From the age of three, I loved ballet more than any of the other styles of dance or other extracurricular activities. I remember being backstage for dance recitals and looking up at the “big girls” with their beautiful pointe shoes. They would stand all the way on the tips of their toes and twirl around so easily. For years I would watch, mesmerized, dreaming of being a real ballerina and wearing my own pointe shoes. As my technique improved, my love of ballet grew. I looked at pictures and read books about pointe shoes. I tied ribbons around my ankles like pointe shoe ribbons and I watched videos of professional ballerinas. Though years away from dancing en pointe, I became captivated by ballet. When I was about 12, it seemed my dreams
