ABOUT ME

My names is Brisa M Saenz. I was born on October 12, 2004, in Phoenix, Arizona. I identify myself as  Chicana. I grew up learning two languages which are Spanish and English. When growing up I was raised by my stepdad and mom. I lived with my older brother Luis, and my Nana. My Favorite color is blue. When I was 3, I started walking on my tippy toes so my mom enrolled me in ballet classes. My whole dance story started at ballet Phoenix. At 6 years old I lost someone very important to me, my Tata. He had his problems like everyone but the love I had for him was unconditional. Growing up and being in ballet meant I always had to make hard decisions. I was always in a place where I couldn’t do anything because I had ballet class. I never did sports because if I was to get hurt I wouldn’t be able to dance. When was 8 I switched to the Ballet of Arizona. I was a quiet kid in school, but ballet really helped me learn to socialize with my peers. A few years later when picking a high school, I look for one with a good dance program because I wanted to expand my styles of dance. I never imagined when I got to high school to have been chosen to be on Elite dance company. That same year I traveled with them to Orlando Florida for nationals. It was an amazing experience because we got to stay at Disney World.  It was hard for me to adjust to the other styles of dance, but ballet gave me the foundation I needed. The next year, my sophomore year, I got into Elite again.  That year we traveled to New York. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had. In New York, we took dance classes. Once we had gotten back everything had shut down due to covid.  When covid started I felt worried for how the world was becoming. I was scared for my health and my family’s. When covid started I also stop dancing ballet which is my stress reliever. I had lost that. That same year I started my college classes. I felt very proud of myself because I got to get ahead in post-secondary school. In the next year, we were all online which made me lose motivation. I auditioned for the dance company again but I felt so uncertain because I didn’t know if I was gonna be the same dancer as when I started. When coming back in person I felt unsure of it but in the end, I liked it because I was with my friends again. I got closer with my dance family and got my motivation back. Thoughout this year I felt that I’ve been more grateful for what I do and what I have because I’ll never know when it will be taken away.