kids issue 2018 Double Cover Glo Twinz
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amidst the thunderous stomps and<br />
combustive movements of traditional<br />
African dance you?ll find the infectious<br />
smile of Colby Christina. Simonides once<br />
said, ?Dancing is silent poetry,? but Colby<br />
is both poet and rhythmic drum. This<br />
16-year-old protégé is more like a<br />
seasoned artist rather than your average<br />
teen. She?s an actress, advocate, model,<br />
dancer/choreographer, mentor and host<br />
of her own talk show. What?s her secret<br />
to success? It may surprise you. It?s not<br />
trying to become the next Beyonce' or<br />
Oprah. Her recipe for achieving<br />
greatness is striving to be exactly who<br />
she is!<br />
Colby, who grew up in a musically<br />
inclined family, has been dancing since<br />
she was 2 years old. Dancing for her was<br />
inherited. After noticing her love for<br />
music her mother enrolled her in the<br />
same dance academy where she was<br />
trained. ?She took me there because she<br />
had all these boys and never thought<br />
she?d be able to put any of them in a<br />
dance class,? Christina gleefully explains.<br />
?When I was 2 years old I cried so much<br />
in those dance classes. When I got home<br />
you?d think I knew everything about<br />
dance. Those classes helped bring out<br />
another side of Christina. They were also<br />
just the spark she needed to help ignite<br />
all of her other talents. From there she<br />
Written By: Chris Pointe<br />
branched off into singing, modeling and<br />
even off-Broadway theater.<br />
In all, Christina has won over 150<br />
awards. She?s been the National Black<br />
Theater Teen Chair for 2 consecutive<br />
terms and she?s also been the recipient<br />
of numerous other accolades. She was<br />
even a special guest of Oprah Winfrey at<br />
the premier of the television series<br />
Greenleaf. Colby has admittedly had a<br />
lot of support from various people in her<br />
life.<br />
She giggles when asked who is her<br />
greatest influence. It?s the only time she<br />
honestly seems perplexed. ?I have so<br />
many,? she gasps! There are so many<br />
voices in the chorus of her life that have<br />
contributed to her success. All of her<br />
accomplishments are partially the result<br />
of her long list of mentors upon whose<br />
shoulders she stands on. The late<br />
Tommy Ford, former actor of the show<br />
Martin, was a great source of inspiration<br />
and advice for the young starlet.<br />
Having received such mentoring, she?s<br />
become a mentor herself. ?You get to<br />
see another side of the person that you<br />
didn?t get to see when they walked in the<br />
door, Colby expounds when asked why<br />
she loves being a mentor. It?s her way of<br />
giving back. ?I like to think of them as<br />
seeds who come out as fruit.?