Welcome to En Pointe, a quarterly sequence that gives a deep dive into the intersection of magnificence and dance by the eyes of up-and-coming, multidisciplinary dance expertise. Count on an intimate look into the each day lives, goals, and dance-bag magnificence necessities of the trade’s finest younger performers.
Fifteen years have handed since I hung up my pointe footwear, and nonetheless, Tchaikovsky scores, Balanchine choreography, and the great thing about a fast change within the wings of a theater occupy an excellent quantity of my mind area. After I’m not dashing to and from appointments or furiously typing, I spend my time within the firm of dancers—both by experiencing the artwork kind from afar within the viewers or by taking a category right here and there. It wasn’t till lately, once I started following my favourite artists on social media, that I started noticing a typical theme: Many skilled dancers had been carving careers that had been uniquely theirs. This will likely not sound too groundbreaking, however contemplate that in every other time interval, they seemingly would have been anticipated to raise their love of dance over all different pursuits.
Immediately, they don’t seem to be solely aligning themselves with dance firms or choreographers that hold them feeling empowered and enamored by the artwork kind but in addition discovering methods to lean into different enchanting profession paths. Just lately, I had the chance to talk to at least one such dancer, Alicia Mae Holloway, who transitioned away from the “conventional” world of ballet by getting in contact with sides of herself that she hadn’t explored for the majority of her young-adult years. Under, Holloway reveals how she in the end turned the distinctive, multifaceted artist and content material creator she is at present.
Meet Alicia Mae Holloway: Ballerina, Mannequin, Actress, and Content material Creator
Alica Mae Holloway is not any stranger to a transition, and he or she overcame numerous pivots with grace throughout her 15-year profession (and he or she’s simply 28). Her adoration for the world of dance started when she was simply 3 years outdated in Virginia, dancing within the darkened aisles of auditoriums whereas her cousin carried out onstage. Holloway started coaching shortly after at a aggressive dance faculty earlier than focusing fully on ballet. At 14, she auditioned for and was accepted into the Faculty of American Ballet, which required a life-changing transfer to New York Metropolis.
The younger dancer was then accepted into the Dance Theatre of Harlem (a predominately Black modern ballet firm) following her highschool commencement, the place she carried out over the course of seven years. Then, when the world was confronted with the uncertainty of a pandemic, she utilized for ABC’s The Bachelor and appeared on the present’s twenty fifth season with actual property dealer and charity founder Matt James. “The Bachelor actually opened up the door to so many alternatives exterior of my ballet firm like music movies, commercials, and content material creation,” she says.
A robust curiosity in business dance and content material creation impressed her departure from DTH. “It was a dream of mine, and the timing by no means actually labored out. I knew I wished to do it, however it was [a matter of] the place and when,” Holloway explains. After getting signed to a modeling company, she started posting movies on TikTok three to 5 occasions a day, just a few of which went viral (most notably about her dance profession, expertise on The Bachelor, and adoption) and gaining a big following. Now, she is pivoting as soon as extra: this time towards appearing.
Turning into a Multi-Hyphenate Artist
For individuals who have by no means skilled within the artwork kind, the lifetime of knowledgeable ballet dancer can appear mysterious. Many dancers start at a younger age, molding their our bodies and minds into the absolute best model of themselves to grace the stage. Subsequent comes the nonstop auditioning for roles in performances and, finally, the businesses that may catapult them into careers. Holloway’s transition from her firm position into business dance is additional proof that whereas ballet will all the time have its deeply “‘conventional” roots, what it means to be a ballerina continues to alter.
Holloway acknowledges what being a modern-day ballerina means and theorizes what her new, uniquely crafted profession path may develop into in years to come back. “Again then, it was, ‘You are a jazz dancer, a ballerina, fashionable dancer, or tapper.’ There was this concept that you just needed to be pigeonholed into one model of dance,” she says. “I actually locked into ballet however discovered that once I went to summer season packages and auditions, due to my background, I used to be in a position to execute a lot in several settings.” Turning into a multidisciplinary dancer helped Holloway transfer from her competitors dance background to ballet, however she continues to develop in different areas.
