#feature profile

[crissklainestars]

Finished my first profile as a Journalism student today. Not gonna lie it’s rough AF but at least it’s done. I learned so much about interviewing people and i’ll be better equipped in the future with what I should be asking to get the best outcome. 

[hlworks]

It’s Never Too Late

Helen Luo II COM201 II Professor Anderson II  2016

Feature Profile on Helene Matteson, founder of Urban Kitchen Handmade

Tucked away in Allston, MA, on the second floor of the factory-esque Braintree Street Reality LLC, lies Helene Matteson’s studio for developing organic personal care products – Urban Kitchen Handmade. Aromatic smells – be it floral, earthy, or fruity –overwhelm your senses the moment you step in. It’s as if you were a child entering a candy store, only rather than satisfying your sweet tooth, mixtures of fresh, nice-smelling scents inundate you. The studio itself is just the right size with a small set of displays exhibiting Matteson’s products – ranging from the best-selling soaps to perfumes, air fresheners, lip balms, and more – at the entrance calling your attention. A couch rests on your right, with boxes and other supplies piled atop it, garnering no space to sit. A wooden table with four chairs rest beside the couch, creating a makeshift workspace for Matteson to sit and work on her laptop. Most of the studio contains large metal racks holding trays of cured and curing soap, finished and drying candles, and other supplies. Kitchen counters line the walls, where Matteson spends most of her time making her products. This haphazardly organized studio complex is where the magic happens – an extension of the actual headquarters for Urban Kitchen Handmade, which is Matteson’s own kitchen.

Dry skin and an itch for change led Helene Matteson to the founding of Urban Kitchen Handmade. After a Google search and a soap-making class, Matteson unknowingly held the ingredients to jumpstart her newest business endeavor in her very own kitchen! Now in her 50s, Matteson and her husband, James, have expanded the business in both size and types of products offered. Starting with soap, Urban Kitchen Handmade now sells candles, perfume, air fresheners, pillow sachets, spa salts, and a range of other personal care products. Customers can purchase the products both at local open markets or Matteson’s Etsy store online. She also welcomes customers to visit her studio in Allston and watch her work-process in action!

About 5’1 with light brown and white streaks running through her frizzy hair, Matteson clocks in early to work at her studio. A pair of brown floral-printed reading glasses, an inside-out-white-t-shirt over her own clothes, and a hair clip taming her locks seems to be the unofficial uniform of this soaper. With the occasional company of customers or friends, Matteson normally spends the mornings in her studio listening to National Public Radio (NPR) as she makes new batches of soaps, candles, and other products before filling out Etsy orders or ‘favors’ (customized orders submitted by customers via her website).

“I’m here at like seven in the morning and out by the afternoon because it gets so hot in here –plus there’s just always something else to do” says Matteson. She loves being her own boss, enjoying the flexibility of the schedule and the room for creative freedom.

Matteson founded Urban Kitchen Handmade in May of 2006 in the kitchen of her Boston home and expanded to a small studio in Allston about six years ago with the businesses success. Having gone from a part-time hobby to her brainchild, Urban Kitchen Handmade is now a locally well-known name among regulars at the New England Open Market (SOWA). Co-partnering with her husband James, Matteson says “I make the product and he makes it look good…the marketing, branding, he’s good at that – I just focus on what I do best.”

Barbara Curcio, a regular of Matteson’s, says, “My personal favorite is the Coconut Cream Handmade Soap. It not only smells lovely but is wrapped beautifully – I remember my first time meeting Helene at SOWA, she’d popped out behind one of the displays and told me to smell the different soaps, saying I’d definitely find one I’d like – and I did.”

Matteson had not always been in the soap and personal-care-product business. In fact, she’d job-hopped quite a bit in her early years. After graduating from college with a business degree in New York, Matteson was ready for a change.

“I really didn’t want to stay in New York. It was just too big, expensive, crowded, and had horrible traffic…you could be out for an hour and still be stuck in traffic and I just didn’t like that.” She says. Boston was the next best thing – cosmopolitan but also with nature’s comforts like the North and South Shores.

