Anita grew up dancing in the UK and France since the age of 5. She went on to study at many prestigious schools including Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, Bodywork Dance Company and most recently Broadway Dance Center in NYC.
Four years ago, now at the age of 23, Anita’s life changed .. from one day to just living a normal busy life, to the next not being able to walk. She was away from the UK studying at the time and would be walking to class when the next thing she knew she would be looking at the floor. This inevitably caused her a lot of distress and confusion. Anita says “Every time I stood up my legs were shaking. My legs would buckle each time I put weight on them, my body would go weak, my head would be nodding and my eyes were closing like a puppet on a string I had no control over.”
Anita went home to her family to recover, but unfortunately it wasn’t the end but the beginning of a very long journey. After reoccurring attacks, a year later Anita was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder, and the following two years consisted of a lot of medical appointments and treatment, as well as self-care including stress reducing techniques.
Anita still has the occasional attacks/symptoms but has learnt that there is no point on focusing on that one bad moment in the day when there were 20 other great ones. Anita says “The symptoms are not dangerous to me, just frustrating/annoying and I have learnt to prioritize the things that really matter: my passion for dance, my goals and what I want to achieve in life. In some ways the disorder has taught me to put myself first and to look after myself, which many young people don’t learn until later on in life.”
Anita is still following her passion of dance, and to help raise awareness of FND and other hidden illnesses she has got together a group of talented choreographers and organised a evening of professional dance and song.
Come and spend an evening watching some empowering art and leave feeling inspired and with the knowledge that all of us deep down are quite similar after all.
TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED BY CLICKING HERE
Hope to see you there!
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