Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis McRae.
Hi Alexis, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
People call me a Dancer. To me, I am much more than that because I’ve been dancing as long as I’ve been living. I harness a creativity that draws people with loving-kindness. When I was first learning to harness this energy in a run, leap, or turn, the dance studio was the foundation under my feet that supported every turn my life took with its walls. There have been some discouraging experiences that questioned my gift and love for Dance and even shifted my self-view. What followed this stage was an extraordinarily creative and reserved expression of myself. While still in grade school, I began speaking in churches and dancing, designing, and creating clothes from scrap fabric, and even writing stories and play scripts. Greater than my need to fit in and make friends was an innate desire to be my whole, ingenious self. It was not until my more stable High School years that I understood the assignment of greatness – that in order to achieve one target, all other objectives must cease to exist. I chose to rewrite and choreograph my own artistic story. I call myself a serial visual artist, and more so recently, I have done things in the model world, as well as in photography and fashion. I always chose the most intricate crafts or tedious tasks just to satisfy my creative complex and challenge myself.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I did not make my first college dance team, I thought my life in dance was over. I went head-on into business hospitality and entrepreneurship to cope and found lots of success there. But no matter what I accomplished, I never felt truly successful without a dance. Finding a home studio, or my dance tribe, was such a challenge, I had to adapt differently. I had this understanding that what you water will grow, so I started thinking maybe if I support all the things my friends and family love, then they will help me grow again in what I love. Playing a supportive role, for me, was so second nature that I didn’t think it expanded me much effort or energy. But then, I experienced burnout for the first time ever, and I beat myself up for that like, how could I get tired of loving my people. Then I found a new understanding that every yes is a no to something else. And in all the support I was giving, I was denying myself so much growth. I did some reflecting, which turned into affirming, which turned into praise, which turned into dance, which turned into opportunities, which turned into rejoice. And the cycle just kept going and kept repeating itself, until finally, in a letter I wrote to my younger self, I said “This gift of dance is giving me so much life, I just want to move in and live here forever.”
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
The value of my work is ambitious! God has been auspicious in leading me through Dance opportunities that have been refreshingly astounding! My most recent performance at Morehouse College was with a company whose parent organization is where I first began training as a disciplined dancer. There, I watched my first dance teacher retire. The invitation to perform at such a prestigious event, like Cultivate, was such a pivotal point in my dance journey. Currently training with Atlanta’s Resource for Art and Entertainment (AREA), I have prioritized personal development for the entertainment industry. In the recent past, I got to cheer on the ECHL Atlanta Gladiators as a Glads Girl for the 2019-2020 season, just before the pandemic. I was invited to perform as both a model and dancer in a choreographed fashion show, The Movement ATL, where we sold out all three shows. I was blessed to perform on Season 9 pilot episode of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. Then, I later joined the ABA League in dancing for the local Atlanta Regulators for the 2020-2021 season, all while being a full-time student! I remain hopeful that creatives like myself will be supported and not restricted by fiscal matters in their journey, and that we can all have the freedom to utilize our individually prolific expression.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I am truly grateful for life’s valleys. One of the biggest challenges I grew up with was instability because it provoked my self-acceptance and esteem. As a military child, I attended 4 different Middle Schools in two different coasts. That’s a lot of adjusting for a transitioning teenager! Moments like those, I practiced who I wanted to be, without even knowing who exactly that was. From hairstyles to aliases to hobbies, I was constantly seeking to find who I was. I did a lot of journaling through adolescence, which helped me process a lot of the changes I had to grow through.
My eighth-grade year, I helped my school nurse start a cheer team for my K-12 school in Huachuca City, Arizona. I was the captain and choreographer for the school’s pep rallies, and miles away from my hometown in Stone Mountain, Georgia, I felt home in my heart. Without these obstacles, I would not have found my way back to the hold that dance had on my life. I feel, at best, victorious when I am representing an imaginable message that can only be universally translated with rhythm and movement.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexiejanaye/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexiejanaye
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiVcM2251DREENkd6DY-n0Q
Image Credits:
Jacob Allinson (@jacoballinson/IG)
