Recently, I had the privilege to interview Cäcilia Mangelmann.
WHEN DID YOU START DANCING?
I started dancing as a teenager and was mainly doing Jazz. When I became part of a performance group within my school, I discovered classical ballet, but never really trained it. I then stopped dancing for a while when I was studying and only started again at the age of about 26 when I came to Basel. I decided to finally learn ballet from the ground up – and here I am! 🙂 Fun fact – my mom didn’t dare to put me into classical ballet as a kid because it didn’t work out at all with my older sister – she preferred playing football!
HOW DID YOU FIND THE BRASWELL ARTS CENTER (BAC)?
The BAC found me, haha! My former ballet teacher decided to pursue other adventures and was looking for a successor – so Armando came and ‘auditioned’ with our little group of dancers at ‘Ballett Dienstag’ and we were happily welcoming him as our new teacher. That’s from where he started his journey to found BAC.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT THE BAC, WHY IS IT THAT YOU STAY HERE? WHAT SETS THE BAC APART FROM THE OTHER DANCE STUDIOS?
I like the variety of classes and teachers. I’ll always stick to ballet, but I also love to do modern or jazz. The flexibility of the schedule and the many workshops also allow me to try new things – I took my first ever GAGA workshop at BAC. I also love being able to benefit from different teaching styles. Many of the teachers are actively performing themselves, which provides a lot of artistic inspiration from my point of view. Also, the BAC is a bit of a family, I’ve met people there that have become friends, actually.
IN YOUR OPINION, WHY HAS THE BAC SUCCEEDED AS MUCH AS IT HAS?
In addition to the broad offer mentioned above I think it’s the passion of Armando and Lisa and everyone involved. They’ve always believed in what they do and weren’t afraid to take risks – that’s how you grow!
Thank you Cäcilia for taking time out of your day to answer these questions! We really appreciate your loyalty. Keep up the dance!
