It was magic. But all those celebratory can-can kicks came to a crashing halt in March when the pandemic hit, just as she felt she was "stepping into the height of her career. Though she thankfully recovered, she was left wondering what the future would hold.
Several months later, it was announced that West Side Story 's release was going to be pushed back a year. Garcia-Lee spent her days volunteering at a horse stable in Brooklyn. It was the first time in decades she found the time to get back into the saddle like she did as a kid growing up close to the Bucks County farms. She found solace and comfort around the horses.
Then, with the help of her dad, she drove across the country to L. She wanted to focus on acting and find something new to give her purpose. But that doesn't mean she let go of dance. As studios resumed in-person classes, Garcia-Lee returned to the dance floor.
The learning curve right now is having a lot of grace with myself. When it comes to professional work, Garcia-Lee's been auditioning for film and TV projects while cultivating the next phase of her career.
She also dreams of playing Roxie in Chicago on Broadway. After a yearlong delay, she is physically and mentally ready to celebrate playing Graziella. The timing is exactly right.
Photo by Jayme Thornton. The first step: designing dance apparel that matched more than just white skin tones. The second: expanding her color-inclusive brand into a robust social justice platform. That social network, she says, provides young people a space to connect around causes of shared interest—to volley ideas, support each other's efforts, publish articles, and air podcasts. Nia, who would later enlist her sister, Justice, to help grow the brand, contends that this work is just the beginning.
I got involved in dance when I was 10 years old. I was taking classes at a recreational studio—I started with ballet—and I fell in love with it. Later, I auditioned and was accepted to a pre-professional dance studio in Toronto.
There was a lot of racism happening within the studio. It got to a point where the artistic director would separate the Black dancers from our non-Black peers, put us in a separate studio and instruct us to learn the Vaganova method off a YouTube video while she actively taught the non-Black dancers. Then, when we went into our Vaganova exams and we scored lower, she tried to make it a point about race—which, when you're 11 and 12 years old, you don't fully understand that things were manipulated.
It was really difficult. When I was 12, I went to Joffrey Ballet School's summer intensive in Los Angeles, and that was my first time getting away from my home studio. I fell back in love with dance because at Joffrey, everyone is celebrated. When I was 14, I decided that I wanted to train at Joffrey full-time. So, I moved to New York City and became a trainee. But when I was 16, I sustained an injury: I had stress fractures in my sesamoid approximately a year prior, and I continued to dance on it until eventually the bone broke all the way through.
My treatments included injections, laser therapy and other procedures, until I had to go on bed rest for several months. I started thinking about this dream I've always had of everyone being able to have dancewear in their skin tone. I grew up dyeing my tights, pointe shoes and the straps on my leotard. It was alienating to walk into a dancewear store, and all of my friends were able to get everything off the shelf, but I had to go home and dye everything.
So I started sketching designs and looking into how I could start this company. Suddenly, I had a lot more to juggle. Between being a full-time student, continuing my dance training, building a social network and creating an apparel brand, it was difficult to find a good work—life balance.
I'm grateful that my dance career has taught me about determination and the importance of time management, which has been invaluable in my entrepreneurial journey. My sister and I were thinking about how we could give young people access to a network, tools and information that could help make their dreams a reality. We mobilized a team of over 30 young activists and changemakers from across North America.
The team took shape after my sister and I reached out to friends who had done work in activism and service. People meet each other, connect, start conversations and learn through a content library that focuses on five main causes—criminal justice reform, racial equity, housing and food security, gun reform, and environmentalism.
Members can take action directly from our platform. We provide dance scholarships, sponsored by our dancewear shop, to dancers across North America each spring, and offer support to dancers through the "Keep Dance Safe" hub, which is a support group for survivors of abuse, assault and racism. Our donation drive for St. Vincent and the Grenadines following the volcanic eruption. About 25 percent of the island was wiped out, and my sister and I turned to each other and were like, 'We need to do something.
The launch of our second collection with Roots. Jazz dancing as well, it's not just about feet work, great rhythms and movement, it's about getting that personality across. The X Factor singer said that his personal favourite act from the auditions was Hartlepool group Ruff Diamond, who brought "an old school flavour" and "a new level of gymnastics" to the show. Merrygold admitted that he would be "honoured" if Simon Cowell offered him a job as an X Factor judge, but said that he is perfectly happy on the dance series.
We have 96 cameras - they're the first people to do that on a TV talent show. To be able to see dance moves from degrees is incredible and they're always pushing boundaries and on the cutting edge with this show. All the judges on Got to Dance take to the stage and perform during the Live Shows and Merrygold promised his fans that JLS would be doing a "very special" performance. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
Welcome to Aston University Dance Club! We love putting on socials for all our members! This includes drinking and non-drinking events so there is something for everyone.
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