What do you define yourself as?

I am not yet an official dancer, at least I think so myself. Because I have not passed my current training yet, I am currently still studying to become a dance teacher.
I am on my way to becoming a dancer and that is something I can very easily find my way in. For me it is also very personal what you define as a "dancer". Are you only a dancer when you have had an "official" education, or are you already a dancer by nature? These are of course things that differ for everyone, but for me it is especially true that you are only a dancer if you yourself think that you have achieved that.

You have always danced, but which type of dance do you mainly do?

I was 8 when I started, just practicing dances more as a hobby. But gradually it grew for me more and more into a serious passion in which I now see more and more of a future since my teenage years.
At the end of my primary school I started doing a dance training because I wanted to develop myself much more in the dance field. I'm used to doing it day in and day out. Incidentally, I don't mind that, it only ensures that I don't lose my passion for it.
  I currently dance a lot of contemporary urban. It is a direction in which I get a lot of artistic freedom as a dancer. I also dance modern / contemporary & classical ballet.

Which dance style do you prefer to do and why?

Urban Contemporary, I can add my personality much more because there are no rules in this dance style. Ballet is so perfectionistic, and everything is very structured, but with this style I can let go of my own "me" more. I also think that I am more interested in that because I love art very much and this is also related to this dance style.

Is dancing also something that can be mentally healing for you?

Dancing is very healing for me mentally. I am a person by nature who always needs to move after a long time. Moving but mainly dancing comes naturally to me and that is something I later started to develop in my own dance style.

In addition to dancing that's mentally healing for you, I also get the idea that it has made you mentally stronger, is that so?

Yes, certainly. You always gotta keep up with yourself. There are days when you can perform less physically and mentally and that is something that many people struggle with. Because you naturally use your own body as a "tool" for the dances you create, days when you feel mentally less present can of course turn out differently in the physical area. There are also days when you are less susceptible to criticism from other people and you have to get into a certain flow to be able to portray the negativity in something positive.

I can imagine that dancing mainly, because you started out as a "teen" that it can do negative stuff with your self-image. Did you have trouble transitioning your body as a teenager to how you dance now and how did you develop in this?

If I am very honest I have not had problems with that myself. Because I see dancing as a natural mechanism in my own body, I have never involved this in my own self-image. What I would like to say about this is that I notice more often that children who are just starting to dance and they are around puberty that they have no sense of how their body works when it comes to exercise. It seems as if they have completely lost their own way of moving. I find that interesting to observe, of course this question is very personal and it ultimately differs for everyone.

At what time of the day are you the most creative?

In principle I always want to dance, no matter how mentally or physically exhausted I am. There are certainly moments when I cannot dance, this has to do with the fact that I am a perfectionist. Sometimes I am too perfectionistic and punish myself if I don't get negative feedback to improve. The urge to improve myself stems mainly from the urge to dance more and more and to develop myself more and more in dance.

Do you notice a difference with dancing now and when you were younger?

I was very much someone who did what was asked of me, I have now managed to develop a mix of these. The older you get, the more aware you are of how to best use your body. Your body also develops its own "flow" to which you can dance. When you are young you do not necessarily have a definition of this, "I have to make this and this movement" that at some point becomes detached from you as you get older.

Do you think you have developed your own style in dance?

I really developed my own dance style when I was younger. It is very natural to me but for other people it looks more extravagant. They are, for example, more experimental movements with more additions to normal movements and then adding an extra something to give a different dimension to reality and a better show.

Last but not least, I want to ask you what your  future perspective is?

I want to go more towards the performing dance, I like to dance "myself". This also means that I can monitor my own autonomy in my dance. Next year, if I have passed this education, I want to register for various dance schools that place more emphasis on becoming an executive dancer. To develop myself more, it is interesting that teachers at these schools can take me further. The struggle for this type of education to be hired is considerable. But I very much believe in 'faith', so if I don't get in somewhere, I would also see it as a sign that I should not be doing this. But I will always find my way to continue dancing, in whatever way.