The day Bonnie and I had our photography session together, it was one of those warmer fall days. It nearly felt like summer! But we committed to the fall theme of the dance shoot and I looove how they turned out. Scroll down to see for yourself and read more below about some of the cool projects Bonnie and I are working on with our dance company!

I recently met Bonnie just a couple months ago when we both started dancing with Ashleyliane Dance Company here in St. Louis. It’s truly been a joy getting to know Bonnie and dancing alongside her in rehearsals and virtual performances so far this season. I am proud to be part of a dance company that celebrates a vast range of styles and backgrounds in dance. Bonnie comes from a dance team background, where precision and uniformity are of high importance. I come from a concert dance background, where improvisation, abstraction, and collaboration are part of my training. Ashleyliane Dance Company brings together a realm of incredibly talented dancers and showcases the differences in styles each of us bring to the table, while collectively honing performance, technique, and the ability to speak to an audience through movement and connection. That, my friends, is the power of dance.

This season for ADC has been looking different, as it is with all of the arts during these tough times. Through the difficulties and daily changes in the face of a global pandemic, the company has proven to persevere. We have been busy working on various projects and connecting more with our community this year. Stay tuned for some powerful film projects to drop this season! In the meantime, check out Dance the Vote to see one of the many projects we’ve been working on. “Dance the Vote is a nonpartisan arts initiative that pairs dance, poetry, spoken word, song, graphics, video and texting with voter awareness and registration. It was founded in 2016 by theatre artist and activist Joan Lipkin, activist and designer Anne Taussig, voter registration specialist Sabrina Tyuse, and choreographer Ashley Tate.” (Read more about this initiative here.) This year, Dance the Vote St. Louis has gone virtual! They are releasing an episode each week for ten weeks that showcases dance from all over the nation. Follow along and watch the videos, and be sure to check out episode 8 to catch Bonnie, myself, and all of our other talented fellow dancers of Ashleyliane Dance Company performing a piece about climate change.

As we all know, the pandemic has hit the arts really hard and may have a long term effect on the performing arts. Let this be a friendly reminder that we as a society continue to benefit from entertainment and the arts, even throughout this entire pandemic. Think of all the Netflix shows you’ve consumed, music you’ve listened to, mind-blowing dance videos watched on Instagram and fun mini dances learned from TikTok. Entertainment and art is what keeps us feeling a little bit better through these challenging times. By continuing to support the arts, you help so many companies, productions, and small arts and entertainment businesses produce work and keep you entertained. Check out my blog post on ways you can support small businesses without spending any money! And of course, if you can, consider donating to some of your favorite local artists and businesses.