females I know. Probably because we were bonded by something only a black dancer can truly understand. When we step on a stage and perform it seems we always have something to prove whether it be to ourselves or someone else. The black dancer is performing for more than just themselves; we dance for every person who said or thought we couldn’t and ever dancer that came before that felt the same, I learned this idea at my high school. The black dancer is more than just a dancer we are performers because when our heart is truly in something you get all of us every piece of us. I am proud to be Black and I am even prouder to be a Black dancer and if I can make a difference in just one young Black person’s life to follow their dreams of being a dancer than I’ve done my job.
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