In high school, I wanted to avoid gym—climbing ropes specifically—so I enrolled in dance, an evasive maneuver that turned out to be life changing. In class, I quickly gravitated to contemporary movement, creating 10+ pieces for the company to perform, and was nominated to choreograph for the Fort Mason Vision Series Festival under the mentorship of Deborah Slater.

However, in the following decade, dance became sporadic as I obtained my B.S. (Textiles) and M.S. (Human Factored Design), and developed a career in global research at YouTube and Google. I danced here and there, completing Broadway Dance Center’s ISVP summer program, adult classes at Academy of Ballet SF, and learned local dance styles (such as garba and konto) during my fieldwork in places like Brazil, India, and Nigeria. In 2021, I decided to commit to dance, a lifelong love on the back burner. I left my job and dove into training, completing intensives with ArtÉmotionUSA, the Martha Graham School, The Galen Hooks Method, and Runqiao Du Ballet Coaching, among others.

I aim to establish a career as a choreographer-director across mediums, and to inspire others to combat the voices that tell them that they can’t go after what they want.