I began dancing in church and I eventually got into more theatre. I did a stage production of Chicago my sophomore year in college; that helped open me up to see more of my potential in a way that I hadn’t yet seen. Years later I came to visit NYC, exposing me to a larger network of artists and resources. I moved to New York six months later; it became my grad school of life.
My dance community is very queer and pro black. My ballroom family is so beautiful; my house is the House of Amazon, my Mother is THEE ICON Leiomy Maldonado, The Wonder Woman of Vogue. She was my mother before she knew she was, I could go on forever about the impact that she has had in the ballroom community and BEYOND.
I would like to see the dance community as a whole, experience a battle. The many variations of dance, being used as a tool to conquer imperialism.
Do you consider yourself an activist?
Because I am an actor and performer or sorts, I try to steer clear of the ‘activist’ identifier. I am active.
how do you feel trans / queer folks contribute to the dance community?
My experience with dance in general has been predominantly positive. There was a moment when religious people separated me from my talents but the way She recovered gracefully. Too often is there harm caused by religious leaders and there is rarely any accountability, why is that?
What advice do you have to give to the aspiring dancer/choreographer/dance community?
Stop aspiring to be anything. Learn to ask for help. Challenge your thoughts when you can.
"Normal is an illusion, what is normal to the spider is chaos to the fly."
-Morticia Addams