So at the age of 7, I went with my mother to a gymnastic course-introduction. I remember I was totally bored, because the teacher didn’t allow me to go on the rings, or on the barres or on the (we call it) horse, etc. “No, you are still too small for that”, she said. “You can only do exercises on the mat”. I thought it was rediculous of course and I was very dissapointed.

Right after the course there was a group of girls and a teacher coming in. The girls all had their hair in a bun and they were wearing these pink panties and black tops. There was this beautiful music and they were moving in a slow and beautiful way. I was fascinated and I asked my mother if we could stay a little longer. I watched how the group of girls performed the excercises at the barre and I remember me saying “That’s what I want!” And there you go…this is how I got hooked to ballet at the age of 7. And I cannot actually say exactly WHY I was hooked. Isn’t that strange?

To do ballet as a boy though in a South American country (at that time I was living in Surinam, a previous Dutch colony), is like SO NOT DONE and on top of that I was white in a country where most of the people were either from african roots, or chinese roots, or indian, or indonesian, or amazone-indian, etc. I was litterary doomed, but I still continued to take ballet once a week and I was very strong about it. Isn’t it funny how I felt this feeling or passion and that I just listened to it?

My parents remember that I was always dancing since I was very little…I know this sounds so cliché and so horribly corny, but this is appearantly how it was.
So, are those feelings or those talents, or passions or whatever it is, already in there from the moment we are born? Or is there a big cultural factor that influences our choices, even when it comes to hobbies or interests and curiosities for something?
Definitely something to think about, especially when the choice is not so obvious and against all odds.