Photographer: Tonya Turner

We caught up with dancer and jewelry designer Scarlett Bella Song for Showstopper Magazine‘s Summer 2022 issue. While our latest issue is on Iconic Styles, we couldn’t stop at what Bella shared about her jewelry (she recently collaborated with Annie and Sisters to design pieces with inspirational messages), especially when this dancer has such an incredible background and perspective.

Dancing for 10 years, Scarlett told us, “My happiest memories as far back as I can remember are related to dance.” This 13-year-old Korean American dancer has loved the stage and the dance floor since her mom enrolled her in musical theater and triple threat training when she was just a toddler! Scarlett says that it was being able to train with top professional dancers in Los Angeles that really made dance her lifelong passion, but it isn’t just access to top teachers that changed Scarlett’s views on dance. Every step of her journey has morphed her perspective on what dance is for her and why she does what she does.

Check out Scarlett Bella Song’s feature in our Iconic Styles Issue available now.

Scarlett notices big changes in her relationship with dance over the last 10 years. She told us that she began with originally had a “recreational mindset” about dance. “I danced solely to enjoy myself and get lost in the music. It was a freeing time when I didn’t set goals and just danced purely out of love for music and movement.”

Without that love, Scarlett may not have reached the next step in her dance journey. She said that she owed to the dance companies and competition teams she joined the competitive mindset she later developed through a focus on mastering choreography and performing pieces to the best of her ability. Of course, this change in mindset doesn’t mean that Scarlett no longer danced because she loved the movement and music, but her goals were changing!

Photographer: Tonya Turner

In Los Angeles—she trained in LA for three years after being scouted by Urban Generation dance company and started which set off her dreams of becoming a professional dance career–changed Scarlett’s mindset yet again. During this time of her life, Scarlett shared that she “was immersed in a highly competitive environment with aspiring professional dancers where each class is a battle for attention, validation, and recognition.” This was a new kind of competition, not for trophies and medals but for connections and jobs. Scarlett calls her career-focused time her “commercial dance mindset.”

Now, Scarlett is in what she calls “a mindset of an artist.” Her journey with this mindset began last summer when she moved to Dallas, TX and joined Dv8 The Company. Today Scarlett told us, “My sole focus and attention is on growing, breaking through barriers, and realizing my full potential. I am tapping into my storytelling and artistry in new and authentic ways.”

While we often hear stories about how dancers change their goals over time of shift focus from one career ideal to another (and believe us, Scarlett does have plenty of goals and dreams to chase!), but we don’t always get to see how each phase of a dancer’s journey builds on mindset this way. Over the last decade, Scarlett has found her love of movement and dance and channeled it into many different goals and challenges.

No matter where she goes or what her mindset is, we know that passion is always the underlying thread. Scarlett is excited to keep tackling those new mindsets and making new memories. “I am very excited about this lifelong dance journey!”

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Veronica Good has been with Showstopper Magazine since 2016. When she isn't keeping you updated on the latest trends, she is at home with her many pets or probably playing The Sims 4. Veronica has a BA in English and an MA in writing from Coastal Carolina University. She is also a writer of fiction and poetry, and her work can be found in Archarios, Tempo, and Scapegoat.