Alter Ego

Can you tell us a bit about what you do for work and how you got into it?
I’m a freelance dance instructor at Breathe Dance Company. This isn’t my full-time job, but I teach about 3-4 times a week.

I’ve been dancing since I was young—it’s always been a hobby, so I’ve always been doing it on the side. When I started working, I stopped dancing for a while because office life hit (laughs). Then when I wanted to get back into it, I wanted to try something different, and that’s when I found this studio and I’ve just continued dancing here.

What do you love most about dancing?
I guess what I enjoy most is that I get to be both myself and a performance version of myself. I get to be over-the-top, I get to be dramatic, I get to be silly, and it’s just about being able to perform and being able to express myself using my body. I think that’s always very enjoyable, and that’s why I love it.

Besides dance, how else do you like to express yourself?
Most definitely fashion. Colours, textures, and pieces that people won’t probably think of wearing and mixing together is what I like to play with.

Is there any piece of clothing or accessory that you always find yourself reaching for?
This necklace that I’m wearing. The pendant has been with me since I was eight. My dad got me a necklace, and this was the pendant. That necklace has since snapped because it was just so old, and the chain has been replaced by my grandparents. So this necklace means a lot to me because it’s just keeping my family close at heart all the time. As far as possible, I don’t take it off.

As a dancer, you probably have to listen to music quite a bit. What are some of your favourite genres?
(laughs) I like weird music. I’ve been told that my taste in music is very strange. I like a lot of bluegrass, funk, new funk—and that’s the thing; I like to dance, but the music I like is not great for dancing to, but it’s what I like to listen to. So for me, music falls into different categories—there’s music for dancing, and music for myself to just listen to.