LIVING WITH IDIOPATHIC HYPERSOMNIA
ANNA HOEKSTRA
I'm Anna. I'm living with Idiopathic Hypersomnia but it is only part of my story.
I'm a Dancer and Dance Teacher, I teach a style of partner dance called Brazilian Zouk, it is a beautiful connected dance that originated in Rio. Being a dancer is incredible I get to travel all over Australia and the world to congresses and festivals for various partner dance styles. Zouk is obviously my favourite style to teach but I also love to dance Salsa, Bachata, West Coast Swing and about a million other styles. I started Dancing after I was diagnosed 3 years ago, the same day I began taking my medication in fact. Dancing has helped me to manage my illness to a degree I would have never thought possible, Exercise being an important part of treatment. I have noticed that the more I dance the better I feel, even when every muscle in my body hates me.
Dancing has also allowed me to meet my Dance family, a huge group of incredible humans from all over the world, who I get to see far less than I would like, but, I get to catch up with them whenever we are in the same town. The dancing community is amazing in that I can post on Facebook that I need someone to show me around a city or tell me where events are, even if I need a place to sleep last minute. I will always have dozens of replies within a few hours and I will get shown around by a new member of my dance family, who is always another incredible human, who I inevitably miss terribly when I leave. I once went to Paris with one day notice, from Amsterdam, and got shown around by a friend who had recently moved back there from Sydney.
This is a video of myself and my friend, and fellow teacher, Peter dancing Brazilian Zouk. (This was a promo for a dance wear company called Ciiara, they make amazing clothing and donate their profits to support sex trafficking charities.)
Also I’m a Photographer! I love photographing people with no experience in front of a camera and getting amazing photos they never thought could be possible.
Anna's dance instagram @annaluce13
Anna's Photography instagram @annalucephotography
Ciiara instagram @Ciiara.dance
