My inspired little teacher

Her dancing shoes

 

To F.

To those who are following their passions

When she appeared

The first time her big blue eyes stood in front of me, I was not sure if she would be the chosen one; however, when she began to speak with her perfect British accent, I decided she would be my new teacher. She was just twenty years old, but showed great determination in everything she did. Together we designed a system which allowed me to improve my English and it was her who encouraged me to start writing my posts in English. She looked more like a babysitter than an English teacher.  I was sure that I was the oldest student that she had at that time. Despite her youth she was a very good teacher who didn’t  just help me to improve my English, but help me to discover many other things that were of great inspiration in my life.

The dancer living inside

There are two great passions that live in that girl: one is teaching English and the other is dancing. As a brilliant teacher, she is just starting out and has a long road ahead. She discovered her passion for dancing recently. Just by looking at her body, one can imagine that she is a natural born dancer. Unfortunately at the age of twenty, most of the dancers have ended their careers. Despite knowing that part, she began to dance with a passion and was highly complemented for her efforts and talent. When everything was going well, an unexpected knee injury almost ended everything. At that time she had everything against her: too old to start, a knee problem that could become chronic, and no family support. She continued with courage and determination as I have never seen before in order to keep alive the dancer who is living inside her.

The Red inspiration

Tamara Rojo is a Spanish dancer. She is the Artistic Director of the English National Ballet as well as a performer with the company as a Principal Dancer. Rojo started taking local dance classes at the age of 5 in Spain. By the time she reached age 11, Rojo became a full-time student at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid. Although her parents were thrilled at her talent, they insisted that Rojo also complete an academic education. Therefore, after studio rehearsals every day, Rojo would attend evening classes. When Rojo was 16, she graduated from the Conservatory and had only two more years until her completion of regular school studies. Upon completion, she was immediately invited to join Ullate’s company. Rojo became the Principal ballerina. In 2005 she suffered an injury that required adapting the choreography "their physical possibilities". This injury could be the end of all, but she kept working hard until she could overcome it. Shortly after the debut of her performance, Rojo became a Principal Ballerina with a company at Covent Garden. Rojo is currently 37 and is still a performer for the Royal Ballet. Flora thinks of Tamara's career very often.

Living in passion

What I learned from my teacher is much more than English. She was inspired by Tamara Rojo and now I know the reason why. That little girl showed me the way that people are able to influence things to make our dreams come true. I do not know if  Flora’s dreams will be finally fulfilled, but what I do know is that every time she puts her dancing shoes on she is living  who she really is. She taught me more than English. . . . she was my inspired litlle teacher.