Now I was back in the studio as a 33-year-old mother, and I was as nervous as hell.
Of course, this was no ordinary ballet studio, and this was no ordinary ballet class.
Miya Hisaka (right) with students.
Sonia Bartolomeo
I saw them, and I knew right away: Thats what I want to do.
Thats who I am, she says.
At the Washington School of Ballet, she aims to make everyone feel comfortable and welcomed.
Miya Hisaka (right) with students.
At the core of her work is a belief in the curative power of ballet.
Ballet breaks through all barriers, she says.
It transcends race, income, and language.
Sonia Bartolomeo
It helps us to move forward and to heal.
Ballet is woman, declared George Balanchine, famed dancer and longtime director of theNew York City Ballet.
Fifteen years later, this surveillance still haunts me.
Tina Kaneen
None of us want to be famous.
None of us are going to perform at the Kennedy Center.
Were doing this for fun, says Arroyo.
Sonia Bartolomeo
Still, that does not mean that the programs students dont take the practice seriously.
Many students say they appreciate what ballet has brought to their lives.
She is also sure to hire teachers who genuinely enjoy working with adult students.
The author as a child
They arent there because their parents want them to be there.
Its food for my soul, he says.
I feel like Ihaveto do this.
Hisaka with student Anya Thacker
The mirror becomes another tool, rather than a representation of my perceived weakness.
She is currently working on her first book, an ancestral memoir about her great-great-grandmother, Bessie Anthony.
Sonia Bartolomeo
