My Story

I was not always as tall as I am now. Growing up I had exceptionally long arms and legs, which I still do, but I was pretty tiny. It wasn't until age fifteen that I started growing tall. My body stayed the same but I began to be stretched in every direction.

The first time I ever heard what would become an infamous phrase for me, "You're a beautiful dancer...But you're too tall" was in Houston. I went to Houston for their Summer Program and at the end I was told by school Principal Clara Cravey that I would not be able to have a career in classical ballet because of my height. She suggested that I turn to the world of contemporary dance. At Boston Ballet I was told the same. In fact, they took away my scholarship to study for the year do to the fact that I would never be able to join the company because of my height. I think I took those early deterrence's as a challenge. I was told that I would not be the classical ballerina that I wanted to be, and for that period in my life that was all I wanted. Contemporary dance was NOT an option.

So, at a month before my seventeenth birthday I joined a smaller classical company. I thought that I would fit in nicely considering that I had the talent to be with a major company just not the body they were looking for, and I did for a time. The problem was I was not done growing.

I would say that I was probably 5'7" when I began with the new company, and at the end of my first contract I had reached 5'9". My strongest memory from that period was dancing with a male dancer who had been my partner for the first part of the season. The dancer stopped me one day and said "I can't partner you anymore. You are too tall." I went into the dressing room and cried until my next rehearsal. I was very aware at that moment that I was too tall, and still growing. How would I ever survive? At the end of the year I was told by the director that "You are a beautiful dancer" (here we go again) "but because of your height you will never have a place as a main dancer in the company. There is no one to partner you". Luckily I had an offer with another company that promised to be filled with many tall women. So I packed up my pointe shoes and headed to the other company. Mind you I was still only 5'9"

My new company did offer a chance to be tall without difficulty. There were several dancers that were taller and I was never punished for my height. However, the fact that I was still growing lead to other difficulties. My body was constantly changing, and technical achievements that were never a problem in the past had to be re learned on my new body. I also admit to gaining the "freshmen ten" that first contract. My body developed late so in my early twenties I went through the normal teenage growing process. The problem was, I was not a teenager and my job depended on me getting a hold of my body. I finally left that company a little broken. They over worked us, and mentally broke many of the younger dancers with constant beratement.

I returned home to lick my wounds and after a while I made a very interesting career move. I went to Vegas! Everything is larger than life in Las Vegas. Including the dancers. I danced in a production show at one of the casinos and I was NOT the tallest dancer! In fact I even swung the short line on occasion. At my full height of 5'11" I finally fit in. I thank Vegas for giving me a sense of normalcy. The daily grind of doing the same show for ten years is not for me, but I am thankful that every new experience has taken me to my current place in life.

So here I am, 5'11" with a wonderful teaching career and a new chance at dancing again. This is my journey.