Brown Ballerina's exist! A Must Read... @ingridsilva via "I’ve been dancing for 17 years. I came to Dance Theatre of Harlem when I was 19 years old from Brazil. I came for a summer program at Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2007 and then joined the school’s Professional Training Program. I became a member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble in 2008 and the new DTH company in 2012 (...) I started dance when I was eight years old in a project in the favelas of Brazil called Dancando para nao Dancar. My family always supported me in dance, and my mom used to take my brother and me to ballet classes after school everyday. I studied dance at the Deborah Colker School and Escola de Dança Maria Olenewa. I also apprenticed with Company Grupo Corpo in Brazil (...) We hope to experience a continued growth of the organization as well as inspire young dancers of color and underprivileged youth by showing them that they, too, can pursue their dreams. With hard work and dedication, they can become whatever they aspire to be. We hope to also continue the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King: to achieve and do what was once thought to be impossible (...) Social justice refers to the ability people have to realize their own potential (...) It doesn’t matter where you are from; what matters is where you see yourself going (...) I would like to see more black dancers in classical ballet, especially black girls studying and performing ballet (...) My example is this: I come from a favela in Brazil, am black, have a poor family and yet, despite all those odds, I became a ballerina."🙏👏 #mylife #ingridsilvaballetworld #ihavedream #fightforyourdreams #blackballerina #dreamcometrue #brownpointeshoes #brazil #classicalballet #beautiebrownie #beautifullybrown #myblackisbeautiful #mbib #iambeautiebrownie (at I am Beautie Brownie)