College student. Amateur golfer. Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
Take more chances. Dance more dances.
She broke her back, but the love of dance never broke from her heart.
Amy He while she was practicing and preparing for her show at the Spring Dance Concert at HPU
By Tonrak Tasaso
Campus Chronicle
The dream of becoming a professional ballerina got destroyed when Amy He fell off the horse while practicing for her first jumping competition six years ago. But she found a way to keep pursuing her love of dance in the newsroom.
He broke her lumbar 2 and 3, which is part of her lower back. She was on the bed rest for 3 months.
“When I was younger, I wanted to be a professional ballerina, but that dream was shattered when I fractured my back.” He said,
He started dancing since she was 4 years old. He had done
“It's just something about ballet that I just love so much."
ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, but her favorite one have always been ballet. Unfortunately, He had an accident while she was practicing jumping with her horse, Coffee. While He leading Coffee into the jumps, Coffee got spooked by a snake and bucked He off its back, causing He to be on the bed rest and quit doing ballet.
“Actually when I was around 8 or 9, I hated dancing,” He said. “But I’m glad my family never let me gave up.”
He explained that during that time, she had to go to the dance studio every Saturday at 9 o’clock in the morning. It took her around an hour and a half to get from her apartment to the dance studio. She had to get up really early on the day that’s not even a school day. She mentioned that she also had way too many injuries through her dance journey, but with the support from her family, she made it through all of those.
I had a chance to talked to Tracy He, Amy’s twin sister, Tracy started dancing at the same time with Amy and has always been Amy’s big supporter.
“I came to HPU to see Amy dance in the Spring Dance Concert her sophomore year and junior year. I am really glad she stuck with dancing and never gave up even after she broke her back. She looks beautiful on stage.”
Amy and Tracy used to dance together when they were younger, doing duets and group dances as main centerpieces. Tracy was always by her sister's side through every injury, even though she is no longer dancing, she is still supporting and pushing Amy to pursue her dream with dancing.
He went to Oak Hill Academy, a private boarding school in Virginia. He was still dancing while she attended at Oak Hill. Henry Crede, the dean of girl, told me that he used to drove Amy to the dance competition and helped her find a dance studio so she could practice.
“I have watched Amy dance for years. My family helped Amy find a dance studio when she was going to Oak Hill Academy. We saw a young lady enjoy herself dancing and we wanted to help in any way we could. Through dance we saw Amy blossom and become a very confident person. My wife and I have loved being
Name: Xinyi Amy He
More about Amy
Hometown: Shanghai, China
Hobby: Hiking, dancing, photography
Major: Journalism
Languages: Mandarin, English
Favorite food: Japanese ramen
Favorite drink: Boba tea
able to watch her continue her dancing in college. It was very special for us when Amy invited us to her college dance performance for the first time. To see this young lady dance in college whom we saw grow up before our eyes were wonderful. It will always be one of my favorite memories.”
Even though He can no longer perform ballet due to her injuries, but she’s able to turn her love of dancing into a career. He is currently a senior at High Point University, majoring in communication with a concentration in journalism. He has her personal blog where she wrote about dance performances and what's going on in the dance world.
In order to hone her writing skill, He is currently writing for Campus Chronicle and working at Triad News 360 at HPU. She is also a part of Shanghai Media Group and Served as an intern for an English news station in Shanghai.
“Till this day, I’m not allowed to work out or dance, so it’s kinda suck.” He said. “But I’m on a track of eventually becoming a writer for dance performances, so at least dance will be involved in a part of my life.”
For more about He's work, visit her website at https://amyxinyihe.wixsite.com/amyxinyihe