MEET TAYLOR ~ Professional Dancer, Choreographer, and Head Dance Team Coach.
MEET TAYLOR ~ Professional Dancer, Choreographer, and Head Dance Team Coach.
A hunger to learn & swagger unmatched - this girl is a dance team powerhouse.
For this week’s edition of MTP we are exclusively featuring…
Taylor ~
Professional Dancer, Choreographer, and Head Dance Team Coach!
Taylor has been a Blazer Dancer for 4 years and a studio teacher + choreographer for 12 years.
She is currently teaching at a studio, dancing with Blazers, and newly a Dance Team Head Coach for Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego, Oregon!
Walk us through your dance journey and how it led you to where you are today.
I started dancing when I was 3 and dancing competitively at age 5. I grew up dancing at Southern Strutt in Irmo, SC and Birmingham Dance Theatre in Birmingham, AL.
I'm extremely thankful for my training (shoutout to all of the incredible teachers), the styles, and versatility I was exposed to, along with the wonderful artists, teachers, and lifelong friends I made.
I moved to LA when I was 18 after signing with Go2Talent and danced for a year at Loyola Marymount University. After a few years in LA, I acquired an interest to move to Portland, OR. Shortly after relocating to Portland, I began teaching at a studio and working with dance teams in the Portland metro area.
I saw a flyer for BlazerDancers and showed up ready to dance and was hungry to be a student again. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.
I've met some of my best friends, been challenged outside of my comfort zone, gained an appreciation for dance team style and culture (wasn't familiar with sports entertainment or dance team), and have worked hard to strengthen my mind, body, and fuel my soul.
Dancing on Blazers has opened so many doors to opportunities, friendships, broadened my dance skill set/terminology, and overall made me grow into a stronger woman, teammate, and teacher.
How has your individuality been positively or negatively affected by being on a dance team?
My team celebrates individuality, quirks, and uniqueness. We may wear the same uniform but we all stay true to who we are and support our differences.
Being on this team has grown my confidence, leadership skills, and I've never felt more myself among the supportive teammates and humans I work with.
How do you make sure you stay true to your own style even while being on a dance team?
I'm constantly choreographing, teaching, and taking classes. I also love to put on some music and improv in my living room. Sometimes just moving because it feels good is all you need. Learning how to clean as one team only strengthens my adaptability and versatility.
Looking strong and uniform is extremely important for the court, but I never disassociate my own style from my dancing. Our strengths and different styles only inspire each other. (i.e. we may see someone hit a step really well and try to match that energy or dynamic.)
Those moments are really cool because while we're in the process of mastering a routine for game day, we're in no shortage of learning and growing from our teammates.
What are some ways you maintain your unique flare? Is there any advice to others on dance teams on how to maintain theirs?
As a dancer, entertainer, athlete, and performer, my advice is to continue learning, training, and watching videos from performances. Sitting back as an audience member and generating a different perspective is always helpful when discovering your unique flare and what moves you.
I love to study the visuals, forms, movement quality, and audience reaction/captivation.
Our coach has always encouraged priority of style and passion over something overly clean. We're known for hard hitting, groovy, stylistic, fun, and entertaining performances.
Knowing how we dance and what's expected of our performances, gravitates a gateway for certain types of dancers to tryout for our team, whether it's a strength or something they want to learn from the program.
We are one team and care about looking strong, but we also care about the impact we make on that court for the alleged time we're out there.
HUGE thank you to Taylor for taking time out of her busy schedule (especially during a week of starting her new role as a head coach!) I hope her positive words inspire you to always keep your own swagger, embrace everything dance team has to offer, and find new ways to move/become better in your dance styles.
This week’s interview piggy-backs off of our most recent topic: “INDIVIDUALITY + DANCE TEAM = ?”
Read and click on the link below for more in case you missed it! ;)