Having moved to Boston 30 years ago, Matteson dabbled in various jobs ranging from working in the food industry, banking field, to computer administration before settling down with Urban Kitchen Handmade. Regardless of her job-hopping, one thing was constant: Matteson pursued the things she enjoyed doing. She studied Business because it’s what “she likes to do,” says Matteson. Her degree then led to her working in a bank for a bit, before she took a second job at a restaurant because she “really likes food.” Her passion for the culinary arts took Matteson back to school. After studying culinary arts, Matteson returned to the workforce cooking and running a catering business with some friends. But running a catering business, according to Matteson, was very time- consuming and draining.

“It was just so many hours, so much of my life, and I wanted a change,” says Matteson, “So I sold it.” After selling her business, Matteson went back to school to learn about the computers.

Jokingly remarking, “Oh I’m dating myself – but this change came at the same time computers and email were just coming out. The early 90s, and if you were in your late 30s like me, you’d have never seen a computer and you had no idea how to use it. So you had to learn it.”

After getting a certified, Matteson took on an admin job; however, she wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to run a business again. At first Matteson contemplated going back into the food industry, but she realized the impracticality of the idea. A certified kitchen was required if she were to start her own restaurant and at the time Matteson just didn’t have the money needed for the start-up.

At around the same time, Matteson was frustrated with the dryness of her skin. Jumpstarted by a Google search she realized that people made home-made soap and so she took a class. It was then Matteson became a soaper. Making soap reminded Matteson of cooking – it was cooking for your skin.

“A lot of the ingredients and the way I look at it to simplify it is the same. instead of using the ingredients for your body, it’s using it for your skin,” says Matteson. At first, soap making was only something Matteson did on the side while she worked in the customer service division at a local bank. It wasn’t until a friend invited her to sell at a craft show that the business kicked-up.

“At first I said nah, I’m not ready. But she said, ‘yes you are,’ so I’m like ok. And I loved it. Made 50 bucks and I loved having 50 bucks in my wallet” says Matteson. From there, Matteson began to attend more craft shows and made soap to sell in her own kitchen; hence, the name: Urban Kitchen Handmade.

The process consisted of many trial-and-errors, online research, and commitment. Though Matteson was undeterred, as her husband James describes, “Helene really loves what she does…sometimes working together can be challenging, but she’s very driven to make the business a success. She’s headstrong and very determined.” Matteson tested many things out in order to find the best possible methods to create her products and strived to provide quality products at an affordable price. She wouldn’t sell anything she doesn’t use herself.

“You want good ingredients to be absorbed into your skin, so it’s healthy,” says Matteson. All of her products are made with natural ingredients such as olive oil, Shea butter, coconut oil, caster oil, cocoa butter, natural scents, and Micah for natural coloring. Now, Matteson usually attends the SOWA open market and other craft shows to sell her products while simultaneously managing her online Etsy store. There are, however, still some shows that disappoint.

Just last weekend Matteson attended a fundraising craft show in Rhode Island for Breast cancer. The hall was not only smelly and “disgusting,” Matteson describes, but also a “waste of her time” since the event planner hadn’t bothered to publicize the event. According to Matteson, there were maybe five people.

Instead, Matteson enjoys her attending SOWA much more. Not only does she get to catch up with her regulars, but also fellow vendors who are close-friends. Matteson describes that the business becomes your whole life, so a lot of your friends are people who’ve dedicated their lives to their businesses as well.

Matteson also has a good reputation on her online platform Etsy. With most of her customers satisfied and five-star-ratings donning her reviews. Matteson personally packages each order, providing a small gift sample and a hand-written thank-you note as well. For Matteson, she believes in connecting with her customers, that the only way to improve is to listen to them and get their feedback. Many of her new products, such as the popular lavender room-spray, came about from customer requests.

Lisa says, “The soaps have such a fresh, clean, and long-lasting – its addicting!” her personal favorite being the Boston by the Sea Soap bar.

When asked where Matteson sees her business in the future, Matteson says, “I’ve thought about expanding, but I like how personal it is now. Honestly if I was 20 years younger, I’d absolutely expand further, but at this age, I like the way it is now.” Instead of expanding the business, however, Matteson wants to start teaching. During off-seasons post-Christmas and on weekends, Matteson is working on providing a place where people can come and learn to make natural by-care products themselves.

Matteson is not just a soaper, but also a political enthusiast, you can often find her shaking her head or nodding along to NPR with occasional bursts of comments such as “I hate trump by the way –“ escaping. One of her downfalls, she jokes, is spending too much time following political news when she should instead be promoting her business on her social platforms.

