By Ariana Rathan
Young Cassidy Doan stared up at the television screen in awe as she watched “Barbie in the Pink Shoes.” She gazed up at the delicate girls who twirled around and danced to the calming yet beautiful classical music.
Next thing she knew, Doan turned to the audience and smiled, adrenaline pulsing through her veins as she bowed, and the crowd cheered in approval. She would do this many times more throughout her life.
Cassidy Doan is a ballet prodigy that has done so much within the 18 years she has lived. She has won second place in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), traveled the world to train and perform ballet, and lived and attended the Houston ballet and is now going to be double majoring in dance and Biochem at University of California, Irvine (UCI) to become a pediatrician.
Doan’s story is not just a story of a ballet prodigy or one about a high school student—it’s the story of a girl with a dream.
Doan started dancing at the age of three at Southland Ballet Academy and trained there until high school.
She also partook in many things as a child, such as playing piano, karate, all kinds of sports and more. But at the age of 12, Cassidy realized how much she loved dance. She started to devote all of her time and energy to the craft of ballet and trained for hours on end at Southland.
“The thing I love about dance is that I don’t have to talk much, I just have to move and people will understand,” Doan said.
Throughout her ballet career, she had two major mentors who inspired her to be the best she could be and provided a shoulder to lean on when she needed one: her mother and her dance teacher.
“My mom helped me with everything involving dance. If I could be one percent of what my mom is, that would be my life goal,” Doan said. “Also I grew up with [with my dance coach] since I was three and she’s like my second mom to me and she helped me when I was in Houston when I was by myself.”
As Doan started to train more and more, gaining more technique, more pirouettes, flexibility, jumping higher leaps,she began to see the progress.
During Doan’s freshman year at Fountain Valley High School, she started to train for YAGP, America’s most prestigious ballet competition where the best ballet dancers from all around the country come to compete.
“I trained about 20 hours per week at Southland, but I was absent a lot from school. In my freshman year, I was so into dance, I was absent for 16 days. I missed a whole week of school for the YAGP finals,” Doan said.
Doan attended the New York YAGP finals and won second place. She was then scouted and received a full scholarship to attend the Houston Ballet academy.
After the school year, Doan was off to Houston to live on her own and train with professionals, something she could only dream of. Even though it was a dream of hers to train at prestigious ballet school, she had to push herself because not only was she the youngest in her classes, she had not grown up at the school.
“It’s competitive because I was one of the youngest in that class. I found my group of friends at Houston, but it was still very competitive,” Doan said.
Throughout her two years at Houston, Doan learned a lot about discipline and responsibility, especially because she was living on her own at the age of fifteen.
“To balance my schedule of dance and school in Houston, I had to follow a strict schedule. I would wake up at seven, get ready and get to dance at eight, have lunch from 12-12:30, dance again until five,” she said. “Then, I would get home and take a shower and eat and from 6:30 to whenever school and homework were finished. I also had school on the weekend. I danced Monday through Saturday.”
Even though she was there to train for ballet, Doan learned a lot about life.
“At times, it did feel liberating that I was a 15 year old girl living on my own. At the same [time], it felt lonely,” she said. “I’m known to be very independent and responsible, and I learned how to take care of my apartment, buy my own groceries, ride the bus by myself, [and] walk home from school, I walked to church every Sunday. I cooked my own meals every week. I did my laundry.”
She didn’t know at that time but training at Houston and getting scouted at YAGP allowed her to take classes around the world and train with other professionals. She traveled to London, New York City, Amsterdam, Paris, Los Angeles and Orlando to train with the best dancers.
Doan was living her dream, training with professionals and getting to do what she loved everyday, which was dancing.
“The thing I love about dance is the feeling of when you’re backstage and your heart is beating and there are a million butterflies in your stomach. Then, you step onto the stage and the lights are on your face, all of that nervous feeling goes away. When the lights are shining on your face and you don’t see the audience, you just feel at home on stage, like no one is watching, I dance like no one is watching,” she said.
Even though dance is her passion and she loves what she does, there were times where she felt like she just couldn’t do it.
At 13, she had to take a break from dance because she had torn a ligament in her knee from overusing it while dancing.
Doan would also miss out on hanging out with her friends and experiencing everyday highschool events, just so she could attend her performances and rehearsals.
Doan, like many other ballerinas, dealt with body dysmorphia.
In Houston, not only did Cassidy have to balance her dance and school life, she had to deal with the mental effects of being away from her family and the constant criticism from teachers and competition at Houston Ballet.
“The teachers would comment on my body. I naturally have thick bones and I would be compared to thin boned bodies,” Doan said. “My teachers would say things like ‘Your thigh is bigger than theirs’. I would stop eating sometimes, especially in Houston.”
Overcoming these struggles and obstacles was no easy task for her, but Doan did overcome them, because she knew that everything she did in her life should be her best.
“I was tired [in] Houston. But at times where I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore, I remember that I’ve worked so hard and sacrificed so much. That sacrifice motivated me to keep pushing,” Doan said.
Doan, despite all of the challenges she has faced in her life, she is a force to be reckoned with. She is mature beyond her years and has a kindness and smile that shines throughout everything she does whether it be her dancing or just talking to others.
During the 2019-2020 year, she moved to Houston to train, but in March 2020 when the pandemic hit, she was forced to return home.
Doan, while at home, was happy to be back with her family and her friends. She also started a blog about her and her dance life.
“I needed a creative outlet or I was going to explode!” Doan said.
After being back and doing some self-realization, Doan decided that she would go to college in California and not return to Houston.
During the 2020-2021 school year, Doan has finally gotten to live her high school dreams.
“I spent time with my friends and family, I just got my license, so I drove up and down [Pacific Coast Highway]! I also joined two clubs this year, [Model United Nations], and Save the Children,” she said.
Doan also had recently gotten accepted into the University of California, Irvine, her dream school, and is excited to attend a school so close to home and still pursue dancing as well as a degree in the medical field.
When Doan was asked about her life quote, she said, “I’ve always said this to myself since I was seven, I’ve always said, ‘dance to express, not to impress’ because I feel like a lot of people dance to impress others or conform to other people’s eyes or just look good or look talented but I feel like dancing is more complex than just impressing people with your moves or your artistry.”
As Doan moved across the stage during her performances, whether she was tired or not, moved with passion. Every turn, every step, every breath she took as she was on the stage meant something to her and to her audience. Her love for her family, mentors, life and dance is what makes Doan a dancer who speaks to all.
“I feel like dance allows you to express yourself in ways words can not. If people around the world can understand what you’re saying, even though they speak all different languages, if they understand your story, you’re doing it right,” Doan said.
This article was originally published in the 2021 RED Magazine. Stop by room 306 to pick up a copy.
