Hello my lovelies,
I am back today with the testimony of an “insanely great chick”: Angelina Bruno.
It is thanks to Faustine Bollaert in “Ça commence aujourd’hui” on France 2 that I discovered her.
Despite tragic events in her life, she stood up and fought. She gave meaning to her life through dance.
Today, Angelina dances for Black M and attends several conferences to testify of her experience.
Each of us should follow her example and not give up in the face of life’s difficulties.
I’m letting you discover this ball of positive energy, because I can’t keep her words to myself.
Kisses,
– Kat.
K: Your face may look familiar to some people because you are one of the dancers for Black M. How did you meet him?
Angelina: Two years ago, in February, I came across the casting opportunity for his tour. The casting was done in Paris. So, I decided to participate. That’s where I met him for the first time because he was part of the jury. It was very impressive.
K: You came to share your testimony on the show “Çacommence aujourd’hui” presented by Faustine Bollaert on France 2. Why did you choose to take part in this?
Angelina: Actually, I didn’t choose at all. I was invited. For most of the lectures I give, it’s often the people who come to me. The theme was “Someone with a disability fighting for their dreams” and they discovered me on social networks. It was a great example for them. They contacted me to see if I was OK to be on the show. And of course, I was all ears.
K: For you, what is the most important message to remember from your testimony?
Angelina: The most important thing for me is really a proverb that dictates my daily life and always allows me to go further in the things I do. The key phrase that dictates my whole life is: “The only limits are the ones you impose on yourself”. I didn’tinvent anything, it’s an expression that already exists.
Unfortunately, I don’t know who coined it, but it’s true that this phrase has been a bit of a reflection of my whole life.
All my life, I’ve been going beyond my limits all the time and I’ve achieved things I could never have thought of.
K: Today, you’re a full-time dancer. Before your car accident, was dancing already an integral part of your life?
Angelina: No, it wasn’t. Before my accident, I didn’t dance at all. I mean, I didn’t dance at all… We’re not gonna lie to each other, I’ve always liked it. As a teenager, we used to have girlfriend parties. And it’s true that in the evenings, I told myself that I felt the music differently. I was a big music fan. I was a big fan of French rap, that was the sountrack to my whole adolescence. I’ve always loved music. My father, who was a big soul fan, gave me that passion too.
But I never said to myself “I’m going to take a dance class” or “Dance is part of my life”. That came later.
K: I guess losing a limb is a blow to your self-confidence. How did you regain your self-confidence and self-esteem?
Angelina: I wouldn’t say the word “regain” because as a 17-year-old girl, my self-confidence was still under construction. Like any teenager, I was searching for myself a little bit. I didn’t have my personality yet, I didn’t really know what kind of girl I was. Afterwards, I gained confidence because I did a lot of work onmyself. I understood very quickly that if I didn’t become a warrior, I was going to be eaten alive by others, because the way people look at me is something very hard to live with. People don’t make things better, especially when you already feel very bad about yourself. I understood very quickly that at the beginning I had to lie; it’s like in the theatre, I learned to play a role. Beyond the fact that I lost my arm, I almost died. From the moment you almost lose your life, there’s something that goes away. In any case, on that day, something left me, but something new happened. The trust, at first, it was a lie. A beautiful lie. The human being does that very well. I think that by constantlylyingto ourselves, we believe our lies and one day we wake up and really trust ourselves. Because we’ve told ourselves every day that we have to have it. That’s how every human being changes his vision of things, by repeating things every day and working to learn to accept himself.
K: You’ve turned your amputation into a strength? Why and how?
Angelina: The first thing that has helped me the most in my life and what has allowed me to survive – and that’s really the term “survive”, which is a strong term because it’s not living, you’re not in life, but in survival because it’s very hard psychologically – it’s really the dancing. Dance has been my only life force. It’swhat allowed me to reconnect with a body that I didn’t know, a body that I rejected a lot because I didn’t want to accept it, I was too angry. For me, the Lord had not given me that body, so I did not understand. I didn’t understand why this was happening to me, why it was happening to me, why all of a sudden I was in high school and then all of a sudden I was the high school freak, why I couldn’t do things on a daily basis anymore. We don’t live in the same reality anymore, I was very angry. Dancing is going to be my greatest love story and also my greatest therapy.
K: As a dancer, which facet of this art fascinates you the most?
