Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Avery.
Hi Brandon, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Originally, I am from South Holland, IL–a south suburb of Chicago. I began dancing at 4 years old, emulating the movement my older cousin Felisa would teach me and what I saw in music videos/performances on Soul Train, MTV, BET, and The Box Music Network. When I was 16, I joined a group called ClearVision Dance Team, one of Chicago’s most notable groups that is part of the Juke/Footwerk movement that was featured in MTV2’s “My Block: Chicago”.
While at my alma mater Knox College I joined the Knox College Dance Squad–the first male in its history to join–and participated in performances with the Terpsichore Dance Collective student organization. At Knox I took my first formal dance technique classes, and thus, my love for jazz dance technique and choreography began manifesting. After graduating from Knox College in 2012(with a secondary minor in Dance Studies, btw; my primary minor was Psychology, and my major was Elementary Education), I began rigorously training at dance institutions such as Gus Giordano Dance School, Chicago Multicultural Dance Center, and Joel Hall Dancers & Center, which is where I met my “dance dad” Dereque Whiturs, a 17-year alum with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Just as well I have trained with Vershawn Ward, Kiira Harper, Yanis Marshall, Bubba Carr, and (my “dance mom”) Caitlin Gray.
What brought me to Atlanta was the opportunity to join Ballethnic Dance Company in East Point, GA as a company apprentice. The founders and artistic directors of the company, Waverly T. Lucas and Nena Gilreath, are good friends of Dereque, and all three of them are mentees of Homer Hans Bryant, the owner of Chicago Multicultural Dance Center and founder of the Hiplet Ballerinas. Mr. Homer had advised me to look up Ballethnic during my 2017 Christmas Break trip to ATL. Before taking class with Mr. Homer I NEVER saw myself performing classical ballet repertoire, let alone joining a ballet-based company, because I started learning the artform in my 20s. However, I have performed Ballethnic’s signature ballets Urban Nutcracker and The Leopard Tale during my two years being part of the company–and these experiences majorly influenced my appreciation for the genre of classical ballet dance; plus, I also performed a work choreographed by Anthony Burrell as a guest performer in his company, The AB Project. Currently, I am teaching for Praize Productions, Inc., Mystic Elite Dance Factory, and Indie Media Studios; and I choreograph for recording/performing artist Aya Ito.
In this moment I am learning that you have the divine right to want what you want when it is positively impactful to you and your community, so be affirmed and adamant in obtaining exactly what you want!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There have been many challenges on this path, but I will detail 2 defining ones in my life pertaining to this profession.
1.) When I decided in December 2009 that I wanted to pursue dance as an academic focus and career, I did not have a road map for how that would work for me, especially at a school in the cornfields of Illinois where the dance program only offers a minor in Dance Studies. With that, a year later I ended up on academic probation, feeling very stuck, optionless, and isolated. Around that time was my 21st birthday, when I decided that I would start to be honest with myself: who I am, what I want, how I want to live, and to do way less self-sabotaging acts so that I can be this person I dream of.
2.) In August 2017 I was living my best life and my worst life at the exact same time. While I was preparing to perform and teach for my then dream job, I was also coming to terms with the termination of my apartment’s lease due to 3-months-worth overdue rent as a result from my contractual roommate refusing to communicate and pay his portion of the rent. In my hometown of Chicago, I was technically living homeless, sleeping in my car (that had become inoperable by February 2018) or at different friends’ homes and studios so that I could stay in the city and not risk missing jobs due to the commute I would have living with my parents–namely my mother, who at that point was convinced I needed to stop dancing. From September 2017 onward, I started to perform and teach more than I ever had in my career. WIth losing my apartment, my car, and my desire to please people who willfully underrespect me, the decision to buy my one-way ticket to Atlanta on February 23, 2018 was an easy one, and I am so grateful to be where I am.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a performer (dance, vocal), choreographer, director, educator, counselor, and health care administrator (mental health/medical). I am the founder and instructor for Hips & Heels by Brandon Avery, a series of heels dance classes where we help you to “elevate your sexy”. Through the “Heels Fundamentals”, “Intermediate Heels”, “Teen Heels”, and “Burlesque & Stretch” classes, I help people to understand their physical placement in heeled shoes (e.g. stilettos, character shoes, latin dance heels, jazz boots) which usually provokes the students to assess their personal/spiritual/emotional placement in life currently. Outside of dance-related jobs, I also tutor mathematics and language arts, I work in the business office for a mental health private practice.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
There are so many life mantras/gems I would love to share, but I want to share one of my most reiterated statements when I teach, which comes from my “dance mom”, Caitlin Gray:
“When all else fails, technique won’t.”
In and outside of the studio, there will be so much thrown your way. The best way to stay centered is to train yourself to experience the successes and the struggles of the life you desire. Take various technique classes consistently, meditate, have the necessary conversations with the people that are relevant to the issues at hand, read more print stories than story posts, digest what makes sense for your mind and body’s needs, and love freely but consciously.
Pricing:
- Solo/Duo Private Class (1-2 people): $75.00 per hour
- Small Group Private Class (3-5 people): $150.00 per hour
- Large Group Private Class (6-10 people): $300.00 per hour
- Company Group Class Rates (for groups larger than 10 participants): Rates are available upon request as they are based on group sizes and settings
- Performing/Visual Artist Choreography: Available upon request as rates vary depending on needs
Contact Info:
- Email: averybrandon0812@gmail.com
- Website: nblvblbavery.blogspot.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/nblvblbavery
- Facebook: facebook.com/unbelievablebavery
- Twitter: twitter.com/nblvblbavery
- Youtube: youtube.com/16n1 (Brandon Avery)
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/brandon-avery-317336107
Image Credits
Main Headshot: Angel David Weatherston/Indie Media Photography, Chicago, IL Action Shot (dancing on bridge): Enki Andrews, Chicago, IL Promo Headshot: DeAndre Lemons/Slingshot Photography, Atlanta, GA Dancing Still: AJ Paug/Pandako Media, Atlanta, GA
