Meet Taylor-Leigh | Dancer of the Year Nominee
Meet Taylor-Leigh
Dancer of the year nominee
rva dance awards
When I first found out about the Dancer of the Year award, I thought someone nominated me as a joke. I immediately thought about all the people who I thought were more deserving of it. But as a few days passed and people started to congratulate me, I realized that it’s real, and it is an honor to be among 5 phenomenal nominees in the city of Richmond, where dance is becoming more and more prevalent. It made sense to me that The Brand would get nominated because people know us, and we put out digital content for people in Richmond to see, and to be inspired to dance. And it’s exciting because we came together and started doing what we do not only for the clubs, the community, and the DJs, but for ourselves as a collective. To give us something to belong to, a home.
But as for me? I clearly wasn’t giving myself enough credit. Truth is, I am so fortunate to be connected to many different dance communities here, and I had that realization when we had the back to back photo shoots for the RVA Dance Awards. I had one of those “I am so thankful for dance” moments because of all the familiar faces I was being reunited with, each with such a unique presence. Another special moment came when Carrie, Kat, Lauren, and Tony all rolled up from Chesterfield Dance Center, and it felt like my past and present selves were being reconciled. As a transforming teenager, a lot happened at CDC. It was not only where I first started to become a dancer. It was where I first started to become myself.
VCU Dance & Choreography completely shook my world and left me with the privilege of questioning…basically everything. With the well-rounded, intersectional, and somatic education that I received from my professors, I learned that dance is not about how much technique, how many tricks, and how many performances you can stack up, but it’s about how much you can let go of to experience the visceral underneath the movement.
Nowadays, when any part of my self wants to rest, I rest. But otherwise, with the same hunger that I had at CDC, I still can’t get enough dance. Ya know when people ask you, what do you like to do besides dance? I’m sure you can guess my answer- “I….dance ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.”When I’m not attending class around town, or in another city (or country) where I’m traveling, I’m either at a social dance, out cyphering with The Brand, or in the gym cross-training so that I can have as long and strong a dancing body as possible. One of my VCU professors, Melanie, is my inspiration for the training part. At 68 years old she was still cartwheeling in modern class and exercising at the gym in between classes.
I gravitate towards community-style dance practices and events because I feel that the history, culture, and essence of each movement style is equally, if not more important, than the physicality itself.
Going back to the concept I mentioned about letting go, my dance journey as of late has mostly been listening to the direction where my soul wants to go, and not my ego. Six months ago I wanted to sing, dance, and act on stage. Which I did, and I loved. Still do. (Fun fact: Some consider it a very high whistle tone, but I can make the mosquito/ dog whistle sound with my voice. I think it’s my voice. Something in my throat.) And now, I mostly want to dance urban styles, particularly waacking/punking, and other freestlye forms. It has been challenging for me to not think about what I “should” be doing, not to compare my journey to someone else’s, and to unlearn Western beliefs about dance that are instilled in us. Despite the overwhelming vastness of the world, I find solitude in knowing that by following the voice inside, I will always be on the right path. I never really grew to be that tall or had any growth spurts, so I didn’t know what growing pains felt like, but I’m experiencing them now in a different way. Dance is how I move through it, with the other side becoming clearer and clearer.
