My mum and dad teach, and all my brothers and sisters have been in 'Riverdance' and so forth. So I was forced to become a dancer; it's part of my family history.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I was a dancer, and my father was a dancer, so I really grew up in that environment.
Well, I took ballet for many, many years, so my whole childhood really revolved around dance class. I grew up around dance; my mother was a dancer.
I was a dancer for many years. I was a premier dancer with 'Porgy and Bess,' the opera. And I taught dance some, in different places.
Throughout my childhood, I did a form of Irish dancing that was kind of the precursor to 'Riverdance.' It was a mixture of ballet and Irish dancing that my teacher, Patricia Mulholland, had invented, essentially. It was Irish ballet, and she would create performances based around the myths and legends of Ireland.
When I was really young, my mom enrolled me in dance classes.
I didn't want to be a dancer. I just did it to work my way through college. But I was always an athlete and gymnast, so it came naturally.
It was not until I had graduated from college that I made a professional commitment to it. Frankly, I didn't think it wise. I was my own interior parental force, and it's very difficult to justify a profession as a dancer.
I trained in every form of dance - started as a tap dancer when I was a kid, then contemporary, ballet, ballroom, everything. Russian, Swedish.
I never wanted to be a dancer. I was too big, I was too slow. I remember not liking it. Later on, when I came to the United States, I realized I had a skill, and when you come to this country, you realize if you have a skill and a determination, you can do anything.
I started out as a dancer as a kid; I've been dancing since I was 4. So performing was always part of what I was.
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