Artist Feature
KATRINA CUNNINGHAM
Written by Sasha VanHoven
Photography by Mitch Candreva
ballerina is trying to teach me how to sit gracefully.
Sophomore dancer Katrina Cunningham rests com-
fortably with her legs turned out naturally in an almost
perfect line. Katrina’s thick, golden curls are tamed in
a low bun. A loose ringlet falls over her left ear. The bird silhouette
tattooed on her inner left wrist flutters around her as she talks, her
hands moving in rhythm with one another. Her knees touch the stu-
dio floor. Mine do not. Cannot. Having never been asked to “turn
out” before, they pretend not to hear me.
As I concede and slouch into a more comfortable position, I
have to remind myself that Katrina’s been training her body to do
this since she was three; once her mother realized that her more vo-
cal tendencies were quieted with the ballet videos she rented from
the library, she was put into dance classes. She hasn’t left the ballet
studio since.
The studio smells of wooden floors, lingering sweat, bare feet,
and rubber. As I lean against the wall, I notice the barre, just inches
above my head.
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