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[blackrenaissancegirl]

A dancer’s tribute to Kobe Bryant

A dancer’s tribute to Kobe Bryant

CONTENT WARNING

Hey Dancetopians, I want to say up top that I’m aware of some of the harmful things Kobe Bryant did in the past — I briefly acknowledge that in this post. However, I do feel it’s important to honor what Kobe Bryant meant to a lot of people. I think we can acknowledge the bad things he did and the hurt he may have caused others, while still mourning the loss of his life, his…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

Letter to my 15-year-old-dancer self

Dear 15-year-old-Jorie

First of all, it’s me or rather you from 10 years in the future. As I write this it’s 11:08 Chicago time, which means it’s just after midnight in Miami (not factoring in any futuristic travel time changes) so you’ve probably finally drifted off to sleep after coming home from dance (hip hop tonight, right?) eating dinner and finishing your homework. Algebra II is rough, I…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

Questions you should ask the next person who asks you to dance for exposure

A lot of memes and posts dealing with the debate on what dancers should be paid and the merits of “performing for exposure” have been making the social media rounds. In case you aren’t familiar, performing for exposure means you won’t make any money for your time, creativity or technique, but supposedly, working a particular gig is going to let so many people know about you, the boost in…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

Dancing with Myself: My First Video Ballet Class

Dancing with Myself: My First Video Ballet Class

To avoid falling off like I did last season, I’ve been trying to stay in class consistently.

Most of the time I’m able to make it to class at least 3 times a week for a blend of technique (ballet, modern, jazz) and what I call “performance quality” classes (hip hop, contemporary, jazz funk). This way I get a diverse blend of classes and my body doesn’t get bored.

But the devil and some major life…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

Blast from the Past: My Interview with Bruno Mars' Choreographer Phil Tayag

Blast from the Past: My Interview with Bruno Mars’ Choreographer Phil Tayag

It’s Monday and it’s been a while since I shared a blog post so I thought I’d go into the archives and share one of my favorite interviews from my time as a freelancer with TheCelebrityCafe.com (Now known as Stars and Celebs).

In February 2016, I had the pleasure of interviewing Phil ‘Swagger Boy’ Tayag, a founding member of the Jabbawockeez and Bruno Mars’ choreographer (he choreographed Bruno’s…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

What does Jordan Peele's 'Us' want us to think about ballet?

What does Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ want us to think about ballet?

I didn’t plan to write a blog today.

But then I saw Us with my mom and everything changed.

I guess at this point I should mention that there will be spoilers, so if you haven’t seen Us and plan to in the near future, read at your own risk.

Dance plays a pretty important role in the plot of Us, and in the life of the movie’s central character Addie, played by the stunning and phenomenal Lupita…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

Reflections: Jordan Peele Uses Ballet to Examine Duality and Blackness in ‘Us’

After repeated side-eyes from my mother and incredulous reactions from friends, I finally made it to the theater to see Us, Jordan Peele’s latest thriller. And the dancer and budding culture critic in me are both glad I did. Us is the kind of work where every bit of imagery carries weight. At the same time, every viewer has permission to draw their own conclusions after seeing the film. Because…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

When not being front and center gets you centered

When not being front and center gets you centered

So a few things have happened in the last couple of months.

I just finished one of the most physically and emotionally challenging professional dance performances I’ve ever done.

I shot a music video with a gospel artist as a backup dancer – but in the final cut, you can’t see me at all.

I agreed to do a gig at an upcoming expo as a backup dancer for an up and coming singer, only for the gig to…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

This is goodbye ...An announcement from DanceTopia

This is goodbye …An announcement from DanceTopia

Though I’ve done my best to keep up with this blog, life keeps happening. It’s made it impossible to maintain, update and share content in the way I want to. In part, I think this is because I don’t have enough experience as a professional to make my words super compelling. But fortunately, that’s totally in my control. I’ve decided to focus more on taking class and performing as much as…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

Rapidfire thoughts on the 'World of Dance' Season Premiere

Rapidfire thoughts on the ‘World of Dance’ Season Premiere

I’m late to the WOD party I know

Between a yoga workout and preparing for a huge project at work, I finally had time to watch the season premiere of World of Dance.

Full disclosure, I got really delinquent in my viewership last season (so much so that I completely missed Jenna Dewan’s announcmentthat she’d be leaving the show). This is partly because since dance occupies so much of my existence,…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

Black Dance History: A Contemplation and a Celebration

"More and more I'm realizing that there is a need for me to celebrate my Blackness not only as a person but as a dancer because our contributions to the dance world are so severely under-appreciated and under-reported."

Today is February 3, which means we’re three days into Black History Month. While I’ve considered or attempted doing something for BHM every year since I started this blog, I often overpromise and under deliver either because I run out of time, or don’t have the energy.

But more and more I’m realizing that there is a need for me to celebrate my Blackness not only as a person but as a…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

It was another off day... :/

It was another off day… :/

So I know I’ve said this before, but this time I’m serious…I’m going to commit to writing a blog every day starting today. I feel like I might do better at sticking with a resolution if I start it before New Year.

So yesterday I had another wonky rehearsal. I’m sure I can partially blame it on the cold I’m nursing and the fact that I haven’t been in an actual dance class since Saturday (thanks…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

BEDS Day 19: DanceTopia the Podcast Ep 5: On Memories Show Notes

BEDS Day 19: DanceTopia the Podcast Ep 5: On Memories Show Notes

First, a slight addition – In case it wasn’t apparent, Gabri Christa is biracial – her mother is a white woman from the Netherlands and her father, as mentioned in the story, is a Black, Jewish, Chinese man.

Here’s a video preview for Magdalena:

If you’re in the New York City area, you can purchase tickets here.

[blackrenaissancegirl]

BEDS 18: Thoughts on an "off" day

BEDS 18: Thoughts on an “off” day

This post was actually tabled over a year ago but since I’m behind and need to find a way to make up the days, I finished it and it’s going to be my BEDS post for today. Enjoy!

  Today was not a good class day…

  I did what I normally do. I got up. Got dressed and went to 1 p.m. ballet class. But unlike other times where I left with a “hurts so good” mentality, this class, which again, I alwaysta…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

BEDS Day 10: Brief thoughts on dancing while natural

BEDS Day 10: Brief thoughts on dancing while natural

As I write this, I’m sitting in my bed, bantu knotting my hair. Typing out this blog is my way of giving my arms and wrists a break.

A lot has been written about natural hair in the professional dance world, from the three Alvin Ailey dancers who shared their natural hair routines with Essence in February, to the viral imagesof dancers rocking their curly tresses. I, myself, have been fortunate…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

BEDS Day 9: Starting over yet again

BEDS Day 9: Starting over yet again

Yesterday marked my first day at a new teaching gig for a performing arts program for children. It’s the first time in over a year that I’ve taught kids and even though the first day went pretty much without incident, I’m still nervous.

As I mentioned in my “What I’ve Been Up To” blog post a couple months back, teaching children has never been my forté, for a few reasons:

I have no patience–I get…

[blackrenaissancegirl]

BEDS Day 8: quick blogs

BEDS Day 8: quick blogs

Hi everyone–

I’ve been planning to do BEDS (Blog Every Day of September) this month. Traveling and getting back into the swing of things at work placed me behind, so to make up for my delay I wanted to do 8 quick “blog-lets” to get me caught up. These will be mainly updates/commentary on my dance life so, let’s get started.

Day 1: Gigs Ever since I got back from traveling to a conference for work,…