“I like being independent, being my own boss with no one telling me what to do,’ says Matteson, “and yeah I was afraid at first taking the first step, but what’s your choice? You have no choice. I just do it and never second guess myself.”

 It’s never too late to follow your passions – to start your own business. Just as Matteson says, everyone is afraid, it’s all about just doing it and taking the first step. Then, who knows, you might just have a successful business on your hands.

[erabushati]

Women on Wheels

Girls in fishnets getting hit is what may attract the common person to their first roller derby game but what they’ll witness is something they won’t soon forget.

“It’s an edge-of-your-seat sport. It’s exciting, it’s intense, it’s funny, silly, crazy – all of these things happen in one game,” said Sirius Trauma (real name, Francine) of the Albany All Stars Roller Derby Team. She and Ace Defective (real name, Erica) have been part of this all-women’s league for nearly four years.

“You’re never bored,” said Ace. If you’ve never seen a roller derby game or even heard of the sport before then you’re in for a new and exciting discovery.

The Albany All Stars Roller Derby Team has been active since 2006 when it only had six members. Today it has just over 50. The team consists entirely of women aged 21 to 50.

The Albany All Stars league. Photo courtesy of the Albany All Stars website.

The basics of the game go like this: Each playing team has five players on the rink: one jammer (scores points by passing opposing team members around the rink), three blockers (block opposing team members from getting ahead of them) and one pivot (may be designated as a jammer during the course of a jam; establishes team strategy). The play time is divided into two 30-minute periods and a halftime.

The team members of the Albany All Stars are a diverse group of women. They have day jobs that range from social workers and nurses to teachers and Etsy shop owners. The common denominator is their love for roller derby.

“You join the league and it’s instant 50 sisters,” said Ace. “On top of being a team, we become friends. It’s an extended family.”

Ace calls Trauma one of her best friends. The women have known each other for nearly the entire time they’ve been with the All Stars. Ace is a nanny by day and a coach and skater by night. She attended her first bout, a.k.a game, four years ago at The Armory and instantly fell in love with the sport. She joined the team soon after. Trauma remembers having birthday parties at roller rinks. She’s been skating since childhood and joined the All Stars in early 2011.

Not only is being on the team purely voluntary but members actually pay monthly dues to be part of the league. Roller derby is not just a hobby. It’s a real sport with game rules, a board of directors, national championships and even its own association, theWomen’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). The All Stars will soon be part of the association as soon as they finish their apprentice “trial period” to prove that their team is capable of maintaining a league under WFTDA rules.

Unlike roller derby in the 60’s and 70’s which was all staged, today skaters can get serious injuries on the track. Bruises, sprains and broken bones are old news to these tough women.

“We’re all a little bit Type A,” said Trauma. “I think you have to be in order to deal with the rigors of the sport because it’s hard, it’s really hard. You have to be motivated and passionate and intense because it’s an intense game.”

Even if a skater gets hurt, she tries to recover while still being part of the team. Each member is required to be part of a committee whether that means being on the board of directors, doing public relations, running social media, selling tickets, or manning the merchandise table on game nights. The skaters are the league, there are no outside sources.

“If you’re not skating, you’re working,” said Ace.

Short film: Albany All Stars Roller Derby from Gregory Wilson on Vimeo.

A lot of hard work goes into this sport even outside of the rink. The girl all have their own work out routines to keep in shape. They do yoga, CrossFit and running. The team also has five coaches whose job it is to keep up with derby strategies and rule changes. Ace is a coach this year and she spends a few hours every day responding to emails, watching archived and live streams of games and even traveling to see bouts.

“We have 50 plus girls in the league,” said Ace. “The coaches have to know all of their strengths, their weaknesses. We have to be up on the current strategies of derby, plan practices, meetings, emails. It’s very draining on your personal life.”

The sport can be overwhelming, especially for new skaters. It takes an average skater about three to six months to adjust her body to the physical toll that roller derby can have on her body.

“This is one of the few sports were you have to play offensively and defensively, sometimes at the same time…on wheels…with other people hitting you,” said Trauma. “But it’s crazy what love and passion will let you do. If we didn’t enjoy it, none of us would be here.”

The Albany All Stars league logo. Photo courtesy of the Albany All Stars Facebook page.

