Spring Break
Dance it forward
Lucia Papureanu
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: News
It took a few steps back and forth across the globe for Lotus Blossom, a 24-year-old music therapy graduate student, to realize she needed a new title.
Born in Colorado Springs, Blossom was raised in Germany until the age of eight, after which she returned to the plains of the Rocky Mountains. Following her return, she said she gave up her birth name, Krystle, and embraced the name given to her by what she refers to as "the Devine."
"(My name) represents who I am now, after I went through a big change," Blossom said.
Today, Blossom studies in the music therapy program, practicing her passion for teaching dance as a means to build body awareness in females.
"I want to start a dance class for teenage girls teaching them how to be aware of the box and not go for a classical, stiff dance," Lotus said. "I want them to say 'I know how my body is, I'm aware of its limits, let me see what I can do with it.'
"Women are always either bashing on other women or on themselves, they can't say what they really think," she said.
Last Saturday, the world celebrated Women's Day, a day designated to women from all walks of life, recognizing struggles while inspiring the future generations of women. This week saw International Women's Week, a series of events celebrating strong spirited women like Blossom.
Looking back at her experiences, Blossom says she's been inspired by a number of mentors. She has learned the trade of how to make a strong woman and how to be a good mom from her babysitting job primarily and her dance teacher Ra-el, in her junior year of high school.
"Ra-el is very much my spiritual teacher," Blossom said. "She changed my life; she showed me that there are good people around."
Blossom has passed her passion of dancing to friends, including her former dance student Rachael Singer, who is now a belly-dancing performer and teacher in a Chicago Public School. Singer named Blossom as the reason she picked up belly-dancing in the first place.
Born in Colorado Springs, Blossom was raised in Germany until the age of eight, after which she returned to the plains of the Rocky Mountains. Following her return, she said she gave up her birth name, Krystle, and embraced the name given to her by what she refers to as "the Devine."
"(My name) represents who I am now, after I went through a big change," Blossom said.
Today, Blossom studies in the music therapy program, practicing her passion for teaching dance as a means to build body awareness in females.
"I want to start a dance class for teenage girls teaching them how to be aware of the box and not go for a classical, stiff dance," Lotus said. "I want them to say 'I know how my body is, I'm aware of its limits, let me see what I can do with it.'
"Women are always either bashing on other women or on themselves, they can't say what they really think," she said.
Last Saturday, the world celebrated Women's Day, a day designated to women from all walks of life, recognizing struggles while inspiring the future generations of women. This week saw International Women's Week, a series of events celebrating strong spirited women like Blossom.
Looking back at her experiences, Blossom says she's been inspired by a number of mentors. She has learned the trade of how to make a strong woman and how to be a good mom from her babysitting job primarily and her dance teacher Ra-el, in her junior year of high school.
"Ra-el is very much my spiritual teacher," Blossom said. "She changed my life; she showed me that there are good people around."
Blossom has passed her passion of dancing to friends, including her former dance student Rachael Singer, who is now a belly-dancing performer and teacher in a Chicago Public School. Singer named Blossom as the reason she picked up belly-dancing in the first place.
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