Hi! I'm Isabella!
I'm a daughter of two loving parents and an older sister. I was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, but left home at fifteen to further my ballet training in Toronto, at Canada's National Ballet School. I then moved to England (over ten years ago) to pursue a career in dance. Today, I live in London and I'm a soloist with The Royal Ballet.
My parents live in sunny Atibaia, where I spend most of my holidays. They own a ballet school, Ballet Marcia Lago, and as you can probably guess, it is how I got introduced to ballet. Dancing became another passion of mine and one that would shape my life, but I must confess that reading and writing came first.
Ever since I can remember, my favourite things to receive as a present were books, stationary papers and coloured pens. I collected 'papéis de carta' (pretty stationary), and ballet stickers too. I've had a journal since I was nine years-old and used to write every single day. I also attempted a few short stories for Portuguese class at school, I loved any subject that involved writing. I've always been the quiet kid who wanted to be in her room reading while the other kids played outside. My dad used to tell me off all the time. I'm still the same quiet, introverted person (most of the time), but instead of reading in my room, I hang out at coffee shops or in the artists' cafeteria at the Royal Opera House. One is likely to find me there every break, most likely typing franticly on my laptop.
When I was little, I used to write about my day: what I had for breakfast, what happened at school, what my ballet teacher said, homework, my dog ... but as a teenager, my writing became very personal, more about my feelings than my daily routine. I've been through phases of desperate emotional writing to neglecting my journal completely. The entries became fewer and fewer and nowadays, with my crazy schedule plus my studies, I barely write for pleasure anymore. I only write when I'm really angry, or very sad or confused, about things that I'm very grateful for or in moments of deep struggle. It is my therapy, helping me process what's going on inside.*
Besides being a full time dancer and girlfriend, I am a part time student at the Open University. I'm studying for a degree on English Literature and Creative Writing. It consumes most of my free time, but I love it. I also love travelling to the sea or countryside or any beautiful European destination, enjoy watching a good movie or tv series, and could probably have scrambled eggs and avocado on toast every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I love being with my family in Brazil, and although I've lived away for more than half of my life now, it is where my heart belongs.
*I would say that everything changed since the pandemic. I've written over thirty blogs, retold my journey from beginning to end, and writing came back into my life in full power. Hopefully, as things pick up in the theatre, I'll still be able to sustain the blog, even if it means fewer entries. I hope they are helpful and insightful.