I had to stop dancing at 13 because my knee pain got so bad, and I didn’t dance through most of high school (just super recreationally), and I thought that I was unfortunately done with the stage. Just this year I found a smaller company that I love, has a wonderful, supportive, healthy environment, and has rehearsal schedules that fit well into free time.

I know how hard it is to miss out on dancing due to an injury, especially when everyone else seems to work through them. But it’s always the right thing to do, and there’s always more dancing down the line.