I want to show the world that beauty and grace are not defined by status or race.

我想讓全世界知道，美麗與優雅並非由階級或是種族來定義。

My name is Aesha Ash, and through the use of ballet, I expose my community to more positive images of women of color.

我的名字是 Aesha Ash，我想藉由芭蕾這項活動，對外展現我的社區非裔女性的正面形象。

- That's crazy. - That's where it all began.

- 這很瘋狂。- 這裡就是所有故事的源頭。

Wow, so this is it.

就是這裡。

Aesha grew up in the inner city of Rochester, New York, where crime, gun violence and poverty were amongst the biggest threats to the community.

Aesha 生長於紐約市內羅徹斯特貧民區，這裡充斥著犯罪、槍戰和貧困，這些問題成為社區最大的威脅來源。

For us, that's normal.

對我們來說是稀鬆平常的事。

That's just life in the hood, but what I remember the most is the dance studio.

就只是日常生活所見之事，但我記憶中最深刻的是舞蹈教室。

I started dancing all together at the age of five.

我從五歲起就開始跳舞。

A teacher mentioned to my mother that I had some promise in ballet and that it would be difficult for me, as a woman of color, to enter the ballet world.

有位老師向我母親提及我在芭蕾方面很有潛力，這對我來說不容易，對於我這樣膚色的女性來說，加入芭蕾的世界極為困難。

But the adversity she faced was the very thing that pushed her to pursue a career in ballet.

但她所面對的逆境卻也是驅使她追求芭蕾事業的最大推手。

She went on to become one of the few women of color to ever grace the stages of New York City Ballet School of American Ballet.

她因此成為少數替舞台增添光芒的非裔女性，她是美國紐約芭蕾學校的舞者。

I felt like my entire career was catching up, and then, being a black woman in the ballet world,

我總覺得我整個職涯都在跟上別人的腳步，而身為芭蕾舞世界中的非裔女舞者，

I felt like I had to work twice as hard because of that as well, and there's so much negative stereotyping and misrepresentations of who we are perpetuated in the media.

我總覺得我必須比別人付出 2 倍努力也是因為這原因，更何況有太多負面的刻板印象和不當陳述皆源自於媒體對於我們這族群的描述。

So, I began the Swan Dreams Project in 2011.

我在 2011 年推動天鵝湖夢想計畫。

Through the use of imagery and my career as a ballet dancer, I challenge stereotypes that exist for women of color, particularly those from inner-city communities.

透過想像力以及身為芭蕾舞者的職涯，我試圖挑戰大家對於非裔女性的刻板印象，尤其是來自城市裡貧民區人們的刻板印象。

I didn't see anyone that had left the inner city of Rochester, New York, and come back here, and sort of expose all of use to look what you can become, look what I went off to do.

我沒看到有誰離開紐約市內羅徹斯特貧民區然後又回到這裡，並且還利用所有資源來發掘自己的潛在特質，看看我去做了什麼？

Aesha put on her tutu, grabbed a photographer, and started making her way through the very streets where she grew up.

Aesha 穿上她的芭蕾舞裙帶上攝影師，便開始拍攝她所生長的社區大小街道。

And it was very profound the impact that I got back, especially from the people on the street.

這部影片發人深省我受到很大的衝擊，尤其是來自街道上的人們。

Thank you, thank you for that.

謝謝妳所做的一切。

There was the one image that went viral of me with the little girls, and I just pulled them to the side, just started doing some ballet class.

有個畫面是我在跳舞的時候小女孩們跟我一起跳舞，我只是拉著她們到旁邊，然後開始上芭蕾舞課。

And that's when I realized I had something.

這時我深刻體悟到我有可以付出的東西。

This has to be bigger than this.

必須要做得更多。

And it began morphing and changing, and then people began asking for appearances.

這計畫開始轉型且不斷改變，接著人們開始詢問媒體露出的機會。

Good job!

做得好極了！

Who's next? Let me see you.

誰是下一位？讓我看看妳。

It's important that our girls see that side of themselves because for many kids, it's hard to be what you can't see.

讓我們的女孩們發現她們自己的另一面很重要，因為對於很多小孩而言，不可能化為可能是很困難的事。

I didn't see a black ballerina before.

我以前不曾見過非裔芭蕾舞伶。

I decided that's what I wanted to be.

所以我下定決心達成我的夢想。

It was really important for me to be in my environment displaying that because this is where I'm from.

這對我真的非常重要，向我所生長的環境展示這一切，因為這就是我生長的地方。

It was always beyond ballet.

這不僅僅是芭蕾而已。