Angelina: Aaah, I like that kind of question ! I’ve never been asked, it’s interesting.
K: From dancer to dancer :))
Angelina: Aaah, that’s why. I was going to say, they’re not the kind of questions I’m used to being asked. It’s really great.
What I really like the most is being able to take a choreography that I’ve been given and put it to my liking. There’s also the freestyle scene. It’s an area that I don’t really like, that attracts me less, even if it’s necessary for a dancer’s growth. Improvisation is not my greatest strength. My strength is really in the scenic field (of the stage) and the field where I reproduce a choreography. I love that moment when I’ve taken on a sequence of steps, that I can make my own and then deliver them back. That’s my love, that’s the facet I love the most in dancing.
K: I found out that besides being a dancer, you’re also a choreographer. Of course, being a dancer and being a choreographer are related. What makes a dancer a good choreographer?
Angelina: I would say, for me, that a good dancer who becomes a good choreographer is a dancer who has a damn good personality (apologies for the swear word). In life, there are 2 categories of people: there are followers and leaders. There are dancers who are very good at following a choreographer and there are dancers who have so much personality that they have to be creative. The number one rule for me is to have personality and charisma in the artistic world.
To have something extra that other dancers don’t have. You quickly notice in a dance class those who have that little something extra and those who are very good at following a choreography. It is also necessary to know each other artistically. That’s why freestyle is interesting, because it allows you to create with your own personality. Anyway, it helped me a lot to know myself. Unfortunately, the choreographers didn’t allow me to know myself because I always followed someone. While training by myself and training my freestyle, I managed to find my own flow and my own style. That’s what allowed me to become a choreographer.
K: And on top of all that, you’re also a dance therapist. What is dance therapy?
Angelina: You have to know that in my career, before I became a professional dancer, for me, dance was just a passion. I really thought that it was not physically possible: I had a lot of physical problems following my accident and the operations I had. So, physically, it was impossible. For me, I was too weak. So, I went into personal development and became a sophrologist. I was really into that relationship with one another,that’s part of the sophrology therapy. When I realized that it was possible for me to become a professional dancer – because that’sall I thought about all the time – I had already opened my practice, I had my clients, but in my head, I was only thinking about when I was going to go and dance. One day, I said to myself, “It’s not possible, it’s all in my head, I have to make a living out of it. ». I made it my job. Then, when I started to become a dancer, I missed therapy very much. It was a great field for me, but it was a bit superficial.
I wanted to find that depth again because I’m a very spiritual person. I’m thinking why not combine the two together, my two passions. I discovered a training course that I took.
To answer your question, I will give you the definition of MY dance therapy because all dance therapists work on different dimensions. My dance therapy allows us to understand ourselves, to understand the body we are in. It is, above all, an understanding of what happens in my life through my body, through movement because your body talks a lot. Then it’s about self-esteem, self-love and self-confidence. That’s really what I target my dance therapy at. I work with a lot of different things I work with dance, with sophrology because I am a sophrologist, I can use crump (it’s a hyper aggressive dance and it also helps a lot), I also use theatrical techniques. I use a lot of techniques in my dance therapy.
K: How do you always have so much energy and always have a positive attitude?
Angelina: I am both to start with. As happy as I am, as sad as I am. It’s important for people to know that because you shouldn’t idealize positivism. There’s the other side of the coin.
Today, I am so happy because I have been enormously unhappy. I have both, I still have a lot of melancholy in me but through that, what makes the difference, I think, is that I’m just really happy to be alive. For me, it’s a daily opportunity. As I almost died, today, for me, I do everything like a child. I’m very childlike, amazed by life, amazed by people. I love people. I don’t have a filter like an adult could have. Children are natural, they go to others, they cuddle. That’s the way I am. That’s why it affects adults so much. Adults have lost their ‘child’ part – well, put aside – while I have the opposite, my child is really verypresent. That’s why I enjoy life even more with adult eyes.
K: And last question, what are the 3 words that best describe you?
I would say authentic, spontaneous and fighter. Those are three words that suit me.
Thank you very much, Angelina.
I hope you enjoyed the interview. Feel free to share, like, follow Angelina on Instagram (@angelina.bruno) and leave a comment🙂.
I’ll see you soon for another interview.
Kiss my lovelies,
-Kat.
-ITW May 5th 2019