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Statement
BORN: AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
I was born in Amersfoort but raised in a little village, Leusden. Since I was 8 years old I’ve been traveling every day to Amsterdam because I did pre-college in the National Ballet Academy. I’m in New York now at Juilliard studying dance. Whenever someone asks me where I’m from, I say Amsterdam because that feels closer to me.
I’m proud to be Dutch. I was born and raised in the Netherlands. But, my mom is Japanese and my dad is Serbian and they both didn’t grow up in Holland. They moved there after my brother was born. My mom kept cooking Japanese and speaking Japanese to me and my dad spoke Serbian. I speak Japanese, Serbian, Dutch and obviously English and I also learned French and German in school.So I feel pretty global.
A lot of people ask me what language I think in. Whenever I notice, I think mostly Dutch. But now in New York, I’m mostly using English and feeling at home. I adjust pretty quickly to wherever I am. So I don’t feel like I’m only one thing. I feel adaptable.
—Reina Trifunovic

All images copyright Ellen Jacob

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