NFL
By: Joe Cardoso
Welcome back Dream Chaser fans three months left in 2019, and that means we need to finish strong. For this next Q&A, we introduce you to a young lady who is talented in multiple areas and has a real passion for helping others and living a positive life. Through her work as a speech therapist or tearing it up on the dance floor. Coming at us from Sao Paulo, Brazil introducing Cristina Andrade!
Joe Cardoso: You like so many different things, and you are good at them all. How do you find the balance?
Cristina Andrade: Balance is about doing everything with lots of love. I believe that everything you do with love, the result is beneficial and in fact, there is a connection in everything I do, speech therapy is related to singing and hearing, auditory processing in music, dancer musicality and facial expression, presence performing both in dance and when I’m singing and modeling.
JC: How did you start exercising, and why is it important to you?
CA: I started exercising more often when I had bulimia about eight years ago, but bodybuilding came into my life about four years later. The practice of sports has become very important to me because, previously, I wanted to have a body that would never be mine. I thought that having a catwalk model body was ideal, someone who is very thin and after I started to do therapy and understand that I have a body with more curves, I began to accept myself and tried to improve what was already natural, without falling for a stereotype.
JC: Anyone who knows something about Brazil, knows two things that people are passionate about: soccer and dancing. How long have you been a dancer, and what do you think of the national team?
CA: I have been a dancer since I was a child, I did ballet, for a while but I stayed away, I returned about ten years ago for ballroom dancing and later university sertanejo, a type of dance with its most significant following in the southeastern region of Brazil, specifically São Paulo. This type of dance is now going worldwide as well. I am currently part of the Cleber Guedes Dance Company ( I have been with them for four years), where we give presentations of this genre, and I teach classes at “Divas da Guedes,” which is a group for women, where we teach female expression. I hope that the national team will do a good job and that our coach has got the new squad ready for the friendly.
JC: What is a typical week like for you?
CA: If I didn’t run everywhere, it wouldn’t be normal (laughs). Every day I start my appointments as a Hospital Speech Therapist at 7 am. I work with critically ill, bedridden patients with swallowing difficulties who need an alternative way to eat or modify food consistency; otherwise, they may develop bronchial or pneumonia. Some days I work with outpatients, but I also do home care, more in the afternoon. Other days I do some photographic work according to my schedule and the photographer. My routine is I prepare all my meals and carry them with me in a thermal bag; I will not deny that I set the alarm to remind myself I have to eat and drink water so that I can maintain my diet. I leave my work at 6 PM I go home, have my pre-workout meal, and go to the gym. On Tuesdays, I am part of the Choir of the Souza Lima College and Conservatory (I am from the Sopranos crew) on Fridays and Sundays lately we practice. I also take part in bodybuilding or functional training; I have dance company rehearsal as well, so, in some way, I exercise every day.
JC: How important is it to you to be a positive role model for other women?
CA: I find this very important and rewarding. I love to receive email messages or comments on Instagram that somehow I motivated them amid so many problems overcoming them and loving, caring, and respecting each other. You can fight for what is yours and can accomplish countless things when they set out to do it. I get messages from men too, saying that I inspire them to find some time to exercise and that’s sensational. This has grown to a greater extent now with the #secagordinha project that a friend and I started that aims to make a great chain in which people work out, record that moment in their Instagram or Facebook story using the hashtag and tagging me for feedback.
JC: You DO NOT play when it comes to makeup and looking your best! For our readers, do you have a YouTube channel? What products do you use? Spill the beans, lol!
CA: Aaaaahhh, thank you very much. I don’t have a YouTube channel yet, but it is on my projects list, and I’m thinking of creating it soon. As soon as I start it, I will let you know.
I always wash my skin very well with a mild soap, cleansing step, after using thermal water, facial moisturizer and primer, then yes I use concealer, in my case camouflage my dark circles with orange concealer after skin color, base use, for photos, I use high coverage, but in everyday life its a thin, translucent powder, contour, illuminator (as I love illuminator), eyeshadow, eyeliner, false eyelashes that I also love and lipstick
JC: How do you decide which photoshoots you will or will not do?
CA: There is always a good conversation with the photographer before. I listen to the proposal of the photoshoot and give suggestions as well. Photoshoots are currently being scheduled biweekly, according to the photographers’ schedule and mine. I need to be comfortable with the proposal, and make sure it fits my style and goals.
JC: Who do you see as a model or inspiration?
CA: My parents are great role models, inspirations for my life. They struggled hard all their lives to stabilize, came from a very humble family, and are doing well today. They always taught me to fight for what I want.
JC: How rewarding is being a speech therapist, what is the best part?
CA: It is gratifying. There is no explanation for the feeling of bringing a better quality of life to a patient who cannot eat and making him eat even if it is pasty or not the best. It helps to preserve his lung health and allows him/her to be with his family for a while longer, even if the disease is terminal.
JC: Tell us a little about your faith and how it affects you.
CA: I believe it affects everything. As I said at the beginning, I believe that all I have to do has to be with love, and God is it. We live in a world where people want to be superior to others and do not show love, forgiveness, compassion, empathy, and being a Christian makes me see life through this perspective. Christ taught this. Sometimes I get hurt because people don’t agree with my way or because they don’t see the issues I see, but the evil of another’s heart can’t justify my attitudes.
Bonus Questions:
JC: Favorite type of dance, and why?
CA: Ballroom dancing, backcountry, finally … the dances that dance as a couple need a “conversation” a dialogue … I need to understand that I do not perform the movement alone, so I need to take care, understand, respect the response and intervention of the other, and have a connection. The two dancers are working together.
JC: What is one thing in Brazil that most foreigners do not know?
CA: I can’t say anything specific, but the Brazilian people are driven by determination and strong faith. Let us value our culture and the good we have even more then we do. We sometimes tend to overvalue outside influences and not realize we have great things in our backyard. Moreover, we are extremely creative people who can circumvent everyday difficulties with our creativity.
JC: Who is Cristina Andrade?
CA: A woman who seeks her space, battles for what she believes in, and faces problems head-on. She has a giant heart and a keen sense of justice. I am determined, sometimes I am afraid of dubious situations in life, but I know that the best will happen in my life because God has the best for me.
It makes you want to find that favorite song and hit the dance floor! I can’t thank Cristina enough for making the time and giving people some motivation to go after their goals. For more on her and all the things she is up to follow her on social media:
