Explain to me your role at Creative Netwerk

I'm the LA program manager and the Social Media Manager. As the LA program manager - I've been responsible for building up our LA chapter - which didn't exist until this year. That's been exciting to get to build that up, and we pretty quickly have grown to about 20 classes per week. So that's been really exciting and fast moving in the past few months. As the Social Media Manager, I'm responsible for finding the best way to share our brand and share all of the things that we do across the country. Whether that's recapping classes and community events, or fundraising opportunities, or sharing different ways for the community to get involved in our work. So it's just showcasing all of the different life that we have going on across all of our chapters!

How did you get into dance, originally?

I started dancing when I was about three years old - little kid ballet classes - just for fun. When I was seven years old, I joined a competition program through the local rec center. When I was 14, I switched into a more competitive studio, where I was training 30+ hours per week in all styles of dance and continued that for all four years of high school. When I went to college, I was on a hip hop team at UC Santa Barbara. It was there that I connected with Kelli (Creative Netwerk Executive Director). That's also when I started teaching dance more regularly. After graduating college, I moved to LA, where I've been for seven years now pursuing dance professionally. I don't really have a time in my life that dance wasn’t a part of it!

Why is dance important to you, today?

I don't want to sound cliché, like, “Oh, it's my form of escape” or “It's how I express myself,” but I think all those things are true! I've definitely had shifting relationships with dance based on the different paths I've explored. It started off as something I did for fun, then it became more competitive, and then when I began to rely on it as a source of income. Through all of those paths, I still love it and am passionate about it. I know that sometimes I have to take breaks and step back, whether it's for a week or a month, but each time I still find myself wanting to go back. It’s just a part of me that I can't imagine not having in my life. And it's there for all reasons: exercise, expression, fun, making friends. It does all of that.

How does Creative Netwerk align with your vision for dance in LA county?

I like being a part of the LA chapter because I do think there's two sides of dance that are both really awesome. There's the industry side, but then it's also important to understand the cultural, historical, and communal side because the industry wouldn't be there without that. I think that's something that a lot of dancers will debate, if the industry is just commercializing and taking advantage of the culture, or if the industry is doing a lot to put dance in the current cultural forefront and make it more of a publicly acknowledged and appreciated art form. I think that's what makes it cool being in LA, is I get to see both sides of it and see how they intertwine with one another. I think the work we're doing is going to have an influence on the industry side, and there'll be ways to learn from the industry side as well. Either way I'm excited to see how dance continues to make make an impact in our community.

Speaking of the industry side, tell me more about your industry experience.

In the seven years I’ve lived in LA, I’ve had a lot of training and different mentorships with different choreographers and educators that have had a big impact on me, and that's affected the way I teach and the way that I see dance. I'm really grateful for that - I think LA gives you that opportunity to learn from the best. One mentor I had was choreographer/creative director Nick DeMoura. He was the one that hired me for Kidz Bop in 2019. I first went on the road as the touring choreographer, and I was his assistant in the creative process of creating the show. While I was on the road, I also got to do these touring Kidz Bop workshops. Almost every city we stopped in, we would host these workshops - with about 100 local kids. I would teach choreography, and then the Kidz Bop vocal coach would teach a vocal lesson, and it was a ‘How to be a Kidz Bop Kid’ workshop. That was really fun and a cool way to get to teach and be around kids from all over the country, and see the different backgrounds that they all came from. I toured with them again in 2022 after the pandemic had put us on pause. That time I choreographed half of the show, which was really awesome to then get to actually see my choreography on all these different famous stages around the country. Working with them was definitely a highlight in my seven years of living in LA.

What do you hope the Creative Netwerk community will learn from you?

I have always had a very 50/50 left brain, right brain split. I want to use that as a tool to help the CN teaching artists and students, and show them ways that they can have a career in dance, and also know how to operate the business side of it and build a career out of it, whether that's working on interview skills, helping them write resumes, or just being there for them as a mentor. I think a lot of the time, someone who's creative and is totally right brain has a harder time honing in on details, and then a detail oriented person has a harder time thinking out of the box. So I hope that my split of those two is something that's going to help our teaching artists and students grow in their professional development, as they pave their own futures.

What do you see for the future of Creative Netwerk?

