THE CHRONICLES OF A HEARTBREAK: "dancing with destruction"

Photographer: Tony Lapid
Makeup Artist: Jeralen Mascarinas
Hairstylist, Story, and Stylist: ME
Designer: Jeffrey Norsouvanh (my little brother)
Model: Annie Choi

You have been in many productions, danced with many partners, and some have been better than others. Needless to say, you have always put on a strong face, given every show your all, and danced till the curtains fell. Knowing that you especially put your blood, sweat, heart, and tears in this last dance; the reviews came back, one in particular, slamming you for your performance still. How do you digest that?

You are sitting in your dressing room, feeling like all your work was in vain. You are staring at your last pair of ballet slippers which you have hung up. The ribbons are tattered up by time, the points shredded by compromise and the pink satin is soiled by your bleeding heart. Your feet are calloused by broken promises and deception. You see the evidence that you have danced with all your might, but the only thing that stands in front of this truth, is the bold letters in that review; that you didn’t dance hard enough.

It’s absurd what has been said about you. You could have been dancing on top of water and this critic still wouldn’t have thought it were enough. But you feed into this and want to give up. You don’t want to dance anymore. The next partner you are willing to dance with at this point, is death.

The pain has become that unbearable. You loved this dance more than life itself… this dance became your life. But remember, that it is only one critic, one review. Don’t let them take away from your work. The audience gave you a standing ovation at the end and the applause are still lingering. That is a testament to who you are. You must not let one critic stand in your way, when the world knows it and you know it, that this was one of your greatest efforts.