Meet Alexis “Foxy” Fox! Behavior Analyst, Owner of Ability to Groove, 5x ATL Dancer, Current ELF Frankfurt Galaxy Dancer
"Take that first step, do the work, and go for it!"
For this week’s edition of More Than Poms, we are featuring…
Alexis “Foxy” Fox!
Behavior Analyst, Owner of Ability to Groove, 5x ATL Dancer, Current ELF Frankfurt Galaxy Dancer
1. Tell us about your background! What has your dance journey looked like up to this point and how has it led to where you are today?
I started dancing at age 6 at a local dance studio in my hometown of Henderson, Kentucky. I fell in love and have been dancing ever since! I danced on all my school teams including high school and college where we competed nationally in pom, hip hop, and team performance. In 2017 I moved to Atlanta, and as I was researching the dance scene, I came across Atlanta Hawks Cheerleaders auditions. They happened to be a week after moving to Atlanta, so I decided to go ahead and take a chance and audition.
Long story short, I made the team and danced for what evolved to become the ATL Dancers, for 5 seasons!
The Atlanta Hawks and community of Atlanta became family and encouraged me to start my dance company for children, adolescents, and adults of the neurodivergent community, Ability to Groove.
I now live in Germany where I work with children with autism as well as dance for an European League of Football team called the Frankfurt Galaxy.
2. Do you feel like your experience on a college dance team prepared you to audition for a professional dance team? Tell us about what encouraged you to make the decision to go pro?
I do believe my experience on a college dance team prepared me for auditioning for a professional team, especially experience with game days and community appearances. College is where I really learned to communicate and connect with an entire community while representing a university, which transferred to the professional world well especially when going through the audition process and trying to exuberate to coaches and judges how you would be an asset on the team from all perspectives, and not just dance.
The idea of performing along with community involvement is what encouraged me to go pro. I love to perform and put a smile on people's faces, and it is hard to do that when you're not on a team and are just taking dance classes. Like I said, I was new to Atlanta as well, and wanted a fun way to learn the city and become a part of the Atlanta community!
3. Tell us a little about your tenure as an NBA dancer! What are some of your favorite opportunities and highlights from this experience? Discuss some of the challenges you overcame, and how you continued to level up year after year?
Dancing for the Atlanta Hawks was amazing (I wouldn't have stayed for 5 seasons if it wasn't!) I was able to travel and dance in foreign countries including Taiwan and Mexico, dance in the All Star game of 2021, and dance with various artists. Also, playoff games in Atlanta were unreal, and the energy was EVERYTHING, which made dancing them that much more fun. Although all of these aspects of my time with the ATL Dancers were great, some of my favorite memories come from practices and appearances, where I met and bonded with some of the best teammates, fans, and coworkers who will forever impact my life.
Some challenges during my time dancing for the NBA include dancing during COVID and getting injured my 4th season. Auditions were virtual, we were no longer allowed on the court, and being tested before entrance to the arena was required before every game. Looking back, it was a crazy time...but we made it through!
Getting injured was both heartbreaking and unexpected. I injured my knee about 2 months before my 4th season ended. I spent that entire summer in Physical Therapy working hard to rehab and recover to return for my 5th and final season. I still had issues and was working through rehabbing throughout my 5th season, but I was able to dance and finish strong!
As far as leveling up for each audition, for me, it was always a principle of "no one is going to be able to come in and take my spot." It is no secret that amazing dancers audition for the team every year, so my focus was always on reassuring why I was originally chosen and why I continued to be chosen for the team through all aspects of what it meant to be an ATL Dancer.
4. Walk us through your decision behind auditioning for an ELF cheer/dance team in Germany! What are you most excited about for this new journey and what have you enjoyed most so far about this experience on a new team in a new country?! What differences and similarities have you noticed so far, between the US and Germany?
My decision to audition for the Frankfurt Galaxy is similar to the reason I chose to audition for the ATL Dancers. I was new to the area, and wanted to meet people with similar interests as me and become part of the community! I am excited for all the experiences of game day and the American Football culture in Europe. The team was originally part of NFL Europe back in the 90s/00s, and is now back with the ELF, which is a relatively new league, so it will be exciting to see the growth of the team and the league.
Joining the team has been great! My teammates are helping me learn some German and teaching me more about German culture, and although their English is way better than my German, I am able to teach them about American culture and some American slang. Recently, I taught a dance workshop in which 30 dancers attended, which was exciting because before moving and joining the team, I had no idea there was a professional dance scene out here! I hope to continue to provide classes and work with various dance teams within the ELF and potentially Euroleague.
5. Tell us about what Ability to Groove is! What initially inspired you to create it and how has it evolved over time to what it is today?
Ability to Groove is a dance company that offers dance classes to children, adolescents, teens, and young adults within the neurodivergent community with an additional focus on socialization and building confidence! I have been working with people of the neurodivergent community for about 10 years now, and have always wanted to combine my two passions.
I started Ability to Groove about 4 years ago, which was kind of crazy due to the pandemic! However, it just seemed like the right time, and Ability to Groove is still going strong! Although I live in Germany, we have 6 amazing teachers who teach classes, and I oversee all logistics. Ability to Groove classes are flexible, and occur twice a month, and our students perform in the Core Dance and Acrobatics Studios recital every summer. Over the years Ability to Groove has appeared in various community events and resource fairs as well. I am excited to continue to watch our students and Ability to Groove as a whole grow and evolve!
6. What is your best piece of advice for dancers who want to do as you did and just go for it, when it comes to auditioning or simply taking a leap in an entirely new direction in life?
Two of my favorite sayings to live by include "at the end of the day, the day gonna end," and "it's just life." Dreams are given to us for a reason, and I truly believe that you should chase every dream you have. Take that first step, do the work, and go for it! If it doesn't work out, "it's just life" and you can always go back to what you know and are comfortable with. However, you will miss out on 100% of opportunities that are for you if you do not take that chance.
HUGE thank you to Foxy for taking the time out of her busy schedule to share with the MTP fam! This feature is very special to me as Foxy has been my teammate and dear friend for many years! I am SO proud and in awe of how brave she is for taking large leaps of faith. I love how she is motivated to be a trailblazer and puts herself in new environments to not only better herself, but those around her! I hope this interview inspires you to try new things, become your best self, and to encourage others through your passions.
Please follow her journey in her daily life, on her new EFL dance team in Germany, along with her company Ability to Groove!