Today we’d like to introduce you to Devonna Curtis
Hi Devonna, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Devonna Curtis and I am a 24 year old artist from Jackson, MS who has had the pleasure of sharing and showcasing my love of dance to hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
So it all started when I was six years old. My mom was always putting me in some form of extracurricular activity. Art classes, Girl Scouts, you name it. However, I was very active around the house, doing cartwheels, dancing to music, and copying performances I would see on television. My mom noticed and eventually asked if I wanted to take dance classes. I hesitated, but said yes, not knowing that I would fall so in love with the art of dance to later make a career out of it.
Throughout my years, my dance teachers saw my potential and kept encouraging me and my mom to keep going because I had a special “spark”. So, I eventually joined a competitive dance team. After training in that environment for about three years, I started to compete with solos. My solos would rank extremely high each competition. This made me realize I was really good and could possibly dance as a career.
At the time, I was attending Terry High School in Terry, Mississippi. Although I had grown up with a lot of my peers there, I began to feel extremely out of place once we all started to express what we wanted to do with our lives after high school. Everyone around me wanted to be nurses, lawyers, engineers, etc. I was happy for them, but knew that wasn’t what I wanted. I just wanted to dance, specifically in New York. Each summer in high school, I would travel to New York to attend top prestigious summer intensives like The Ailey School and The Joffrey Ballet School. Every time I went to New York, I knew that’s where I wanted to be. I just didn’t know how I would get there.
Later in my sophomore year of high school, my home dance studio closed down. I was devastated and lost. Where else would I express myself and be the artist I wanted to be? Well, everything happens for a reason. One of my friends texted me one day saying, “You should auditioned for the Mississippi School of the Arts.” I had no clue that existed, but once looking into it and touring the school, I remember telling my mom “This is where I need to be.” So, I auditioned, and scored the highest in the dance department’s audition.
Mississippi School of the Arts dance program is what help me train for college. Ms. Tammy Stanford, director of the program, helped us all tremendously by giving us a college curriculum so that we were more than prepared once we graduated. Transitioning from a competitive dance background (jazz, hip hop, commercial) to a concert based dance style (ballet, modern, improvisation) was very shocking for me, but it made me the strongest dancer I’d ever been. During senior year, I applied and auditioned for many dance programs around the country. I later got accepted to one of the top programs on my list, SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance in New York!
While at SUNY Purchase, I got the most intense training of my life. I studied in ballet, Graham, Cunningham, improvisation, choreography, and the list goes on and on. I soaked up information from all of my professors and talented peers around me.
COVID happened my sophomore year in college. I was sent home for one whole semester. During that time, I rediscovered my love for commercial dance again. Although, I did eventually go to school and finished earning my degree, I knew in the back of my mind that I would most likely revisit the commercial dance industry after graduating.
And so I did! After receiving my Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in Dance Performance & Choreography, I decided to move to Atlanta, GA to embark in commercial dance. I’ve been blessed with a community of love and support that makes this place feel like home. I recently just finished my first professional contract as a dancer/performer at ‘Damsel’, a Cabarete Restaurant here in Midtown!
Looking back, my journey to get here has all been worth it. I can’t wait to see where else dance takes me in life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No not at all. I’ve had to deal with a multiple of challenges and obstacles. Being from where I’m from, there isn’t a lot of solid dance training. I always had to work ten times harder because of that. Not to mention, dance can be extremely expensive, so I’m grateful that my parents always seemed to find a way to make it work. I’ve also dealt with simply not knowing my next move or where God was telling me to go.
But I’ve recently learned it’s not my job to know. To release control and let the universe take the wheel. It makes the journey easier & more enjoyable that way.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a professionally trained dancer. I specialize in almost every style such as ballet, pointe, jazz, contemporary, and modern. I recently just finished my first professional contract for a Burlesque Cabaret Bar here in Atlanta, GA. This job taught me a lot about the entertainment industry and gave me guidance on my next steps in my career. My ultimate goal is to work with celebrities, whether that is dancing or choreographing for them. I aspire to be in music videos, commercials, & on tour.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
The role of luck to me is simply the matter of “If it’s meant for me, it will be for me. If it’s not, it’s not”. I believe gaining this mentality has helped me tremendously. I used to try to control every step of my journey. Every audition I attend, ever opportunity that appears for me, I always remind myself of this and I instantly feel a since of ease because I know what’s meant for me will not pass me by.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @vonnagyal
Image Credits
@yungceophoto
@dartagnanportrait
