by Natasha T. Brown
“When I was in LA, I was really starting to get my feet wet, but with the opportunity to open Seize The Dance, I immediately thought about my dance friends, who are ridiculously talented but didn’t have the opportunities I had. I didn’t want a dance studio just to teach, because I’m still a student myself. It was really about having the space to open up and share with my friends and others here.” – LaTonya Swann, Seize The Dance
In 2011, LaTonya Swann, 22, felt unfulfilled in college as a double dance and psychology major at the University of Maryland College Park. At that point, she decided that she would pursue dance full time using her next audition as a stepping stone to really jump start her professional career.
Then she received word that auditions were being held for a new series on BET called Born to Dance with Laurieann Gibson. Swann traveled to New York, made it to the audition line at 4 a.m. and was there until 9 p.m. She made the cut from 9,000 dancers in New York to 40, who were called to Atlanta the following month. Only 20 dancers would make it. LaTonya made it through the Atlanta cuts, onto the show and ultimately became the first winner of Born to Dance, proving she was among the best in the industry.
“While I was on the show, I told myself that I was the underdog so I would work much harder than normal. I sat back and watched and tried to take in as much as I could about the industry and dance,” Swann said.
The show aired over eight weeks, but was filmed in four so the contestants shot two shows each day, endured two sets of challenges and two rounds of cuts daily.
“We didn’t have any down time. We were dancing for our lives in the realist aspect of that. Getting to learn dance from one of the best and being around others who wanted it just as much makes you work harder, because everyone around you feels like they were born to dance. You have to prove that you are,” she added.
After winning the show, Swann’s life changed forever. She moved to Los Angeles and was living her dream as a professional dancer and actress, working with entertainers like Chris Brown, Neo, Shakira, Cassie Ventura, Dawn Richards and brands like The Disney Channel.
After about a year in LA, a family friend approached her with the opportunity to open a dance gym in her hometown of District Heights, Maryland. She jumped at the opportunity, because in the back of her mind, she yearned to find a way to help other dancers back home who didn’t have the opportunities that she did. Seize The Dance Performing Arts Gym opened in December 2012.
But fast forward six months later. With a lack of consistent community support of Seize The Dance’s altruistic purpose to be a space for the artists here, DMV’s dream warrior, LaTonya Swann, the first winner of BET’s Born to Dance has been on a mission to keep her community-based performing arts gym open. Many in the arts and business communities have joined a movement called #SAVESEIZE, with a goal to raise the $9,000 needed to keep Seize open. Swann recently spoke with me about her mission for Seize the Dance, the #SAVESEIZE campaign and how she feels about her career and the recent turn of events.
How did your life change after Born to Dance?
Swann: Number one, I feel like it changed my whole relationship with God, because I felt like I was finally on the path where he wanted me to be. All the blessings just came together, which was one of the things that changed for me. It created a new self-confidence in my ability. I always felt that I was supposed to be doing this, but the intellectual side of me made me want a plan B.
Winning the show made me fully follow my dreams. I always had wanted to go to New York or LA, and so that made me feel comfortable like I was supposed to be doing it.
The third way that Born to Dance changed my life was being exposed to the etiquette of the business, and certain lessons she [Laurieann Gibson] walked us through on the show, and then experiencing them in LA while I was dancing and acting. It also created in me the dream warrior spirit. I really preach to people that really going toward your God-given destiny will change your life. I really became an advocate for going after your dreams.
When did you know that you were going to open Seize The Dance and how did that opportunity come about?
Swann: I had been in LA for a year and I was working pretty consistently. It was a good situation, and I had a family friend call and ask if a dance studio back home was something that I had dreamed of. It had always been on my mind since I was young, but I put it on the backburner because I wanted to do it right.
What is the main mission of Seize The Dance?
Swann: The gist of it is to help others start their career while I am pursing my dream as well, and to make their transition [into professional dance] a little easier. I had two months to plan, then I came back to Maryland and the rest is history. I really worked hard to create a space that would really accommodate artists. Seize the Dance was me creating a place that would breed success for my peers.
I want to pass on the nuggets that I learned to my peers in the DMV.
What has the space become?
Swann: The space has become what people call “the artists’ playground”. It’s a place where you can come to get a free open perspective to do whatever you have to do. For instance, Culture Shock is a dance company here that I’ve worked with, and they’ve always had to move around. So now, Seize the Dance has become their home. They don’t have to go to Bethesda one day and then DC the next. We have enough space to accommodate all of their teams. It’s become the playground for people who don’t have a dance home and a place where people have the opportunity to work on their crafts.
We’ve brought in people like Beyonce’s choreographer James Alsop and Dawn Richard’s Choreographer AJ Jackson. Seize the Dance has become a place to bring my peers closer to the dance industry. Besides that, we don’t really get to train with those types of people because they are always in LA or NY.
And that’s the place that Seize the Dance has become and will continue to grow into.
You mentioned that Seize The Dance has taken on the true definition of a performing arts gym. Please explain.
Swann: People might be in the lobby thinking about what they are wearing, then will go on the floor and practice and then go to the stage and make it happen. The DMV is about live performances and we give people the training, space and extra resources to make that happen.
The whole reason it’s called a gym is because you get a physical, mental and intellectual workout. And you get the space to get all of those things versus a dance studio that focuses only on teaching dance. We’re so much more than that.
Now, Seize the Dance is in jeopardy of closing? How do you feel and what are you asking of the community?
Swann: I feel dually empowered and a little discouraged just because, when I was in LA, I was really starting to get my feet wet, but with the opportunity for Seize, I immediately thought about my dance friends, who are ridiculously talented but didn’t have the opportunities I had. After creating Seize the Dance for the DMV community, everything ‘kinda’ depended on them. I only wanted the studio for everybody. I didn’t want a dance studio just to teach, because I’m still a student myself. It was really about having the space to open up and share with my friends and others here.
A lot of people have been here and have shared and made the events special, but I feel like there are a lot of people who haven’t been here, because they might not have known what we were trying to do. I feel completely vulnerable, because I really opened myself up.
At the end of the day, I still believe in the vision of Seize The Dance, and I will still continue to do what I’m doing, because I feel like the DMV deserves it. My vision keeps me going. I really believe in Seize The Dance and it’s only a matter of time before my peers really take it in.
Seize The Dance had to raise approximately $9,000 in a matter of weeks, with just under $2,000 to go, Swann would like to thank everyone who has contributed. If you would like to donate, please text 41411 with #SAVESEIZE to donate $5 or come to the #SAVESEIZE car wash next Saturday, May 18 from 10 to 3 p.m. at the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, 7701 Landover Road, Landover, MD.
You may also visit the gym online at seizethedance.com or follow @SeizeTheDance on Twitter.
Natasha Brown is a writer and founding communications strategist of Think Brown INK, a creative think tank and communications agency, focused on social responsibility branding for artists, entertainers and entrepreneurs. Follow her on Twitter @NBrownINK or @TBINatasha or her company @ThinkBrownINK.