Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

"Learning to walk sets you free. Learning to dance gives you the greatest freedom of all, to express with your whole self the person you are." - Melissa Hayden Lucky me that I can walk, the artistic vision and the rich imagination I have had set my thoughts free. I never had learned to be a ballerina, though it was one of the many dreams of mine. I do not think that I could stand the physical challenge of a dancer, but I do enjoy watching and appreciate deeply every single movement all the dancers make. Ballet really has become one of my most favorite subjects to paint, it has come into my dreams countless times as I am one of those dancing on the stage, and also in ancient Rome I was dancing ballet in the middle of the Colosseum! It might have made me wonder if there was a certain kind of soul that haunted me deeply inside, and this transformed into a vision I saw through my mind's eye. Reading all the novels, stories, and watching all the movies, TV series, we all

"To touch, to move, to inspire. This is the true gift of dance." ― Aubrey Lynch “Ballet is a dance executed by the human soul.” ― Alexander Pushkin “Ballet discipline: only the true believer would suffer the rigors it demanded.” ― Author Unknown  "My hope is to shed light, provoke thought, entertain, and move through dance." ― Dwight Rhoden "Dancers are not great because of their talent...they are great because of their passion" ― Unknown "Striving for connection with the audience is essential because you are in the moment; it is a give and take relationship. Catching someone's eye during a performance makes it more special" ― Aubrey Lynch "The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage." ― Robert Caro “You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang