What do you do if you love to dance but can't afford it? Well you dance for free of course. Sounds too good to be true, I know. But that's how Ebony Williams got started in ballet with the Boston Ballet. She got her chance because her neighbour, who could afford to pay for dance class, taught her. 

By any means possible, that's what passion will do for you. Interestingly enough Ebony wasn't all too passionate about ballet per se, but she loves to dance and happened to be good at ballet. Today she's been dancing with the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in New York for over 10 years, but gets her non-classical dance expressions out (what she refers to as her "recess") by working with celebrities from Ciara, Rhianna, Jennifer Hudson, and most notably, Beyonce. Incase you didn't recognize her, Ebony is one of the two dancers in Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' video. 

In an interview with Refinery29, Ebony expresses that she wanted nothing else at one point to fit in with her fellow ballet dancer, and a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl, because she was afraid to embrace who she was. This is something that's all too familiar to me growing up in Sweden. EVERYONE was blond and blue-eyed. Ok, maybe not everyone, but almost, lol. My friends had hair down to their bum, easy to comb, wash-and-go's no problem, and people could pronounce their name. I distinctively remember at around the age of 5 I wanted to change my name to Sara (spelled without the "h" in Swedish) or Anna. Everyone butchered the name which I now love more than anything, and people still over-complicate it to this day, including my black peers, I'm assuming because of the "French-y" spelling with the extra "te" at the end. The difference now is that I have no problem correcting anybody. It doesn't get under my skin, I'll simply tell you how it's pronounced (like the flower) and keep it moving.  The African Violette, from Sweden. Thats me :) And how cool is that anyways? Pretty cool if I may say so myself.

Embracing herself is what allowed Ebony to dance with Beyonce on numerous occasion, including at the Super Bowl!! Now how's that for not being blond and blue-eyed?

Ebony explains in her interview that becoming and embracing who you are, "is all about hard work, dedication, loving yourself, and not giving up. Don't let the doors close just because someone said no. You bust the door down and keep going for what you want."

Can I get an Amen? I'm telling you, if opportunity doesn't come knocking, build a door. In 2015, limiting your options "because you're black" doesn't cut anymore. Not claiming it'll be a walk in the park, but you've got plenty of role models who've paved the way ahead of you, some of which are featured here. So this leaves hard work, dedication, and self-love. For starters, if you don't love yourself and think you're worth it, you won't try hard enough to make it happen. So that's where you need to start. Love yourself enough to know that you are worth the while and the effort. I'm telling you, that conviction can move mountains. You won't mind the work cause you see the end goal. Vision my friends. 

And that's about it in a nutshell ladies, love yourself --> have a vision --> work hard.

Why do think people give up on their dreams? Or worse yet, never even try? Let me know in the comments below.

Be blessed!