Welcome to En Pointe, a quarterly sequence that provides a deep dive into the intersection of magnificence and dance via the eyes of up-and-coming, multidisciplinary dance expertise. Anticipate an intimate look into the day by day lives, desires, and dance-bag magnificence necessities of the business’s finest younger performers.
Fifteen years have handed since I hung up my pointe sneakers, and nonetheless, Tchaikovsky scores, Balanchine choreography, and the fantastic thing about a fast change within the wings of a theater occupy a very good 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 not too long ago, 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 may increasingly not sound too groundbreaking, however think about that in another time interval, they doubtless would have been anticipated to raise their love of dance over all different pursuits.
At this time, they don’t seem to be solely aligning themselves with dance corporations 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 1 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 this time.
Meet Alicia Mae Holloway: Ballerina, Mannequin, Actress, and Content material Creator
Alica Mae Holloway isn’t any stranger to a transition, and she or he overcame numerous pivots with grace throughout her 15-year profession (and she or he’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 Her adoration for the world of dance started when she was simply 3 years outdated in Virginia, dancing within the darkened aisles of auditoriums whereas her cousin carried out onstage.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 college earlier than focusing completely 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 up to date 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 powerful 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 needed 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, a couple of 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 performing.
Changing 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, ultimately, the businesses that may catapult them into careers. Holloway’s transition from her firm function into business dance is additional proof that whereas ballet will at all times 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 turn into in years to return. “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 type 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 capable of execute a lot in several settings.” Changing 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 not too long ago burst onto the performing scene with movie, she credit her background in lots of types of dance as one of many greatest driving forces behind her latest success. “I simply completed filming a film, and if I hadn’t studied jazz, up to date, or Acro dance, I’d have by no means booked this job,” continues Holloway. “It is so vital these days to be a well-versed and multifaceted kind of dancer.” .
Holloway has expanded her dance profession to incorporate a lot of her pursuits and abilities, however she did not at all times have the assist system to make it occur. “I did not develop up round a story that mentioned I may try this. The one place I actually heard that was from my dad and mom,” explains Holloway. “I had individuals on my journey who instructed me to be extra life like—I may very well be a dance instructor, however Broadway is simply too unreachable.” As somebody who pushes the boundaries of what a dancer will be, she now strives to encourage everybody to dwell their lives how they need to by their very own requirements.
Taking Up Area within the Dance World
One other enormous contributor to how she views the world of ballet has been her expertise as a lady of shade in a predominately white business. Till Holloway started dancing with DTH, her publicity to dancers who resembled her was restricted residing in a small West Virginia city. “There have been three dancers of shade at our studio, together with me. I did not assume an excessive amount of about it, however I acknowledged that once I checked out skilled dancers in dance magazines, none of them seemed 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 complete perspective of Black girls in ballet modified. “I used to be like, ‘Wait, she seems to be like me!’ She’s robust, she’s muscular, she’s stunning. She made me understand that I may accomplish this too,” says Holloway. Shortly after, she realized younger dancers would look as much as her in an analogous means after overhearing a younger Black ballet dancer gush over seeing her following a DTH efficiency. “I used to be complaining about these early morning reveals. In the meantime, this little Black woman who had by no means seen anybody who seemed 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 shade for pointe shoe emoji in your cellphone (powder pink)? Pointe sneakers are designed to be flesh-toned and worn with matching tights to create one line from the ideas of the toes to the legs and upward. All through historical past, many ballet dancers of shade had been left with one choice: pancaking, or utilizing make-up basis or pink calamine lotion to match the colour of the sneakers to their pores and skin. Holloway, for instance, grew up sporting pink ballet slippers and pointe sneakers till fellow DTH ballerina Ingrid Silva inspired her to seek out and put on ones that matched her pure pores and skin tone.
Holloway’s expertise along 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 continuously to make sporting them in a bun simpler and permit for straightforward transitions from updos to unfastened 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 the case of skincare, touchdown on a routine that works for her has been a a lot simpler job due to genetics, however she’s undoubtedly run right into a snafu or two resulting in occasional breakouts. “Typically backstage after a present (and earlier than post-receptions), I’d 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 at all times 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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Revlon
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Mac
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