Q: What has been your professional dance journey?

I started off as a theater major in high school at a performing arts high school in Atlanta. I knew dance was calling my name but I was too chicken to do it. I had a drama teacher that had a way of pushing his students to let them own their super powers, and he knew I wanted to dance, so he encouraged me. I went to UNCSA [University of North Carolina School of the Arts], where the bulk of my training came from. I had no real training before then. I could pick up the rhythms but I had no foundation. Once I graduated, I danced with Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company for a year, which took me to NYC. I learned a lot of good values and that NYC can make you feel like a kid in a candy store, because I just wanted to dance with everyone. I started taking class everywhere and then my best friend Camille A. Brown told me that Ronald K. Brown was having auditions and she said he was looking for a guy. I did the audition, got in, and danced with him for six years. I moved back to Atlanta to do theater, then taught at UNCSA, then wanted a change. Then I tried to do this film thing. I got with some cinematographer friends. I started learning how to write narratives and I fell in love with it. I wanted to add it to what I already loved. I became passionate because when we produce films it becomes timeless. In addition to that, I still dance with Camille A. Brown and Dancers. I also teach as a guest in many universities. I always felt like the arts was something that I had to do. All of my nine-to-five jobs have been in the arts, so this has been my world since I was 14 years old. I have seen the ups and the downs and learned to navigate in the spaces that I’m in. Every day I learn and am trying to refine myself even more.


Q: What have been some challenges in your pre-professional or professional dance career?

I think one of the biggest challenges is how do you get yourself out there. When I first moved to NYC I had to learn that everyone is connected. Everyone knows somebody. So the only way to get out there was to audition and take a lot of class. It's also about taking those classes and developing relationships with the people. I did meet some guest artists in my undergrad and I was apprehensive about going up to them and talking. but I always told myself I should make the connection in case I needed it later. I remember Andrea Wood did a piece at UNCSA and when I came to NYC I had nowhere to go so she let me couch surf on her couch until I figured out where to go. It was good to have her as a resource. She also opened me up to other people I could meet. It's hard because you can go to one audition and you feel like your life is over if you don't get it. But just keep putting yourself out there. It is hard to show up sometimes. It takes a lot of courage to do that and out yourself in different spaces. 


Q: Do you believe dance can be a platform for social justice topics? If so, how? and/or Have you used your art form to make a difference?

Absolutely. I think dance has always been that way, if you think about things. Like Ailey choreographed “Cry” for his mom, and it also became an anthem for Black women to be super bold. Having Judith Jamison, her presence was so loud and that opened people's minds. I think in anything I do, I always try to incorporate things I am dealing with in my own life, whether it is political or personal, and dance is a beautiful platform to do all of those things. Not all of us are at the podium but the best way to get your voice out there is to do it through your art. It is transformative and it allows you to do all these things without even speaking. When I first started I was worried about what people thought, but now I just do it to have it be out there. I add to the conversation with my art and then ask what are people getting from it.


Q: What inspires you and drives you forward as an artist?

A lot of things honestly. I think one of my biggest inspirations is a film I did called “The Maestro,” based on Ernie Barnes who is a painter. If you ever saw the show “Good Times,” he did those images. The thing that inspires me when I look at his work is that I feel like I am looking at myself. I never knew why the figures had their eyes closed, but as I did further research, I found that he wanted us to make our own meaning of what we thought the painting was. It gives me freedom to explore the possibilities of what the person is thinking. I think also a lot of my friends inspire me. There are celebrities I love, but there are people around me that are just as brilliant and I feel like they inspire and push me as well. I try not to steer too far away from the people that are around me.


Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you as a performing artist?

