Today we’d like to introduce you to Liessa Son.
Liessa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started dancing Korean Dance when I was four years old, and I studied for approximately seven years. As I moved onto high school, I decided to pursue a dance career and enrolled in ballet at Everybody Dance (EBD) when I was 13 years old. I felt a sharp contrast between Korean Dance and ballet (including all other western dance genres such as modern, contemporary, tap, and jazz), and I struggled a bit to adapt.
Though starting ballet at a late age was challenging, I couldn’t be more blessed to have so many opportunities given by EBD. I met wonderful EBD teachers who guided me through learning all kinds of western dance styles, and the EBD administration was so supportive of my pursuit by inviting me to various outside dance opportunities. All this support helped me to get to where I am today. I am currently a BFA dance major at California Institute of the Arts with a major scholarship provided for four years. I can’t be thankful enough for EBD, and it holds a very special place in my memories.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Very thankfully, my journey has been smooth in terms of receiving opportunities. Despite not having the luxury to access many private lessons or taking classes in general (dance classes are expensive!), I was so lucky to encounter EBD which not only set their tuition rates very affordable but also brought me to other fields of dance. Of course, there were some bumps along the way on a personal level. I definitely had some doubtful moments, being the late bloomer in learning ballet. I struggled dealing with the fact that I can’t be as skillful as other students who had been training for at least ten years already. I still struggle with that to this day. However, although it may sound like an external obstacle from my circumstance, I realize it actually is a battle within myself.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Gabriella Foundation – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
The Mission of The Gabriella Foundation is to transform lives and communities through the power of high-quality dance education in low-income areas of Los Angeles.
Our Vision is to cultivate in our young students of dance the lifetime skills of collaboration, discipline and self-expression so they become confident and engaged participants in their education, career and community.
In all our efforts to transform the lives of low-resourced youth through high-quality dance education, The Gabriella Foundation is committed to incorporating Equity, Diversity, Access & Inclusion practices at all levels of organizational decision-making, planning, implementation and evaluation. Our key CEI values are: All voices sought out and heard; a culture of openness, respect and listening; transparency in organizational practices; equity and inclusion in staff hiring and Board recruitment; and community responsiveness in programming.
In 2020-21, The Gabriella Foundation’s Everybody Dance! program is providing high-quality, in/after-school dance education to over 3,200 underserved children and youth at 20 sites throughout Los Angeles. On average, students stay with our program for 7+ years and 30% study more than one dance form – the depth of learning they experience becoming a part of them as they transition into post-high school college and career pursuits. Everybody Dance! is anything but fleeting:
99% of students surveyed say that Everybody Dance! improves their physical fitness
94% said their self-esteem improved
97%, their self-efficacy
96%, their sense of being supported by friends and the community
100% of seniors in our after-school program graduate from high school to pursue college and career
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
To be honest, I am still not quite sure what it means to me. I think what I can do to be successful as a student is to learn all the things comprehensively and execute them according to my needs. Success is commonly known for achieving the goals that were planned prematurely. But since life doesn’t always go the way we want it to go, I would say success is more about being able to be the best that I can be within the given circumstance I am in.
Contact Info:
- Address: 222 E. 16th Street, Unit E, Los Angeles, CA 90015
- Website: everybodydance.org
- Phone: 213-365-2491
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: everybodydancela
- Facebook: everybodydancela
- Twitter: everybodydancela
Image Credit:
Rafael Hernandez, Hao Feng, Shuffle Photography, Hannah Long
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