understands you and you feel like you’re
all alone at the end of the day well
imagine a girl no one understands she
struggles to speak not because she’s shy
but because she’s missing
part of her face imagine a girl who
comes home after school a day of being
made fun of and retreats to her room
feeling unable to communicate imagine a
girl who’s laughed at every time she
tries to speak and the kids point at her
and they say you’re ugly you look weird
what’s wrong with you imagine a girl who
no matter how good our homework is or
how smart she is in class or how good
she is in anything everyone stares at
her imagine a girl who no matter how
sweet and kind she is no one wants to
spend time with her because of the way
she looks now imagine a girl who in
order to deal with all these emotions
she gets home from school and she dances
no matter what happens to her during the
day if the kids make fun of her or they
reject her she dances she turns on her
favorite song from the Bee Gees and she
dances up a storm making wild fond
movement to the music the dancing makes
her feel exhilarated free and joyful
again when she goes back to school and
the kids leave her out of the activities
and no one wants to sit with her at
lunch and they don’t invite her to a
birthday party after school she turns on
that music again she turns on ABBA as
loud as she can and she just dances of a
storm oh by the way Abba and the Bee
Gees
that’s the 1970s version of Beyonce and
Marrs the dancing makes her feel special
the dancing makes her feel like any
other kid normal even though she’s not
able to connect to others
the dancing allows her to connect to
herself in a deep and profound way she
dances alone in a room after surgeries
three four and five to help her deal
with the pain she dances alone in a room
after a day in the eighth grade of
wearing scissors around her neck because
the latest surgery she had they had to
wire her jaw shut and the scissors were
there in case a student or the teacher
needs to sniff the wires if she chokes
she dances alone in a room after surgery
seven and eight while still having
bandages on her face during her
sophomore year in high school she dances
alone in her room while the rest of her
class goes to the junior prom imagine a
girl who when she goes to college she
chooses a career path where she doesn’t
have to be in public and she doesn’t
have to communicate much with other
people a job where she can hide because
dancing is for the pretty people dancing
is for the perfect people the ones with
the perfect nose and a perfect mouth a
perfect face dancing couldn’t be for her
that girl was me I danced to get through
the tough times I danced to get through
the 12 surgeries I even started to dance
to connect with other people
I took the movement I had taught myself
alone in my room and used it as a way to
socialize and to make friends after
college I had more surgeries to repair
the birth defect and the result was I
looked like a normal girl but I didn’t
yet feel normal all the years of teasing
would take a while before I would be
able to speak as I would go to say my
name even just my name in a group
setting the sound of the kids mocking me
would reverberate in my head
also after college I got it into a
career behind a desk not dancing but
dancing was still such a part of who I
was
well had a bad day at work I danced when
I didn’t get the promotion I wanted I
danced when I fell alone as we all do at
times I danced dancing was something I
needed I daydreamed about dance
sometimes I would sneak off from work in
the afternoon just for an hour and take
a ballet class
dancing was such a part of who I was by
this time I was in my 40s and I still
wanted to make dance a part of my life
but I wasn’t sure how I could make that
happen being that I was already older
than most of your mother’s when I knew I
just had to find a way to pursue dance
well the answer came to me when I was at
the circus yes the circus of all places
I’m not even crazy about clowns
they had the usual act they had jugglers
they had contortionists but there was
one act that held me spellbound
something I’d never seen before they had
these dancers dancing on air 30 feet in
the air on these two pieces of fabric I
was mesmerised they were elegant and
graceful and beautiful and when I saw
that I knew that was the kind of dancing
for me so at an age when you don’t start
a new chapter in your life at an age
when society tells you you’re too old to
try something new especially something
like aerial dance which is dangerous and
risky when you’re in the 6th 7th or 8th
grade
forget about when you’re 43 at an age
when you don’t start a performing career
at an age when you don’t do these things
I did it at 43 I went from my passion
and became someone who dances on air and
aerialist
now of course it was scary it was scary
because I didn’t have the background to
pursue this passion it was scary because
people would look at me and they would
say oh she’s such a dreamer or she’s
crazy and I thought maybe they’re right
but I had learned at an early age you
didn’t have to try to fit in it was okay
to do things differently it was scary
because I could break my neck pursuing
this passion and it was scary because I
had to face down fear every time I tried
a new trick I was learning drops and
dropping unfurling from 30 feet in the
air and believe me I was screaming each
one of us has to face down fear in life
that’s part of life and it’s part of how
we grow life can be scary when we try
something new life can be scary when we
don’t feel good enough or smart enough
finding your passion can help you
through those scary tough times find
that thing that makes you feel whole
when someone’s trying to take a piece of
you find that thing that build your
confidence when the world is telling you
you’re not enough find that thing that’s
your unique voice your way of
communicating with the world whether
that’s painting playing sports playing a
musical instrument singing or dancing if
nothing else find that thing that helps
you find your voice and now I would like
to share with you my passion that helped
[Music]
only girl right so Kuwaitis you don’t
hear a word
always talking but she can be
she puts inside its stock turnover
yeah you gotta live from the act you
ready you can write a book from a single
page hens in the clock only turn away
[Music]
thank you thank you I just want to
remind everyone to go out and find your
passion thank you so much [Applause]