A group of young ballerinas gathered to take part in an iconic photoshoot inspired by Misty Copeland in honor of Black History Month.
The youngsters dance together at iRule Dance Studio in Beaumont, Texas and they took a break from their dance schedules to pose for the camera.
The little girls turned this photoshoot into a symbol of empowerment for black women. ‘’All they want to do is have fun and they still don’t understand how big of a deal this is,” Angela Malonson, whose 7-year-old daughter Falon has been a part of the elite dance squad since she was 3, told GMA.
‘’Maybe once they’re older and can reflect back on the moment, they will see all of the positivity,” Malonson added. “It’s a wonderful feeling.”
‘’These girls are dedicated,” said the photographer, whose daughter dances at iRule. “When I say dedicated, I mean dedicated.”
“These girls work so hard, and although they don’t complain about it, sometimes we like to do something fun,” Malonson told GMA. “It just so happened to be February and what better month to do [the photo shoot] in honor of Black History Month.”
On the day of the photoshoot, Perry gathered the ballerinas together in their black leotards, pink tights, and ballet slippers. They all were wearing the same out, Perry said she wanted to accurately reflect each ballerina’s unique personality in the photos.
“Even if it’s a group of girls, I love each one of them to have their own little thing, each one of them [to] shine a little bit,” Perry told KSAZ. “You can tell the personality in each one of these girls. I wanted it to be a fierce, in-your-face picture, but show their softness too,” the photographer added of the shots.”
“We just don’t see a lot of people that look like her … people of color, brown people that take ballet,” she explained to GMA. “Misty Copeland came along and paved the way. There weren’t very many people for little girls of color to look up to.”
When the photos came out, iRule’s founder and owner CharLee Hanna-Rule said she was impressed by the shots. “When I saw [the pictures], I obviously choked up,” Hanna-Rule told GMA. “To see [the photos], I was so proud.”
“I’m a big believer that, no matter who you are, if you want to dance in my studio, it’s a place for you,” she explained. “It doesn’t matter your size or color or anything.”
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