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Stephanie Kurlow

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Australian ballerina
Kurlow dances for Swans for Relief in 2020

Stephanie Kurlow is an Australian dancer and ballet student often credited as being the world's first Hijabi Ballerina.

Kurlow was born to an Australian father of Belarusian descent and a Tatar mother. She grew up in the suburbs of Sydney and began dancing at the age of two. Stephanie stopped dancing at the age of nine in 2010 as there were no dance studios that catered to her beliefs. Inspired by Stephanie's dream, her mother, Alsu Kurlow, opened a performing arts academy in 2012 that offers ballet, martial arts, and aboriginal art classes for girls. She began wearing the hijab full-time when she was ten years old. Kurlow launched an online campaign to raise money for full-time classical ballet training, raising over $7000. Kurlow lists African-American ballet dancer Misty Copeland, Chinese-Australian ballet dancer Li Cunxin, and Emirati figure skater Zahra Lari as her inspirations. She planned to open her own dance school in the future geared towards diverse youths of various backgrounds. Kurlow is an ambassador for Remove Hate From The Debate, a campaign that assists youth in identifying online hate speech and tackling it. She is a recipient of the Aim for the Stars scholarship and the Game Changer Scholarship by Björn Borg. Kurlow was invited as a guest speaker to Indonesia for the Resonation Women's Empowerment Conference in 2017. She also received a scholarship to The Royal Danish Ballet summer school in 2018. Kurlow was featured in a Lenovo campaign with designer Tarese Klemens for International Women's Day in 2018. She was also featured in a global campaign with Converse named Love The Progress in 2019, which invited women to redefine what "girl" means.

In March of 2022, Kurlow announced on her Instagram account that she had made the decision to stop wearing the hijab. She shared the struggles of being the only one in her dance community to wear a hijab, and further stated: “at this point in my life it isn’t such a strong part of my visible identity.”

References

  1. Mubarakshina, Zilya (10 April 2022). "Балерина в хиджабе: долгий путь австралийской татарки Стефани к мечте". Tatar-inform [tt] (in Russian). Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  2. The Independent, Aftab Ali (16 February 2016). "Stephanie Kurlow: Young Muslim student awarded scholarship by Björn Borg in aim to become world's first-ever hijab-wearing ballerina". Independent.co.uk.
  3. "'Be proud of your identity': Meet the hijabi teen changing the face of ballet". Emirates Woman. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  4. Lu, Wendy (7 October 2016). "This Ballerina Is Breaking Down Boundaries". Bustle. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  5. ^ Oot, Torey Van (22 February 2016). "This Teen Had The Perfect Response To People Who Said She Couldn't Be A Ballerina". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  6. ^ "100 of the Most Influential Women in Sport: Stephanie Kurlow - Article - Sport360". sport360.com. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  7. "World's First 'Hijabi Ballerina' Is Forging a Path for Dancers from Diverse Backgrounds". 18 July 2017.
  8. "The girl aiming to be world's first hijab-wearing ballerina has just won a scholarship". Independent.co.uk. 16 February 2016.
  9. "SPORT FASHION BRAND BJÖRN BORG AWARDS BALLET DANCER TO BECOME 1ST MUSLIM HIJABI BALLERINA. - Björn Borg AB". Björn Borg AB.
  10. ^ "Stephanie Kurlow - 2018 Honoree | PureWow 100". www.purewow.com. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  11. "King Creative Media". Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  12. "Converse's latest campaign taps Millie Bobby Brown and other inspiring women". Fashion Journal. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  13. "Converse's latest campaign gets inspirational women to define what it means to be female". VOGUE India. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  14. "Instagram".
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