Exploration 4

I have to be completely honest i was one hundred percent surprised and amazed on how mature and driven all of the young dancers were, especially the young dancer Aran. "It's a way to express myself..it was fun at first but now it is so much more than that" (Rebecca). I think this shows the drive that some of these dancers possess. Rebecca is a 17 year old dancer from Maryland. She attends high school like many other kids her age do, and also works a part time job. The only difference is she spends hours a week practicing her skills so that one day, maybe, she can work as a professional ballerina. For someone that young to have the motivation to want to work that hard and follow their dream is very impressive in my opinion. There are so many kids these days who have no motivation to do anything for themselves. This shows me that there are still teenagers out there who want to do things in life and be successful and i think this world needs more people like this, especially at this young of an age.

Aran is a young boy who lives in Naples, Italy and he is 11 years old. He has grown up in a military family and is just like every other little boy his age, with one exception. Aran is a world class ballet dancer. Aran recieves extreme support from his mother and father and is one of the best in his age group. "I never thought my boy would dance, I thought maybe he'd be a ball player like his dad...But i couldn't be more proud of him" (Aran's father).

One of the biggest challenges that these dancers face is definitely injury. In the movie the dancer by the name of Michaela had to overcome a very tender Achilles injury. Instead of sitting out the competition she decided to compete because of how hard she had worked to get there she knew she may never get another opportunity. Michaela competed and got a scholarship even though she was in extreme pain, i think this shows extreme dedication and at 14 years old i think that is rare to see that kind of hard work and pure will to succeed in such a young person.