About what I know
I can only write about what I know. And what I know is what it’s like to be an adult ballet dancer who started at twenty-one — yet fell so deeply in love with the art form that I built an entire life, both personal and professional, around it.
What I know is how to capture — with my heart and my eyes — the things that enchant me, becoming deeply immersed in the images I create throughout my career as a dance photographer.
I know what it’s like to place my hands on the barre and feel a sense of welcome, belonging, and peace. I also know the feeling of stepping onto a stage — whether alone or in a group — and the butterflies in the stomach felt in the wings. And I know the drive to dance simply for the love of it, and to keep feeling ballet flow through my body.
I also know how to be an audience member, with eyes sparkling with joy or welling up with emotion. I know how to be a student, a listener, and a seeker; and I know how to connect worlds and draw parallels that few people could even imagine.
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I don’t think I know all that much, actually. In fact, the more we study, the more we realize there is still so much to learn (it’s actually a bit daunting). But today, being more mature, I can see value in what I set out to share — even though I’m terrified that one day I’ll wake up thinking I could have done so much better, thought more, studied more, and lived more (and I know for sure that’s going to happen, that I am going to feel this way).
That is why I want to say that my recently published article, Ballet as a Fairytale: Classical Repertory as a Symbolic Vessel, is about everything I know today — and everything that stirs within me when I connect with classical ballet. It represents the research and reflection I can offer, within the scope of my limitations and the experiences I have lived so far. Because the hard truth is that we never know or experience enough.
Being “ready” is an illusion, and there is great beauty in seeing oneself as worthy of an achievement, however imperfect.
That is why, despite the fear, I always knew it would be worth sharing these thoughts with the world. A call from the soul is not something one refuses. I am very proud of this piece, and I hope it finds the people who need to read it. 🤍
Published article:
Lancelloti, Carolina. Ballet as a Fairytale: Classical Repertory as a Symbolic Vessel
Original title: O Ballet como um Conto de Fadas: O repertório como um veículo simbólico
Repertório, PPGAC/UFBA, no. 42, pp. 1–12, 2026.
DOI: 10.9771/rr.v1i42.72028
Original publication (Portuguese): Repertório — UFBA
