prelim at @battle.101.newyork | January RnB edition at @moversbodega
i was debating not going. then, decided to go but not battle. but, upon arrival, i figured i might as well enter. so it wasn’t my plan, but i made top 16.
after a brief hiatus, it felt good to battle again and be in the space. thank u for having me.
..
i am moving with more intention this year to dedicate my art and energy to spaces that foster connection, exchange, and community, and value art and artists. so if that’s what you do, i want to support you. let’s make art that loves and heals. ✨
#dancebattle #nycdance #freestyle
to a new year of dancing, creating, building, growing, showing up, and showing off. even though though it can be unimaginably hard at times, i am grateful every day to be living my dream 💫
#nycdancer #waacking #freestyle #freelanceartist #keepdreaming
as i take my final bow tonight, i depart with gratitude. thank you @beargreasemusical for bringing us neechies together. i love these humans dearly.
it has been a blessing to get to know each and every one of you, to share the stage, and create beautiful moments full of uncle jokes and auntie laughs. may you continue to grow, thrive, and share your incredible gifts and with the world. you deserve it all!
thank you to everyone who supported me on this wild musical adventure. i am inspired to continue connecting to my indigenous roots, carve new paths in my artistry, and most importantly, contribute to building SAFE spaces for artists to feel seen and heard.
📷 : (1st photo) @voh_photography
#indigenousartists #indigenousmusical #stopexploitingartists #nativeartistsdeservebetter #practicewhatyoupreach
i’ve been trying to listen to my body.
it is not an easy quest. i don’t often understand what i feel or why. and sometimes, i don’t want to listen because it gets in the way things i want to achieve. i’ve spent years fighting and ignoring my body because it felt like the only way i could exist. when i numb out all sensation, i am more productive, agreeable, and likable. what they don’t tell you is that is that the longer you fight it, the louder your body gets. it screams to be heard and demands to be felt.
at least in my experience.
i have been fighting this sensation of stiffness. feeling stuck in spaces i used to feel free. when it happens, it feels impossible to move let alone express myself. it has affected me creatively, socially, mentally, and physically. when my body says no, i can no longer fight it.
it hurts. i used to be able to push through. but now i can’t. i accredit it to understanding my body better and recognizing the sensations i feel. it’s like once you see, you cannot unsee. there is a lot i am learning about myself. it is painful but it is good.
i guess what i ask is that if you love me, you hold space for me to be and feel and exist in the ways i need to survive, and hopefully one day thrive.
and not just me, but that you have more compassion for yourself and everyone because so many are facing battles no one sees and the world really just needs more love all around.
☁️ photo by @gabriellamarksphoto ☁️
7.4.2025
I do not understand why anyone living in the US would want to celebrate today. While people are being taken from their homes and families. While many feel unsafe to be who they are and love who they love. While we continue to fund genocide and war. While public lands are being destroyed and polluted for profit. While the arts, nonprofits, and public services are being defunded. While more people loose access to healthcare. While the majority live paycheck to paycheck, if that, and the rich get richer. I genuinely do not understand how we can be so cruel. But then I realize, it’s always been this way. America was never really free. It was built on genocide and slavery and it continues to live in our culture, on our lands, and in our bodies.
today i mourn.
A practice for those feeling the weight of the world today and everyday:
Witness - go outside/be in nature if you can. Stop and notice the external world around you. What do you see? Hear? Smell? Taste? Be here for a moment.
Feel - notice the sensations in your body. Where do you feel tension? Warmth? Cold? What are the textures on your skin? Notice your breath. Breathe into each sensation. Be here for a moment.
Create - express and release. Draw, write, paint, dance, crochet, make music, whatever you do. Do it without judgment. It does not have to be complete. Let it be whatever it wants to be. Be here for a moment.
If you are like me, you may feel like you are never doing enough. I think that is true. We are never doing enough. But we can do Something. It’s up to you to find your Something and do it. Rest. And do it again. Or find another Something. maybe then, we can do Something together.
Opening night was a success. It is such a blessing to get to perform off-broadway with my partner. These two lil Gallup kids making their their dreams come true in the big apple. FOF with love. Come check out a show. We'll be here all summer.
@beargreasemusical
my dance journey is a journey of identity. before anything else, i knew i could call myself a dancer because it is where i feel most me and where i find my people. Yet, i could never categorize myself by one style and if i did, i felt incomplete and limited. every dance style i have participated in over the past 15 years has engraved itself into my body, and so, how could i be just one? still, as i took on the professional world, i was forced to put myself into a box to be marketable, profitable, and digestible. after being more intentional about the work i do and the spaces i put myself in, i think i am finally coming to acknowledge and accept my polychromatic identity.
i appreciate waacking because it has opened the doors for me to explore and utilize the many parts of myself in community with others doing the same.
