Today we’d like to introduce you to Siena Okuno.
Siena, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born and raised in California but moved to Boston for college. Throughout my life, I’ve had a lot of different interests. When I was a child my parents were more than eager to indulge my curiosity and signed me up for soccer, hula, ballet, tap, hip hop, tennis, soccer, karate, sailing, and probably a few others I don’t remember. As I got older, ballet started to take priority in my life along with robotics. I was dancing almost every day and loved every second of it, while on the engineering side I would eagerly await the next competition. Between these two passions I barely had time to sleep! I definitely don’t regret it though.
As the end of high school neared, I decided to go to college for engineering. I picked a tiny college named Olin, which I fell in love with pretty much on sight. The community, hands-on learning, and location (somewhere where there were seasons!) was perfect.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I am a ballerina and have recently started experimenting with modern dance as well. I tell stories through my dancing. Each story is different depending on the song or the theme of the show, but I think the most important message that I’ve told during a dance is to be yourself. It’s cliche, but if you don’t live for your own happiness, then who will? Recently I have been experimenting with the idea of confronting some negative part of yourself so you can grow as a person. This is something I have struggled with in the past, ironically because of the challenges of the very competitive dance world, and want to show people that yes, your feelings are valid but you can overcome them.
Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
I wish I had learned to reach for what I wanted. I think I look back on a lot of moments in my life where I could have done this or that and instead I chose to be compliant, to allow other people to put limitations on me. I ended up at an amazing college and in an amazing field, but there is always the question of what could have happened if I did something different. To any others who are hesitant or doubtful of themselves, I would ask that they believe in themselves. Take every opportunity you truly want, even if that means letting go of some other things.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Right now, I am only performing with the Wellesley College Dancers at Wellesley College. Our show is on December 7th if they would like to come! It may not be a professional dance company, but we try our best and I think that shows.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sienao222
Image Credit:
Siena Okuno
