Article January 19, 2009 Issue

MY PRINCIPAL ROLE

BY HALEY HENDERSON-SMITH

THE ARTS are generally regarded as a primary form of creativity, originality, and interpretation, where people feel particularly free to express themselves in beautiful and exciting ways. As a young Christian Scientist growing up in the world of ballet, I felt blessed to see performing not as a personal gift I was giving to others, but as the expression of the infinite qualities I reflected straight from God.

Just after my 17th birthday, I moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, to join the Royal Danish Ballet. I had reluctantly attended the audition for the company's summer program in Copenhagen at the urging of my ballet teacher. It was an intensive three weeks with dancers from all over the world, and shortly before the program ended, I found out I was the only dancer who'd been offered a job with the company.

I had two weeks to return to my Southern California home and prepare to move my life to Copenhagen. Leaving home and family at such a young age was difficult, but my first job with a ballet company became for me an amazing experience that included overcoming many difficulties through the prayerful study and application of Christian Science.

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