Elevé-ted Conversations--A Series of Culture-Driven Dance Journal Entries

A s the next season for Ballethnic Dance Company draws near, I am filled with excitement, exhaustion, and expectancy. Excitement, as I am going into my FIRST SEASON EVER WITH A COMPANY AT 28 YEARS OLD (as an apprentice, but it's still LIT!); exhaustion, as I have worked incredibly long hours this summer to give myself a good start to living in Atlanta as a performer and teacher; and expectancy, as I am really wondering what all is going to come about once September gets here. As a dancer, traditionally, your time as a performer starts its sunset around age 28 as you would be in the 11th-14th year of your professional career. Whereas I could say I started at 16 years old performing with ClearVision Dance Team (Chicago, IL) and making it so far as to be featured on MTV2's My Block: Chicago , I have only started consistently performing as an adult since July 2017, thanks to Red Clay Dance, South Chicago Dance Theatre, and J'Monet Dancers. In dancing with these companies th...

I n Chicago in September 2017, I attended a pop-up heels class led by Mary-Angela Grandberry, a Chicago-bred/NYC-based dancer, Cream of Nature brand ambassador, and fellow mentee of Yanis Marshall. Her class served as a fundraiser to assist those affected by Hurricane Harvey, but another thing that was definitely served was heels TECHNIQUE. Afterwards, she and I discussed her class, our histories, and the dance community at large. In the conversation we were talking about how people approach dancing in heels, and in her agreeing in a point I made, she stated, "Well, that's because you're a technical dancer." That moment really shook me for two reasons. As I did not grow up in a dance studio--honestly, I did not receive any formal training until my first semester at Knox College--I was really grateful to have my hard work in learning classical ballet and jazz dance technique recognized by someone who is very well classically trained and has been so since childhoo...