On my journey...My Motivation

Who inspires you?

So if you’ve been following me on my journey you know that I took a leap of faith and moved from New York City to pursue my dream of becoming a professional dancer. My eyes were set for the stage but I just didn’t know how I would get there. What I did know is that many of my friends were already out there doing big things and I felt like I could also do great things.

Friend #1: Faune A. Chambers. Faune came to my high school in her junior year and we connected instantly. We were in the same dance class and I was always inspired by her strength and force on stage.

Friend #2: Edward Franklin, also known as my crush and my prom date. Edward was one of a few male dancers in our dance program and was one of the best dancers I had ever seen...at least in my eyes. His chiseled body was made for the stage.

Friend #3: Asha Thomas. Asha was a year younger than me and never afraid to be noticed. When she was 16, she danced like she was already a professional dancer. I remember a time when Asha was pretty shy, but that did not translate to her performance. We had performance assessment in our dance class called "juries". I thought I was doing something with my Ribbon in the Sky dance. Looking back, maybe I was but Asha performed her solo to ‘Ain’t No Way’ by Aretha Franklin and blew everyone away. I’m pretty sure by her performance, everyone in the room knew that Asha was well on her way to being a star. 

Asha and Edward soon became dancers in Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Faune was dancing for Michael Jackson as well as little sister Janet Jackson. I figured, hey we all came from the same high school so if they could do it, so can I. They were indeed my inspiration for quitting that corporate job. 

Friend #4, Princess K Mhoon. Princess and I went to Howard University together. Princess was a dance major and I was in the School of Business but danced on our university’s dance team. We connected through a campus organization and our love for dance. At the time Princess was a new dancer in Ronald K. Brown‘s company Evidence in New York. I was just about to move to New York and Princess introduced me to the concert dance scene in New York and I just absolutely loved it. I had just finished a six week dance intensive at the American Dance Festival where I was introduced to many modern dance companies. It was a historical moment to learn from Andrea Woods, Kraig Bopi Patterson from Mark Morris Dance Group and Shen Wei from the soon to be Shen Wei Dance Arts. I will talk about how Shen Wei encouraged me to follow my dream while he was pursuing his in my next post. Shen Wei introduced me to the side of myself that I didn’t know existed and I was glad to meet him.

I leave you with this encouragement: 

• Believe in yourself
• Have a support team that inspires you 
• And don't be afraid to take the leap!