Toca Magazine's Kid's-Eye View project helps adults see the world through the eyes of kids.
- By
- Parker Barry
Photo by Niko S. Kitaoka
Angela Watson, Dancer
Age: 13
Hometown: Oakland, California
Favorite color: Powder blue
Fun Fact: I’m a twin! My brother, Richard, is a singer.
I attend an art school, and my emphasis is dance. We’re serious dancers (my audition was three hours, and it was very hard!), but our school is also very rowdy, very crazy, in a creative way. I say, embrace yourself!
Kids have a lot of opinions and a lot of ideas. If we were heard more, the world would be a little bit more colorful. Right now, my creativity level and imagination, on a scale of 1 to 10, would probably be 8. When I was 5, it was 100 percent — I thought I could fly. I think it’s important to be in a creative environment in order to stay creative.
Adults have been introduced to the cruel world, so their expectations drop a little bit. But if you’re surrounded by a creative environment, you’re most likely to stay that way. And if you’re surrounded with a dull, plain environment, then you’re most likely to have dull, plain creativity.
If you feel your creativity is fading, take action and change your environment! Maybe it’s big, vibrant colors, or remembering what you liked to do when you were younger. Try and keep that thing that you love, and soon it will make you more creative.
A Day in My Life
I wake up super early. Not all the time — sometimes I have to rush. My twin brother stays asleep for a very long time.
- Then I go upstairs and fix my lunch as fast as I can.
- I can’t do my hair because it’s very poofy! I have to get my mom to put it in a bun — it has to be in a bun for dance.
Then after that I try my hardest to get my brother up. It doesn’t work.
- I have my mother get him up, and then he gets dressed super-fast — I don’t how he does it! And then he gets breakfast.
- Then we get in the car. We go to school.
My first period is English and social studies. They mix it up sometimes; sometimes we have social studies first, and sometimes we have English first. That is my favorite subject for some reason.
- Then after that I go to dance for three periods. I have three hours of dance, it is my favorite! I love dancing because I can’t fly and it gives me that extra feeling of flying.
After school I continue to dance, for a total of at least six hours of dance each day.
- If I could change anything about my schedule, it would only be slightly different: I’d have dance for longer. Other than that, it’s good!
Photos courtesy of Carolyn Watson except as noted.