I think the future is bright! We had exponential growth in 2023, and that was only our first year. Seeing how much we've been able to grow and reach in one year is incredible. I see CN continuing that growth. I think it'll be really awesome the more we can start crossing between chapters in programming too. This year we had teacher residencies in Santa Barbara where Kelly, Mike D, and King Charles all went out and brought Chicago footwork culture and style to share with that community. We also had Chrybaby do an online Litefeet workshop with the students in Los Angeles. That's the whole point of what we do - we bring educators who really know the culture and the history of these dance styles to places that don't have the access to them, so that they are represented in an authentic way. The more we can continue to not only grow in each chapter, but also connect our chapters, the more we can continue to expand our Netwerk.

The central battle kicked off as a mad melee, an endless array of combatants, all ages, all styles. Tweet Boogie--a legend in hip-hop--assumed the throne with grace and fairness and set to work judging all the breakout first dances, when folks were still wild cards. Make that first impression! People going crazy with the crafty moves and character development, looking the judge in the eye and letting all body, mind, spirit (in step with music) do the talking. Styles ran the gamut from Litefeet to Breaking to Chicago Footwork to Waacking (even a little Ballet/Modern thrown in), Hip-Hop, FlexN, Krump. Tastefully interspersed guest performances exhaled between battle rounds. Crews Bomb Squad and 2Crafty made it all look easy, finding that effortless, smooth sweet spot in Litefeet that leaves you loving the style. For one, Lifefeet links to the music very tightly. The incorporation of debonair hat tricks, jumping of legs, flips, and resurrections off the floor, blessing arm work, shoulder and whole body shakes--it is filled with joy, like you are getting lifted to heaven for all the right reasons. Tah Swag and Arnstar offered inspirational rap or hyped lyrics (including a message of everyone in NYC being a star). Filmmaker extraordinaire Artefakt made some history by filming a cypher, and you know the dancers didn't hold back. CEO XO Wavy and the next generation crew Bad rocked the Lifefeet magic; XO hyped words of truth from the bedrock of youth.

Back in the battle proper, when dancers started going 1 vs 1, everybody was in high spirits and confident in their craft. They would duke it out without violence by engaging in a cultural exchange of spirited dance flows and a DJ boosted. Nobody could tell him what to play or know where the track would land the moment a dancer had to jump in. You have to listen and interpret, be yourself and let the judge and the other contender know who you are through your movements, storytelling constantly to the music energies in the room. Persona is everything in dance, much like in literature. So folks would fight through slick moves and daring and then hug at the end of a bout when the judge makes the call, raising her hand to say who stays. Brackets got down to top eight. Folks went even more intense and intentional in their artistry. To quote one hype from Tah Swag, “Stop playing with me.” Pyrotechnics of dance fluidity; flow of successive battles, wave on wave; audiences knew what to clap and cheer, but judge Tweet Boogie held the weight of knowledge, years. She explained the rules and updated all on her thinking. Many a time the bottle spun to see who would go first. It broke out that the final four were from Bomb Squad: Kid Smoove, Noahlot, Tah Swag, Mok Lite. In a playful round, Tah Swag beat Noahlot. They showcased that comedy can be built into battling: the way you can clown your opponent. You’re both watching and interacting through culture (a living library), so you can reference what one battler just said in movement and throw that language back with your own twist. It’s a way for worthy opponents to strut their stuff and claim King or Queenship by demonstrating they have the final word. The judge saw it all. She selected Kid Smoove in the virtuoso, sprezzatura flip, fly, and hat trick duel with Mok Lite. Chrybaby, Hype Girl and Kelli invited everyone out of the bleachers to ring round the prime contenders. The final battle ensued on the court. No one showed signs of tiring. Tah Swag and Kid Smoove took turns defying logic with their best moves: walking on ankles, hats flying like a clash of knights. Leg hops and cycling air; arms alive, stretching, blessing, posting, saluting. Jumps, drops, spins, splits, springs from back to feet again. Tweet Boogie took a prayerful moment to ponder the outcomes. She stood between the young men, holding their hands before—mic drop—she lifted in surprise Tah Swag's hand, the winner. Folks all joined a big photo against the wall--peace signs, love. Wonderland of joy! Tah Swag took the grand prize, but more importantly, everyone was happy and blessed to be about that dance culture of NYC--Lite Feet and Hip-Hop. And Chicago Footwork poured forth life, thanks to the netwerking of Creative Netwerk. These legacies keep giving and building community.