Dancer Charlize Glass on Her Generation and What Inspires Her

If the identify “Charlize
Glass” does not instantly ring a bell, assume again a bit. The
yr was 2014, and a video of the then–12-year-old’s impeccably
choreographed dance routine to Beyoncé’s music “Yoncé” went viral
after Queen Bey herself shared the video on IG with the caption
“wow.” That was just the start, though: Five years later,
Glass has appeared in a string of music movies and even danced at
the 2015 Tremendous Bowl halftime show with Missy Elliot.

Now 17, the native Californian can also be big on
YouTube (where she recurrently posts choreography tutorials for
her 100okay subscribers) and on Instagram (where her 739okay+ followers
come for more dance movies). Her type? It is significantly cool,
significantly fun, and inspired by none aside from Minnie Mouse. In
reality, Minnie Mouse has acted as a muse to Glass in additional methods than
just together with her type: She appears to the long-lasting character when she
needs a reminder to stay life boldly.

It is all a bit onerous for me to fathom, as a millennial who
thought butterfly clips have been the epitome of cool and was simply
barely logging onto MySpace on my aqua-blue iMac once I was her
age.You possibly can imagine, then, how many questions I had for Glass—a
true Gen Z woman—once I obtained the prospect to take a seat down together with her the
different day. From the moment I met her, I might sense that she’s a
actual drive to be reckoned with… She’s received these spot-on eyebrows,
some critical beyond-her-years wisdom, and she or he takes being bold to a
entire new degree. But one way or the other she nonetheless has the playful allure of a
teenager able to sashay gracefully into adulthood. I’m
impressed.

So how does Glass handle the trials of faculty, work, and just
making an attempt to be a young person, I ask? “Stability is vital,” she tells me. It
helps, in fact, that she genuinely loves what she does: In truth,
she tells me her love for dance provides her a way of objective.

Take one take a look at her
YouTube channel and you will actually see her growing earlier than
your very eyes. Glass has been dancing since she was in diapers,
and it’s been inspiring to observe her construct a full-on career out
of that zeal after dancing her approach into Beyoncé’s coronary heart. It’s
additionally impressive to see how grounded she stays: She tells me she’s
all the time placed a real importance on staying real and not letting her
rising success get to her head.

In fact, as a style editor, I used to be additionally interested in Glass’s
sartorial influences and the best way she builds
her streetwear/on-trend wardrobe.

I have been observing Gen Z women by means of the lens of my Instagram
“discover” feed, and I’ve observed that nowadays, teenagers are a
lot more keen on how one thing would look on their profile
than a millennial like myself was concerned with.

“As I develop up, my type has matured and grown,” she tells me. “I
wish to experiment with my type too.” Usually, although, she says
likes to keep things pretty basic: “It’s the actual OG.”

As regards to trend icons, Glass was fast to supply up an
reply that transcends the hole between millennials and Gen Z:
Minnie Mouse. When Glass was younger, she favored sporting her hair in
two puffs on prime of her head like Minnie ears, however lately,
touches of reinvented polka dots are her means of incorporating the
Disney icon’s type into her on a regular basis appears whether it is by way of
rhinestone-encrusted sun shades or opting for graphic t-shirts that
have touches of the print. “Minnie evokes me to remain playful and
flirtatious while staying true to who I am,” Glass explains, adding
that she actually loves Minnie’s basic bow. Which acquired me considering:
Why have not I considered including a bow to my Monday morning
outfits?