Here it is: FBG EXCLUSIVE Interview With LaTonya Swann: Dancer/Choreographer & Winner Of ‘Born To Dance: Laurieann Gibson’ !

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This 21 year old pretty brown girl is the 1st winner of BET’s Born To Dance Laurieann Gibson. Not only that, but LaTonya Swann is a professional dancer, choreographer, actress and entrepreneur. She has shown extreme dedication and passion all of her life in aspiring to accomplish her dreams, and she finally has! Latonya is all about  encouraging girls to believe in themselves despite the odds. I amsograteful and honored that the agreed to be interviewed for the site, and hope that you all will be as inspired when reading her answers as I was!

First of all, I know you’ve heard this already times a billion since winning the Born To Dancecompetition last year, but Congratulations! I enjoyed watching the show and it was really inspiring to see you achieve your dream. What did it feel like finding out you were the winner? Who was the first person you called to tell the great news?
LS: In all ways surreal! It just felt like everything I had put into my dance career, every value I was raised with, every hardship I had to overcome, every dance competition, every fake eyelash, every path God chose for me, was worth it. It all culminated in me to becoming the young woman who won that show. I was beyond grateful and overwhelmed that it was possible.  I never claimed it until she said my name, because I’ve always been fearful of that. So often, when you grow up where I did, things are taken from you. And this was one thing that would always be mine- I could claim it.

You are definitely a HUGE inspiration to many people but especially to young girls who aspire to be professional dancers. How does that feel? What piece of key advice would you give to a young person with a big dream?
LS: Whoa. It feels amazing. I think secretly I’ve always wanted to be that person that people looked up to because when I was growing up, there weren’t many tangible role models that came from the same environment. I’m extremely humbled by it, and usually taken aback because I feel like I’m still growing and improving, and I never really look at what I’ve done in that way, for someone to admire or be inspired by it. It was always just my path. But my advice to that young person with a big dream is to just believe in it! 100%. A lot of times people around you can’t see your vision. Sometimes they don’t believe in it. Sometimes people tell you or silently believe that those things don’t happen to “people like us”. Sometimes your environment will blind you to the possibilities of life. But as long as YOU believe in it, it will always be real, possible, and feasible. Also, never put a successful person on that idol pedestal, because that turns the idea of success into some mystical gift, granted to a select few when it’s really something that anyone can go out and grab a piece of. Constant, positive thoughts stated over time come back to you in ways you never could imagine. I was super young and naive (9yrs old) and told myself I would have my own house at 18, (something no one in my hood could dream of) and I’m 2 years off of that crazy goal. I wasn’t even thinking about the possibilities back then, but my belief in my dream made it happen whether I was paying attention or not.

READ FULL INTERVIEW HERE!

(Source: www)