Contributed by Ms Natasha De Silva, M Social Singapore Assistant Events Manager.

As Assistant Events Manager, Natasha is kept busy on her feet on most days, converting new leads into business, coordinating logistics and food and beverage, ensuring that events go on smoothly in the hotel, and meeting with clients and organising site visits. Despite the hectic life, she’s able to remain steady on her toes, having been a ballerina for 12 years! She shares with us what made her pick up the dance, and the ballerina habits she’s unable to kick.

I picked up ballet when I was just four years old, mainly because I was envious of my friends in their buns and cute tutus, looking like princesses! But my mother didn’t mind me signing up to learn ballet because she thought it could help me become more ladylike, having good posture and a sense of self-discipline (I hope I turned out as she expected!)

I enrolled in preschool ballet under the Royal Academy of Dance, which is one of the internationally recognised boards for ballet. Starting when I was four, I ended up practicing ballet for 12 years until I was 17. I did have some pauses in between, such as when I had to adapt to my schedule in secondary school, and eventually stopped to focus on my diploma at SHATEC (a Hotel and Tourism School launched by the Singapore Hotel Association).

I’m very proud of myself for managing to complete the Graded Syllabus from grades one to eight, all the way up to Advanced Foundation under the Vocational Graded Syllabus! Each grade consists of an examination, and dancers have to successfully pass or earn a distinction before they can proceed to the next Grade.

Despite the tough examinations, its been very fulfilling learning ballet, and I didn’t find myself becoming interested in other dance genres, as you learn a wide range of styles within ballet itself! In addition to classical ballet, we also learnt contemporary styles and character dances based on Hungarian, Russian, and Polish folk dances! I also learnt pointe work, a style where ballerinas dance on their toes.

It’s also particularly memorable thinking back on the times where my dance mates and I performed for neighbourhood carnivals, or when my ballet school invites our parents to see us in action.

Being a ballerina for so long, I have picked up some dance habits that I’m finding hard to break. Other than counting in eights, you might find me stretching while waiting or cracking or popping my joints!