Their passion is evident on game nights when they leave their sweat, tears and blood on the track. The fans can see that and appreciate it.

Trauma said the two most common comments after people see roller derby for the first time are “Oh my God, you have to be really good on skates to do this” and “Oh my God, that’s really hard. I thought you guys just punched each other.”

Roller derby is not for the weak. While it can be a brutal sport, it’s also a lot of fun to play and to watch.

“You don’t realize how much of a sport it is,” said Ace. “I think the girls in fishnets getting hit is what draws the people in and the game plan, strategy and the finesse of the skaters is what keeps them here.”

Ace and Trauma said the fans are a huge part of our league. Audience turnout can vary from 400 to 1,500 people. Winter days are the most crowded when The Armory can provide a warm environment and an entertaining show.

Trauma likes the variety that roller derby brings to Albany’s sports scene.

“It also brings the women factor into it,” she said. “There aren’t many sports where you get to see only women playing something.”

The 8th official season kicks off on January 10, 2015, at The Armory. A portion of the sale proceeds go to charity.

[erabushati]

The family that bakes together…

You could safely assume that “What’s in it?” is the most repeated question that Tikko and her family have to answer. Their booth at LarkFEST attracts a steady flow of people who stop to look at the piles of bread spread on the tables. The breads sit atop colored clothes draped over round beige cheese boxes. Each handmade piece of bread is a different shape but they all are filled with the same amount of goodness. The bread stuffing ranges from sweet (apple and cinnamon) to savory (black olives and feta cheese).

“People will always ask us why we don’t have signs for each individual bread. It’s so we can talk to them. Otherwise they would just stand there,” says Tikko.

She is only 15 years old but Tikko has been in the family business since she was five.

She and her sister Ellis, now 12 years old, grew up at farmer’s markets. Their parents Doug Freilich and Julie Sperling started Naga Bakehouse 10 years ago. Located in the small town of Middletown Springs in Vermont, Naga Bakehouse is a bakery that specializes in handmade, oven fired topped and stuffed breads as well as Matzah, a thin cracker served during Passover meals. The name Naga (which stands for natural grain alchemy) was originally chosen as an easy name to remember. It was only later that the family found out that Naga is a seven headed serpent that is an Indian symbol for the protector of grain.

“My parents went to the King Arthur Bread School in Vermont for one week to learn the basics and we’ve been doing farmer’s markets ever since,” says Tikko.

Their bread is mostly made with local grown organic ingredients, some of which they grow in the bakery’s two greenhouses and gardens. They buy local produce as often as they can. The stuffed bread with shitake mushrooms and cheddar they sold at LarkFEST was made with mushrooms provided by their neighbors at the Schenectady market.

They also barter. Their neighbor farmer, who they allow to collect hay from their fields, in exchange gives them maple syrup, which they use in some of their bread fillings.

“Ellis’s job is to barter. That’s her specialty,” says Tikko. “I do a lot of the signage and design aspects of it. I help more with the actual baking too, but we all do everything. It’s a family effort.”

At Naga Bakehouse they have daily routines. On a Wednesday, her father Doug will start baking at four in the morning. He mixes the dough, weighs it, shapes, fills, bakes and packs it. By the time it is ready to depart for the 3 P.M. market his wife Julie goes out to sell them.

On Saturdays, everyone goes to the market together. They come back home home at four or five in the afternoon, start baking at seven and finish by two or three in the morning. Then leave at 6 A.M. for the Sunday market.

“We can do three markets in one day. My mom goes to one, my dad goes to one and Ellis and I go to another,” says Tikko. During the summer period they attend six to eight markets a week while the winter season is slower with only one to two every week. But with a successful family business there is never a shortage of things to do for Tikko and Ellis, who are learning important life skills at a young age.

“It’s really cool to see how a family business can grow. It’s a way of having independence. It’s a way we can work together, keep the family together but also make a living,” says Julie.

Naga Bakehouse aims to connect with their customers in a way most businesses do not. “We were in stores for a while but it’s easier to just go out to the people ourselves,” says Tikko. “They’ve watched Ellis and I grow up” she adds mentioning their regular customers at weekly farmers markets. It’s this intimate contact that sets Naga Bakehouse apart from other vendors. That and their specialty breads.

