Juliana Abel has spent countless hours perfecting routines and massaging her sore feet. Able spends weekends backstage helping people with their hair and makeup while simultaneously doing her own to be stage ready. Dance has become a major part of her life from the people that she has met to the life lessons it has taught her.
Juliana Abel has given the expression “walking in someone else’s shoes” a literal meaning by taking her passion of dance and creating the organization Pair2Share where she collects gently worn dance shoes to give to people who can’t afford them.
Her time spent backstage has inserted her into the tight knit community that is dancing. She has found that there is an instant connection with others who have also danced because of an understanding of the culture.
One of her Georgette teammates, Brooke Ferris, experienced this same feeling when they met for the first time as freshmen. She said she felt as if they had known each other for years instead of just a few minutes, which was a comforting feeling.
“She has always talked about connecting people and wanting to help and this is another way that she has been able to do just that,” said her friend Madison Ambrogio.
“It became a lot more than donating dance shoes,” said Abel. “For me it became something where I was really connected to the idea of connecting dancers from different backgrounds.”
Each pair of shoes comes with a personalized note to continue the encouragement and connectedness of the dance community. The Pair2Share website highlights the stories of some of the recipients of these shoes.
An article on the website has a personal account of an 8-year-old girl named Nora Belle who was given her own pair of tap shoes right before a performance and how much support she has felt because of this gift.
“I became a lot more connected to the idea to get kids involved in dance by making shoes an accessible mean,” said Abel. “Because otherwise they get involved in some really scary things and dance is just proven not only to be not just a physical sport but also beneficial physically and mentally.”
Juliana Abel has put true meaning into the slogan “share your sole” and is now looking to continue expanding the organization through enhancing social media as well as teaming up with the Atlanta Ballet for future projects.