Whereas she has lately burst onto the appearing scene with movie, she credit her background in lots of types of dance as one of many largest driving forces behind her current success. “I simply completed filming a film, and if I hadn’t studied jazz, modern, or Acro dance, I might have by no means booked this job,” continues Holloway. “It is so vital these days to be a well-versed and multifaceted sort of dancer.” .
Holloway has expanded her dance profession to incorporate a lot of her pursuits and abilities, however she did not all the time have the help system to make it occur. “I did not develop up round a story that stated I may try this. The one place I really heard that was from my mother and father,” explains Holloway. “I had folks on my journey who informed me to be extra reasonable—I may very well be a dance trainer, however Broadway is just too unreachable.” As somebody who pushes the boundaries of what a dancer might be, she now strives to encourage everybody to reside their lives how they need to by their very own requirements.
Taking Up Area within the Dance World
One other big contributor to how she views the world of ballet has been her expertise as a lady of coloration in a predominately white trade. Till Holloway started dancing with DTH, her publicity to dancers who resembled her was restricted dwelling in a small West Virginia city. “There have been three dancers of coloration at our studio, together with me. I did not suppose an excessive amount of about it, however I acknowledged that once I checked out skilled dancers in dance magazines, none of them appeared like me,” she explains. Then, she was launched to Misty Copeland, who made historical past in 2015 as the primary African American feminine principal dancer on the American Ballet Theatre.
Her total perspective of Black girls in ballet modified. “I used to be like, ‘Wait, she appears like me!’ She’s sturdy, she’s muscular, she’s stunning. She made me notice that I may accomplish this too,” says Holloway. Shortly after, she realized younger dancers would look as much as her in an identical method after overhearing a younger Black ballet dancer gush over seeing her following a DTH efficiency. “I used to be complaining about these early morning exhibits. In the meantime, this little Black lady who had by no means seen anybody who appeared like her doing one thing like this [was] given the hope and data that she too could be a ballerina!” she continues.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Alicia Mae Holloway)
Navigating Ballerina Magnificence
Nevertheless, like every artwork, ballet is not with out its biases and flaws. Have you ever observed there’s just one coloration for pointe shoe emoji in your cellphone (powder pink)? Pointe footwear are designed to be flesh-toned and worn with matching tights to create one line from the guidelines of the toes to the legs and upward. All through historical past, many ballet dancers of coloration had been left with one possibility: pancaking, or utilizing make-up basis or pink calamine lotion to match the colour of the footwear to their pores and skin. Holloway, for instance, grew up sporting pink ballet slippers and pointe footwear till fellow DTH ballerina Ingrid Silva inspired her to search out and put on ones that matched her pure pores and skin tone.
Holloway’s expertise together with her pure curls as a dancer is sadly additionally frequent among the many many dancers with textured strands. She shares that whereas she has formally mastered caring for her hair with the assistance of masks and mild styling, the method was not with out trial and error. Holloway started straightening her curls incessantly to make sporting them in a bun simpler and permit for straightforward transitions from updos to free hair for the performances that required them. “It is time to embrace pure curls and for various hair textures within the arts (particularly within the ballet world) to be accepted,” says Holloway. “Your pure hair is gorgeous, and that is one thing that needs to be celebrated.”
In relation to skincare, touchdown on a routine that works for her has been a a lot simpler process because of genetics, however she’s positively run right into a snafu or two resulting in occasional breakouts. “Typically backstage after a present (and earlier than post-receptions), I might bathe within the dressing room and use pink cleaning soap or ivory cleaning soap and simply wash my face. It would not even be a make-up wipe,” she admits. Now, regardless of how lengthy of a day she’s had, the ballerina maintains a deep-cleansing routine and all the time replenishes her pores and skin barrier with moisture.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Alicia Mae Holloway)
Store Holloway’s Magnificence Edit
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