“There are other bread vendors but no one does what we do,” says Tikko. Some of their bread comes in colorful flavors like pears and gorgonzola and peaches and cheddar. The most popular among customers is the stuffed kale, garlic, parmesan and olive oil.

A couple already holding their lunch in their hands approaches the booth. “They look amazing,” says the woman staring at the round piles of bread.

They taste even better.

*Original finished date September 25, 2013

[erabushati]

Albany native pens memoir about sister’s death, speaks to students

“Her rapist untwined us,” Christa Parravani said last Thursday of the incident that stole her twin sister’s life. At the University at Albany, the first stop of her book tour promoting the memoir Her, Parravani engaged with the audience in a touching and enthralling Q & A led by Donald Faulkner, the Director of the New York State Writers Institute.

The project which took three years to complete is a labor of love, a living tangible memory of her sister’s life, joys and troubles alike. In the book, Parravani, a native of Albany, documents the unbearable grief, confusion and hurt that accompanies the death of a sibling, felt double fold when it is the death of an identical twin sister.

“It is a remarkable memoir, emotionally rough-edged and quite spiritually interesting,” said Faulkner of the book. For this project, Parravani, who identifies as a photographer, took a step away from the camera and focused on the written word. She had spent most of her young adult life expressing herself through photography but the transition to writing was smooth and almost natural.

“It came as a relief for me because photography is kind of a collaboration. You have to rely on other people to show up, to stand in front of your camera and to be able to have the privilege to sit by myself, to be alone; it was really good for me. It felt like a really safe and comfortable place to spend my time. I wanted to be as close to her as I could and that was through doing the thing that she had done, writing.”

                The book cover for Her. Photo from nprnews.com

The title of the book derives from the title of her sister Cara’s college thesis, a novel about identical twins.

“So really it was about the two of us. And I thought that it was the perfect title for this book. It was my way, I think, of giving Cara this book even though her name isn’t on the front cover. I wanted her to have that.”

After the rape, Cara was never the same again.

“I felt as if my sister had been taken away from me,” Parravani said.

In 2003, the rapist, Edgardo Hernandez was charged with 139 years in prison.

“I was in the courtroom. I went to the trial. She testified against him. She said ‘the day that Edgardo Hernandez raped me was the day that I died’. And I do believe that was true. I think that it took him five years to kill my sister and that he is serving a just sentence.”

Five years after the rape, Cara died from a drug overdose. The next day, Parravani said, blinded by mad grief she too followed her in twin’s self-destructive behaviors and her life unspooled before her. Amidst harmful behavior and suicidal intentions, Parravani had to come to terms with her sister’s death. Through writing Cara’s story, Parravani was able to piece her own life back together and bring to life a book that documents her sorrow as well as personal triumph.

The memoir, released last week, has been met with unending praise.

“There was nothing I wanted more in the world than to finish this book in a successful way,” Parravani said.

As she continues her book tour on a ten day trip to the west coast, success seems very likely to follow at her heel. The book, a love note to her twin, a recounting of an inseparable bond, is already a success in the eyes of many.

* As published in the Albany Student Press on March 12, 2013

[whetheritsmorningornight]

A Day in the Life: A Senior Practise Nurse

Suzanne is a senior practice nurse in her forties. At the age of eighteen, she left home in her native Seaford and moved to Brighton to do her General Nurse training. Having already been a volunteer auxiliary nurse from the age of fifteen “like my dad did before me. He inspired me”, Suzanne already had relevant experience before she started. After she finished that training, she went on to do Paediatrics and Sick Children training. She highlights the importance of working in a hospital on a ward as well as learning and doing work in a classroom as you train. “University courses today in Nursing don’t always have you doing both, so Student Nurses don’t want to get their hands dirty changing or bathing patients, which isn’t what nursing is about”, she says. She has worked at hospitals in Brighton, London and finally Eastbourne, East Sussex which is where she now resides. Having three children and working night shifts at a hospital proved difficult after awhile for Suzanne, which is when she made the move to a Nursing Home for a while and then to work in a doctor’s surgery.

A typical work day for her starts with her arriving at the surgery where she works about ten minutes before her first appointment. This gives her time to turn on her computer and to wash her hands in preparation for the day ahead. Booked appointments during the day can range from administering jabs and vaccinations against the flu, babies being vaccinated against Measles, Mumps and Rubella and for patients going on holiday out of the continent such as yellow fever and malaria, in which the patient takes tablets. Appointments can also include blood tests, blood pressure checks and Asthma checks too. When told that some nurses on wards today are not actually able to take blood, Suzanne is astounded. “How is that allowed to happen?” It is difficult to provide that question with an answer.

