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Hey beautiful heart!
How are you today ?
Do you need a refresher on who I am and why I’m writing?
Well, I am Ella and I also go by Maya
Today I am writing from Bournemouth where I am developing a new duet with Akeim Toussaint inspired by divine union, Wing Chun and Salsa!
I am a dancer & choreographer & I also coach people to unlearn their not belonging, not good enough and not worthy stories so they can come out of hiding and pursue a life of true expression & JOY!
My childhood years were spent in a strange wee town in Kent called Faversham (sometimes nicknamed “Chaversham” by those from the ‘big’ surrounding cities like Canterbury or Sittingbourne)
And for many years growing up in that strange white town in the UK, I thought I didn’t belong… and learnt not to mention my heritage to schoolmates (and be unsurprised by people’s racism when they found out I was mixed) I was accustomed to hearing racism on a regular, and being racialised (in the most strange ways being that my Mum grew up in Yorkshire).
I also learnt to be protective of my younger sister (whose complexion is darker than mine) at school, and to expect ‘altercations’ when my Mum came into contact with parents, teachers, and members of the town (what I now know is these were the consequences of living in a racist town in the 80s and that my lightness meant I had the privilege of hiding my mixedness, whereas my sister and Mum did not).
And there’s a big learning here about being myself….
About my privilege for not having the same experiences my Mum and sister did.
About how I was hiding who I am
And also about how & why I am no longer willing to hide… or give sh*t if I don’t belong!
Because now I know that the people who like me and who I want to like back will like me no matter what my differences are.
And the people who don’t?
Well, they know where the unfollow button is!
So how about you?
Are there any bits of you that have been hiding ?
Any bits that you are ready to reclaim?
Is there any way you would love me to help you being more you?
Or are you all about creating more opportunities for more people to be unapologetically them?
I made a wee creation to explore that during lockdown (plus to celebrate humans, cheer up the world and provide my dancer friends and I something to do in our homes in lockdown!)
And there too I saw this theme of hiding…
Many of the amazing humans featured pointed out what was not perfect and they wanted to hide about their homes, their not high-tech cameras, bodies etc etc when they sent their videos over during lockdown
What I realised as each pointed out their flaws was that, like the kintsugi pots in Japan: repaired with gold: their dance, their spaces, the way they recorded were perfect… humans are so beautiful for being perfectly imperfect: when we are real, raw, not hiding… that is beauty, that is power!
So here is a perfectly imperfect video for you of 33 wonder humans being unapologetically THEM and NOT HIDING!
Have a beautiful Sunday gorgeous one! |
