Name: Danielle Mia Adams
Grade: 8th grade
Danielle Mia Adams is a dancer, musician, artist, and actress, and in her spare time she attends the 8th grade. Since she was 3 years old, she has been performing in dance shows, musicals, short films, and bands. She is 
also an expert of all things Disney trivia and is an Imagineer. When she’s not indulging in the arts, she is a girl scout, softball player, rock climber, chef, and surfer. She enjoys hanging out with friends and playing with her puppies, Ben and Basia.
Q: What inspires you to do all these creative and artistic things?
A: My first dance teacher, Ms. Tina of Christina’s dance studio, inspires me to keep dancing, and she taught me to appreciate the classical techniques of dance.
I really enjoy listening to music, and that makes me want to perform and learn different musical instruments.
I wanna be a Pixar artist when I grow up, so that inspires me to learn about art and always be painting or drawing something new.
I grew up around musical theater, and that really got me into acting; I love it so much that I want to stick with it.
Q: Out of all the things you do, which is your favorite?
A: Dance; it’s fun, and it’s challenging. It’s a good sport. It makes me feel good, and it makes me happy to express things rather than with just words. It’s technically the worst physical strain you can put on your body, but it doesn’t really feel like it. I know I really want to be a Pixar artist, same with acting and music is more like work; dance is the most fun.
Q: When did you realize that you want to be a Pixar artist?
A: I’ve seen all the movies, and I watched a documentary on Pixar artists, and I decided that would be a fun job. The Pixar artists use things they really love to write a story, not writing a story just because they have to. I really want to create characters, draw them out, and make a story come to life. I want to be a part of making a movie and story that everyone will enjoy.
Q: What do you do with music?
A: I play clarinet in marching band, also violin, and I sing. I’m the singer in a band called Facing Reality. We play shows and learn
covers and write songs. I’m in the band with my best friends — Brooklyn, who I met on the 1st day of 1st grade, and Heaven, who I met in 2nd grade. I always wanted to sing in a band, and my friends happened to be learning guitar and bass, so it kind of just fell into place. I want Facing Reality to perform in schools to show kids that they can do things if they want to, and it takes hard work, but it pays off.
.
.
Q: Tell me about your acting career.
A: I like to do musical theater, short films, and commercials. I think it would be really fun to be on TV. So I take acting classes and go to a lot of auditions. My most favorite part that I’ve played is Snoopy in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Q: What does your average day look like?
A: Well, I get up, eat, read fan fiction, eat again, draw something, clean my room, have band practice, eat again, play with my puppies, go to dance class, and then go to sleep.
Q: what’s your favorite moment of performing?
A: Being done. I know it sounds weird, but I do a lot of work for that one moment, so I like the feeling of accomplishment.
Q: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned?
A: In education, it’s 2+2. In music, it’s probably how to listen to others. In acting and dance, I learned how to follow directions. In art, it would be that even a mistake can look beautiful. In life, it would be that there is something good in everything.
Q: Favorite color? Song? Book? Outfit?
A: My favorite color is blue. My favorite song is “Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne. My favorite book would be Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone. My favorite outfit is my dance clothes.
Q: If you could give a piece of advice to everyone in the world, what would it be?
A: A way to make yourself happy is to make somebody else happy first. Be nice and friendly to not only the people you want to be friends with, but with the people who want to be your friend.
Let’s end this feature with one more inspiring message from Danielle:
Do You Have Beauty?
Do you think you are beautiful? Well, I’m not going to say, “Of course you’re beautiful,” because I don’t know anything about you. But I will tell you what I think is beautiful and what’s not. There are some gorgeous people out in the world, but are they really beautiful? A beautiful person is the type of person who doesn’t care about their beauty but sees the beauty in others. Girls who are overly obsessed with their “beauty” still feel empty. They feel this way because they are so focused on outer beauty that they don’t have the right inner beauty that they need for their confidence, so they feel better about themselves by putting others down. People like to know that others feel their pain so they don’t feel different by feeling bad. These people are not ugly, but they are pretty with a fault. They are misled by other people or society. They have no guide.
.
Now, since I said that some gorgeous people are ugly, that does not mean only unattractive people (that being said in society’s eyes) are beautiful. Anyone can be beautiful. Certain people get their beauty by making other people feel beautiful, but some don’t even know they’re doing it. Those are the beautiful people, getting joy out of other people’s happiness. So what I’m saying is beauty isn’t make-up — beauty doesn’t even have anything to do with your face or body, but with your heart. From the natural beauty and the misguided people, I know you might think, “Yes, I know ‘beauty comes from the inside’ Blah, blah, blah.” But it’s the real thing.