Suzanne has her breaks in between seeing patients, never working more than four consecutive hours. She has a cup of tea “never with sugar” and a snack, usually fruit and then her lunch on her longer break before getting back into the appointments. In the surgery she works at, there are three practice nurses who all specialise in different areas, Suzanne being well educated in the care of children. They split the working hours of five days a week between them as do the four doctors who work there, two male and two female, to provide alternative professionals for patients to see depending on their ailments. The Practice Manager oversees how everybody works and does all the necessary budgeting for the surgery, as well as ordering and receiving any medication and vaccinations. As Nurses do not actually diagnose patients, their job is seen with less difficulty as a doctor’s, but nevertheless it should be treated with any less respect. It is a well known fact that Nurses are paid nowhere near the same amount as doctors, for the very reason of not diagnosing but it seems that sometimes the work they do can be forgotten. The inclusion of nurses into the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony helped to highlight their firm place within our society, which made Suzanne “proud to be a nurse in that moment.”

On her work, Suzanne says “one day is never the same as another, there is always something going on.” When asked if she ever finds her job monotonous giving out the same injections and so on she answered “it isn’t boring but I can get a bit fed up from time to time”, usually when there are not many patients booked in during parts of the day or if a patients cancels or does not turn up to the appointment for whatever reason. As a patient, you may think that being a couple of minutes late makes no difference but when Nurses and Doctors are running on a tight schedule, it can put them behind on what they have to do. “It is annoying, but sometimes it happens,” Suzanne states. Nurses and Doctors also have to occasionally go on Study Days for extra training and refresher courses in areas that they are required to know as part of their jobs. These can include Sexual Health, Asthma and Diabetes, to name but a few of the areas which are important to know.

After a long working day, Suzanne tidies up, switches off her computer and heads back home have a rest and put her feet up. Having been a nurse for roughly thirty years, she knows her job is “never easy” but is still a job worth doing. 

[everything-dances-blog]

Featured Dancer: Dora Dolphin

From acro to theatre and ballroom to ballet, little miss Dora Dolphin does it ALL. Her dance idol happens to be past featured dancer Alyssa Ness, so it was a no-brainer to ask this pint-sized powerhouse to be a part of our “Next Generation” group of featured dancers. With a heart almost as big as her talent, Dora is living proof that kindness and passion are keys to success: she's earned perfect scores on her solos, has been told she could be on Dancing With the Stars someday, and was offered the opportunity to train at the Kirov Ballet Academy until graduation. Everything Dances was lucky enough to chat with this pint-sized powerhouse not only once, but twice—before and after a performance-packed summer! Don’t forget to view her feature video on our YouTube channel, everythingdances!

    Part One (Spring 2013)

  Q: What is your favorite style of dance?

A: My favorite types are lyrical, ballet, and jazz. I like lyrical because it really gets to tell a story and I really like feeling the music. And jazz because you really get to be fun and it’s really jazzy…and ballet is because I love learning a lot of technique. And I love ballet because you really get to flow with your arms and it’s really fun.

  Q: What is your favorite part about doing dance competitions?

A: My favorite part about doing dance competitions is that you get to perform for other people and you’re nervous before you get on, but once you get out on that stage, it’s just really fun! And I also love my friend Sage, I love her, she’s awesome. I actually met her at a dance competition! I love meeting new people, that’s also what I love about dance competitions—meeting new people and performing for new people.

  Q: What is your favorite part about dance conventions and taking classes?

A: I get to experience new teachers!

  Q: Where do you dance?

A: I dance at Minnesota Dance Theater and Dance Attack when I’m in Miami, I love it so much! At Dance Attack, I love working with John Culbertson and Cookie Ramos.

    Q: What has been your favorite dance moment so far?

A: Well I really just in general love performing for everybody. I liked meeting my friend Sage, I loved that because there’s a thing at Masquerade competition that’s called Pre-Stars and I met her there, and we were next to each other for a lot of the dance, and then we started loving being with each other. I really love her a lot. She lives really far away from me, usually when we want to get together my mom or dad calls or texts her parents and we just get together. She lives a little far away from us, so it is hard to get together, but we try!

