Photo editor Can Turkyilmaz shot this photo of Vivana Muñoz three years ago for our April 2010 issue of the magazine.
Vivana was a dancer for Hillcrest’s Panadeer drill team, and also a hard worker who helped support her family. Turkyilmaz says when he went to photograph Vivana for our outstanding seniors issue, she was intimidated.
“Her battle against her patriarchal culture and family pressure, struggling to find her true self were her reality at the time. I told her, ‘let’s give life a good kick,’ so, she did,” he says.
Which is fitting giving the way Vivana feels about dance:
“When I’m out there performing, it just makes me feel like I’m on top of the world,” she said. “It makes me feel alive; I just love it.”
