All my life I have been a dancer. I just never truly lived up to my full potential, until now. I began dancing at the age of four. Mostly street dancing, my mom would turn the radio up really loud out of her car and I would dance in the neighborhood parking lot with not a care in the world. My mom kept me in dance classes, such as Jazz, Tap, Hip-Hop, and Ballet. However, I did not have the patience for Ballet nor do I today, but I can never escape it. I was not a normal child, as my mother would say. What kid do you know that instead of watching Barnie, I did Billy Blanks Te-Bo workouts back to back until the VCR tapes ran out?
I began taking classes again in middle school. I attended Loiederman Middle School in Silver Spring, MD where I began to find myself as a dancer. This is where I learned about putting on stage makeup, costumes, and performing on stage with big huge lights. It was all so new and exciting for me and I found that the stage was my outlet. Many people compare me to the Jackson’s, very shy, sweet, and humble off stage but when I am on stage I become a completely different person. That is where I found my talent and passion for dance that I never realized until my dance teacher Mrs. Lazarro saw me move and told me that I should pursue dance. I then continued to dance in high school where I joined the Dance Compnay at Albert Einstein and the Poms team for four years. My dancing career continued into college as well, at Montgomery College where I majored in Dance.
I then became a dance instructor at Commotion Dance Studio and that is where I met the wonderful Lashaunda Washington Perry. The founder and Head Director of The Presence of Yahweh’s Dance Ministry. I am so blessed to be called her Assistant Director, for it means the world to me to be taken under her wing . The meaning behind this ministry is more than just the presence of God but it is about sportsmanship, family, giving back, and praising God while doing what we do best and that is to dance. This ministry has also taught me that God cannot be put in a box, that is why we continue to learn as well as use the various skills and genres of dance that we have to show the world you can still praise God and be “Yourself”. It feels amazing knowing that I can have a voice through dance because dancing is my outlet, my therapy, and my voice. What better way to use that voice than to dance praising God and it does not have to be just a spiritual dance genre. This ministry is also so very special because during these trying times many do not know who God is and that is why we are here to spread his love and to show the world that he is highly favored and we are so very thankful for him. I too have taken the time to get to know God one on one and that has helped me to praise him better while dancing because I have built that relationship with my Father who is in heaven. It feels good knowing that God is in the midst of everything that we do and that before we all leave this earth, the world shall know who he is, give him the glory and praise that he deserves all across the globe.
