Bottom of the Pyramid Quotes

“As a way to protect myself, I hid my feelings by isolating when I got overwhelmed. Then I’d return unfazed . . . or so I thought. I didn’t realize that I was still getting hurt in the process.”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“We were kids, so it was up to our parents to teach us better. I’m not saying anyone was intentional with their cruelty, but it’s hard for me to comprehend how mothers allowed their daughters to behave that way and to treat others so poorly for no reason—at least none known to me.”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“sometimes put my bag on a seat early to choose a good seat, hoping that one of the other girls might want to sit next to me, but my bag would always be moved to the seat Kenzie and I usually sat”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“But I’ve come to a place where I don’t let the negativity of people I don’t respect bother me.”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can control our grit.”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“After I came close to beating Maddie—losing by only a tenth of a point—I didn’t get a solo again for a long time.”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“Abby began talking about how I was the weak link and admitted that she’d never asked for me to be on the show. She went on and on about her vision for the ALDC and its competition team. She wanted a line of skinny girls who were the same height”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“As a Christmas present”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“no one has the right to make you feel bad about yourself. If someone does make me feel this way”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“our hardships empower us to rise. We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can control our grit.”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“I couldn’t help but wish, though, that rather than teaching us how to cope, the show had put their energy into teaching Abby how to be a better person.”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life

“Rosa Parks is a historical figure renowned in Black history. Why did I have to fight Kendall for this role? Was Kendall going to perform the dance in blackface to show she was Rosa Parks?”
― Nia Sioux, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life