I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from people that ballet is boring. And I can’t blame them as ballet is a very technical form of art and you need to know the “rules” to understand what’s going on on stage. Another thing about ballet that pushes people away is its classical background. For most people, ballet is all about Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and other famous pieces. People see it as an outdated form of dance but I can assure you this is not true. There is so much more to ballet than people running around in patterns to classical music.
Meet Brittany Cavaco, a professional ballerina, who keeps inspiring thousands of people on social media to start appreciating ballet as a form of contemporary dance. Her Instagram @TheBallerina speaks for itself with its 200,000+ followers.
I know what you think, “yet another Instagram dancer”, but this is not her case. Brittany Cavaco is more than just a performer. She is a pilates trainer, a business student, but most importantly, she’s a spokeswoman and advocate for a healthy body image.
Promoting a healthy and positive relationship with your body resonates with Brittany on so many levels as she used to have body image issues herself when she was younger. In one of her interviews, she talked about how she used to hate her body because she was once told she was too fat to be a ballerina. Like she simply didn’t have a ballerina’s body.
Can you imagine how frustrating and upsetting it must have been to hear that you can’t do what you want just because you are not the thinnest person in the classroom, you don’t starve yourself to death and you have a healthy body?
She would look at her body with disgust blaming it for not being skinny enough while she should have been focusing on her technique and perfecting her skills instead. However, she didn’t give up, she kept practicing and managed to find the balance in life she was looking for all these years.
Embarrassed, self-conscious and miserable, that was Brittany a few years ago. Today, she is a self-confident, super talented ballet dancer who inspired thousands of people to take beginner ballet classes. People would DM her saying they signed up their kids for a ballet class, or went to see a ballet performance at the local theater.
Being a social media influencer means everything to Brittany as this is her way to show the world the true essence of ballet.
She proved to many that your body type cannot determine what you can or cannot do. She teaches us to never let someone else’s opinion influence our life and career in any way. If you have goals and ambitions, go for it. Remember that everyone tends to stick to their own opinion but it doesn’t mean that they are right. Stay true to yourself, know what you are capable of and just keep going!