I didn’t know I was going to be a dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker; it was a desire. It all started in theatre. I couldn’t speak English so I started with mime and movement. The dream was to dance but I always thought I was too late. By the time I went to dance school, I was 24, so I had to catch up with everyone else. Once you put your mind to it, even if you break something, you go ahead and do it.

It was a surreal and full-circle moment because as a little girl, and a little girl of color, the pinnacle was always dancing for the Ailey company…. Then coming back and now teaching the company, running rehearsals, and setting choreography on the company and some dancers that I have been idolizing since I was a young girl… I had to really get my nerves together the first time I walked into the room because it was just unbelievable. The goal was to get in the room with them not knowing that I would be at the front of the room.

He said it was about patience and I thought that art was always a thing about patience and it didn’t matter that it hurt you, it was about the outcome of this beautiful thing. I fell in love with the process despite being so uncomfortable with it. I started drawing from there, then I realized I could sculpt things, which was even better because I could create things with polymer clay - things I saw in my dreams that I could bring to life. I could do anything, I was unstoppable.

That’s when I had an epiphany. What I was doing before, with my job, I wasn’t happy with. It was not something I truly wanted to do or something that truly brought joy. It felt like I was just letting my life go by, like so many of us do. So I decided to do something that scared me. I’m going to start my business. It’s risky because it’s new, it’s different, and I knew I wouldn’t be earning money for quite some time. I thought the best thing I could do was just jump in and dive in right away. That’s the day I decided that I was going to start telling my story…

Sometimes it’s really easy to feel like being a musician is a selfish thing, because you have to constantly promote yourself. It’s easy to forget that the reason we do it is not just so that we can make a living, but so that we can share the beauty of what we do, as string players, with others. It’s a universal language. Everybody has a story. Everyone goes through things, and when people do things that can help you move through those phases and encounters in life, it’s a very powerful thing. Reminding myself that is important because it’s not purely a selfish endeavor, it is for trying to help the good of humanity.

For me, surfing is the freedom to play. It’s like dancing on water. Right now I am learning how to walk the nose on a longboard, and it has given me the freedom to have fun and relearn “surf.” I think my style is not the traditional aggressive type of style. Mine is more relaxing… the feeling… the energy. It feels like there is just always a lot of play.

Technology is something where if we don’t have our diverse voices in it, we could be in deep trouble. Think about algorithms for example. If they are built only by white, straight, men… what does that equal for everyone else? What does that equal when they are doing surveillance on people if we are doing facial recognition? All these systems of inequity are happening because we don’t have diversification at the top. We don’t have people with emotional and social consciousness. Computer science in school should teach you about people. Art and technology need to be together.

I’ve been dancing my whole life because my parents actually met in a dance company. My dad founded a Balkan dance company in the 70s. My mom did Ballet growing up and through college and then auditioned for the dance company and so they met there... When I was born, I basically started out right in rehearsal, a little baby on the side.