  Q: Who has helped you the most in your dance journey?

A: My dance coach Jennifer, and then my ballet teacher, and my mom and my dad, and all of my friends—they’ve really supported me—oh, and my grandmom who created all of my props. I have a lot of people who support me!

  Q: What is your favorite solo?

A: My favorite solos are my new solos, they are really interesting & fun. They are really different and creative.

  Q: What’s your secret to success?

A: Just practicing seven days a week, just making sure I do practice and not miss a day.

  Q: What is the hardest part about dance for you?

A: I’ve been taught to really encourage other people and to be happy for other people, and other people haven’t been like that to me. I’ve had people who haven’t really supported me. But I have a lot of people who do support me. I be myself and be nice and don’t really worry about it.

    Q: Who is your favorite dancer to watch and look up to?

A: On Dancing with the Stars Derek Huff, and Alyssa Ness. And I really like Sophia Lucia. Oh, and I love Maddie from Dance Moms!

  -

Part Two (Summer 2013)

  Q: This summer, you were the youngest dancer at the Kirov Ballet Academy intensive in Washington, DC—and yet you were also invited to attend Kirov as a year-round ballet student in their professional training division! What was that experience like?

A: It was fun, I like being the youngest. I got a chance to look up to people. The school program starts at 7th grade, but I'm in 5th grade so I could stay in the dorm there, but I would have to move there. I'm in 5th grade so I'm going to do online school so I would do that on the computer and then I could do ballet there because I'm not old enough for the education part.

    Q: Congratulations on being showcased as a special guest this summer in an Annual Ballroom Championship Show dance! What was it like competing in ballroom as one of the youngest contestants?

A: That competition was really fun. I like to collect rhinestones off of the floor! Ballroom is just really different from other kinds of dances. I like the way the other ballroom dancers move.

    Q: You also take rhythmic gymnastics as well, how has that helped your dancing?

A: I'm actually not competing in rhythmic, I'm just doing the moves. I’m doing ball and ribbon, and I’ve had the ball in some of my dances.

    Q: How was your experience performing in “This Side of Paradise” with the History Theatre?

A: It went really well, it was really fun. The cast was really nice. I got to act, which was different.

    Q: How are your performances with “The Belmont Hotel” going so far?

A: We just performed at the state fair! I was just on the news last night with some of the other cast members. I’m doing both, dancing and acting. You have to act through your dancing. This company is Collide Theatrical, it’s about dancing and acting together.

    Q: With all of this acting, could you see yourself on Disney Channel one day?

A: Yes! I would really like to do that. [Dora would love to be on Jessie!]

    Q: What’s new coming up for little miss Dora?

A: I tried out for The Christmas Carol at the Guthrie, and I got in! There’s going to be singing, and dancing, and acting. There are only like twelve or thirteen kids in the show. I’m an understudy for a Crachit kid, and I’m Belle’s daughter, Wimple’s daughter, and a Fezzwig guest! 

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Q: What advice do you have for other dancers your age on how to improve as a dancer and deal with others who are not supportive?

A: Don’t give up, and if you feel like you can’t do it, you can do it. Don’t say you can’t because you really can. Reach for the stars and just have fun! Always love each other and be nice, and believe in yourself and be yourself.

  Q: You said your dream dance role or career would be to be a movie or Broadway star, why those?

A: I think it would be really fun to be a different person. I love how the whole Broadway and movie stuff works, like how cool it is. I’m going to be in “This Side of Paradise,” the story of F. Scott Fitzerald and Zelda. I’m going to be Young Scottie, and I’m young Zelda as a ballerina. 

*At the time of her first interview, Dora had not yet performed in this production. Since then, she has completed 32 performances as Young Scottie in This Side of Paradise at the prestigious History Theatre!

  Q: Why do you like to dance?

A: I like to dance because I like performing for everybody and it’s really fun and I get to meet new people. Other people don’t know how hard dance is to do, and I love it so much. To express and perform—I really love that.

    Q: Why do you admire past featured dancer Alyssa Ness?

A: I look up to Alyssa because she is a sweetheart with a very big heart and a beautiful dedicated dancer.

[everything-dances-blog]

Meet Courtney Thurston

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