I was in New York doing the Aida lab, Camille was the choreographer for that lab and we were just developing ideas with the music. We had another week and we just made it to the fourth day of the first week, and everything was going great and coming together and then it stopped. So, I said, ‘I’ll leave to go to Atlanta.’ What I noticed was in the first few days here I just needed to be still. Because of the way my brain works, I needed to calm down and just read and figure out how I could make myself make this normal. And I needed to make a plan. There have been days I have given myself permission to not do a damn thing and then others I've worked so creatively, then some days I talk with friends on House Party, which has been super refreshing. And then today, I had a Zoom meeting and I had to be the one to say, ‘I haven't looked at any of this because I have not had time to process.’ And everyone else agreed. I didn't want to rush and give my thoughts, I am taking the time for myself. The other cool thing about it is I’ve been cooking a lot. I have an Instant Pot cooker. I feel like if I opened up a restaurant I would be ready. So that has been given some type of structure because I need to give myself daily tasks —  if not, I will look at the world and scream. I have this whole picture in the back of my mind that my entire fall will be cancelled, so I have to keep myself upbeat. Catching COVID-19 does not scare me — what scares me is the economy and not knowing what comes next. What happens after these 90 days are up and we are still in the same boat? What do we do with no work? I have been sitting with these thoughts and thinking I am so blessed to be supported and also just being thankful I am healthy.

Q: When everything was cancelled?

We were doing the Aida lab in NYC and its workshops to get the first steps of it going. We had already known about Corona a few days before, so everyone in NYC was trying to be kind of safer. It wasn't until the fourth day of rehearsal you started to see, oh, things may be possibly shut down like Broadway and the subway. I live in Atlanta so I travel back and forth, and I thought maybe I'll stay in NYC and ride this thing out. Thank god I came home, I would have been miserable in NYC. I am still dancing with Camille and now all the tour dates are postponed. I still had to finish my piece for the University of the Arts and I was so excited. I came in at the end of January to set the piece and I had assistants come all of February, and I was excited to get back to that with all of them, and now that is not a possibility. I think it has transformed to the digital world, which has been a challenge. But this is also teaching us that there are other ways to have teaching moments… In dance you need human connection, but at the same time if people can't come to class or are injured, maybe they can tune in in a different way. This is teaching the world to chill the hell out, to pick up your phone and call someone, you have time now. All these things are ringing in my head. All of these things are happening so we can get back to the heart of what matters. Love has been the underlying root to this. Love in a way that is genuine. I want to support you — the idea we are all in support of each other. It is so unfortunate we are dealing with this, but it is also teaching us so many things.

Q: What social changes and responsibilities have you seen people making during the pandemic?

I was first thinking, ‘how can I contribute?’ I know I do dance on film, and now it is the time when people need to be fed art. But then I was thinking everyone will do that, so I don't know what to do. I noticed people were doing challenges and I was like, ‘No, I will not do these push-up challenges.’ Then I thought, ‘How can we make this positive?’ So I made a phrase and sent it out and asked people if they could pick it up and do it in their own way. I started a challenge called “Catch and Pass,” and I throw the material out, you catch it, make it your own, and pass it on. People have been submitting videos every day. In terms of Camille (A. Brown and Dancers), we just started teaching live classes, so that was fun but also scary, because you are talking to yourself. I went to my backyard and didn't realize my WiFi wasn't strong so I kept apologizing. It was fun but it was also very weird. It is something I have to get used to — online teaching life. Nobody is here to give that energy we are used to, but you know, you have to do what you have to do. We have to pretend the frequency we give out will resonate through the phone and the masses. I see people who have never used a livestream before are taking advantage. And people who have never used Instagram are now on Instagram. We need it. We are taking communication to another level. 


Q: Using the idea of “worldmaking” how do you imagine the performing arts world after the pandemic? (Worldmaking: How you can re-imagine the world in your own terms, the way you want it to be. Using this tool one can construct new worlds and write themselves into narratives that have excluded them and systems that have disabled them.)

I imagine us to be stronger than ever. I say that because we are all on the same playing field right now. I don't feel the hierarchy as much, to the point that we are more equal. I imagine us being practical and forward thinking, and I imagine us to be more focused on how our interactions are on social media. But overall I think I just imagine us to be super loud and bold in a sense where we don't know when this could happen again, we don't know if it’s even over. So using this to definitely put our thoughts and aspirations out there even more.