Vanessa Marina hopes to be the first athlete to represent Portugal, in break dance, at the Olympic Games in Paris, in 2024. It will be the modality’s debut in this competition, but for Vanessa it is a way of life. Her love for dance, especially for this style, made her emigrate to London. At the age of 30, she is fulfilled with the choice she made when she was still in high school.
“In 2008 I began to be interested in hip-hop dance. I decided to enroll in a dance school in Leiria, where I am from.” It was here where Vanessa Marina took her first steps in break dance and in the first competitions.
“I began, through this group, to participate in battles of free style, a kind of contests, which were held in various parts of the country. Once, in Porto, I met people from all over the world. I thought, how do all these people know that this is happening here? I was fascinated.”
Lisbon was the next stop and dance was the obvious choice for higher education. With a friend she made the streets, in the center of the city, an improvised stage.
At the end of the course, at the Escola Superior de Dança, she did an internship at a dance academy, where she taught children, but this was not what suited her. In the end, she turned down the job offer that was presented to her. Vanessa wanted to live back and forth break danceso in 2014 he went to London.
“A friend was here and he told me there were more opportunities here. If I hadn’t come to London, I wouldn’t be where I am.”
Vanessa Marina works at a restaurant at night. During the day she is dedicated to training break dance🇧🇷 Paris 2024 is the goal he has in mind. For the first time, this modality integrates the Olympic Games.
“It is the culmination of a long road for this type of dance, which began in the 70s of the last century, and of which I am the product”.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Vanessa Marina (@vanessamarinabgirl)
Third place at this year’s European Championship in Manchester, along with many other achievements, suggest Portugal’s presence in the break danceat the Paris Games. “I’m doing my best. I’ll make it! Within my accounts it will work.”
From a school, in Leiria, to the Olympic Games, in Paris, there is a distance of 16 years. Vanessa Marina says that the support of her parents has been the basis of this adventure: “They have always supported me. I have been dancing since I was a child and they have never prevented me from following this path of break dance🇧🇷
Source: TSF
