Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melissa Adao. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

My name is Melissa Adao, and the dance community knows me as Bgirl Mel. I am a 44 year old competitive Bgirl, and my breaking journey started 7 years ago, which is an uncommon factor in the breaking scene. Starting this dance at a later age brings both physical and mental joys and challenges which I have been transparent in sharing on my social media. By doing so, I’ve been sharing a message to the world that “you’re never too old, and it’s never too late to pursue your dreams”. Quality of life, such as physical and mental health upgrades, dont stop in your 30’s. Being too old is just an outdated programmed mindset that society has ingrained in our minds to be normal. And when people ask about the evidence of upgrading our life, I just tell people that I am the evidence.

I am an expert in this area because I live it daily. I’ve been a dancer for over 30 years, and a professional for over 20 years. I earned a BA in dance from SDSU and MA in dance from Cal State Long Beach. I worked in the Hollywood industry during the origins of highlighting backup dancers as the stars of the show instead of the signers being the stars. I have been a college professor since 2003. During this time, I figured how to help a total beginner (at any age), instill a newfound confidence within themselves where they realize that dance was more than a skill learned.

I would love to create a pocket of awareness which allows individuals to think deeper about their life, and if there were any barriers once before, that at least they are softened or completely gone.

I would love for them to have self-analysis which reignites a fire that might have once been there. This is my aim.

I want them to challenge, act on, think creatively, and persevere onto that next stage of life whatever that may be to them. For example, Take a closer look at people they surround themselves with. I want people to reevaluate where they are now, and take action to where they want to be. Whether that be taking on a new hobby, letting go of people, situations, or tangible things that don’t serve them anymore. I want people to feel empowered to make healthy changes and upgrades for longevity in physical and mental health.

The real story is me pursuing breakdancing at 37 years young. This had me deal with my own limiting beliefs which made me feel and question myself “am i too old for this?” Now that I am 7 years into this experience, I am aware that the only thing that was stopping me was me. What I have been able to accomplish in these last 7 years lets me know that there’s no magic formula to succeed, but if you decide that you want something and truly apply yourself, doors will open for you.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Melissa Adao, and the dance community knows me as Bgirl Mel. I am a 44 year old competitive Bgirl, and my breaking journey started 7 years ago, which is an uncommon factor in the breaking scene. Starting this dance at a later age brings both physical and mental joys and challenges which I have been transparent in sharing on my social media. By doing so, I’ve been sharing a message to the world that “you’re never too old, and it’s never too late to pursue your dreams”. Quality of life, such as physical and mental health upgrades, dont stop in your 30’s. Being too old is just an outdated programmed mindset that society has ingrained in our minds to be normal. And when people ask about the evidence of upgrading our life, I just tell people that I am the evidence.

I am an expert in this area because I live it daily. I’ve been a dancer for over 30 years, and a professional for over 20 years. I earned a BA in dance from SDSU and MA in dance from Cal State Long Beach. I worked in the Hollywood industry during the origins of highlighting backup dancers as the stars of the show instead of the signers being the stars. I have been a college professor since 2003. During this time, I figured how to help a total beginner (at any age), instill a newfound confidence within themselves where they realize that dance was more than a skill learned.

I would love to create a pocket of awareness which allows individuals to think deeper about their life, and if there were any barriers once before, that at least they are softened or completely gone.

I would love for them to have self-analysis which reignites a fire that might have once been there. This is my aim.

I want them to challenge, act on, think creatively, and persevere onto that next stage of life whatever that may be to them. For example, Take a closer look at people they surround themselves with. I want people to reevaluate where they are now, and take action to where they want to be. Whether that be taking on a new hobby, letting go of people, situations, or tangible things that don’t serve them anymore. I want people to feel empowered to make healthy changes and upgrades for longevity in physical and mental health.

The real story is me pursuing breakdancing at 37 years young. This had me deal with my own limiting beliefs which made me feel and question myself “am i too old for this?” Now that I am 7 years into this experience, I am aware that the only thing that was stopping me was me. What I have been able to accomplish in these last 7 years lets me know that there’s no magic formula to succeed, but if you decide that you want something and truly apply yourself, doors will open for you.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I am on a mission to develop continuous windmills. A continuous windmill is considered a basic power move, but there is nothing basic about it. I started learning how to windmill in 2018. Other breakers make this move look so smooth and easy, so I thought to myself, “oh I can do that!” But I was quickly humbled. Believe it or not, this move is not easy. I don’t care what anyone says. Because if it was, every one of all ages and body types would get it after just a couple of tries.

Pandemic life allowed me to put more time into training and I was able to achieve my goal of executing a windmill. But I did not train them after because my mind thought, “once I have them, I HAVE THEM”. Since then I quickly realized how much I gotta put some respect on these power moves.

Afterwards, I wasn’t training windmills consistently because I was impatient to see results right away. I would get extremely discouraged when I didn’t get them after a couple of weeks. Then I’d let it go so I don’t have to feel down on myself. Only to revisit the move again and repeat the cycle of being hard on myself. I’d stop training it to stop feeling incompetent.

Breaking truly saved my life because this activity is the reason why I dived into my own healing. Breaking made me feel validated yet insecure for all the wrong reasons. And I couldn’t blame the dance, the culture, or my age. It was “me”.
I learned that it wasn’t about achieving the windmill move that would make me happy, I needed to change the way I see myself. I needed to stop controlling how my breaking journey should look like , release the grip, and trust that breaking is beyond achieving moves and being the best dancer. The physical and spiritual lessons that are showing up are opportunities to finally teach me how to love and accept myself. I changed my attitude to be grateful that my body is even able to learn such a demanding move in my 40’s. Grateful that my form is getting better, my physique is getting stronger, and other mini moves showing up along the way. The best part is seeing how my 4️4 y/o body is surprising me with what I’m able to do. Even though I don’t have continuous windmills just yet, I truly enjoy the process of learning. I approach this training w joy, enthusiasm, and excitement. I can feel that I’m almost there.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Instagram is the platform I mainly use to share my message, and offer motivation and empowerment to all those it reaches. I started using the platform in 2011, but didn’t understand its impact and the “power of reach” until I started sharing my journey as a 40+ BGirl in 2016. Sharing my story as a woman who started breaking in my late 30’s and training as a competitive Bgirl in my 40’s inspires both men and women in similar age ranges, and empowers them that they are never too old and it’s never too late old to pursue their dreams.

Although I am not a social media expert, I do have some tips that can help jump start someone who wants to build their social media presence:

1. Be consistent in posting engaging content. I would start by posting everyday for 30 days and pay attention to what posts have high engagement (likes, comments, and shares).

2. Once you’ve figured out what posts create the most engagement, post more content like that because that’s what your audience wants to see more of. I loved posting dance videos such as my training and breaking battles, but I noticed that the higher engaging posts came from my talking videos where I speak on the mindset of navigating as a 40+ dancer in a youth dominated scene. Once I recognized that and posted more of this, I noticed my followers and engagement grew.

3. Create a content calendar and plan what your posts will look like 2 weeks to 1 month ahead of time so that you don’t fall behind in posting. Don’t get discouraged when posts don’t engage as much as others. We have to remember this is stil a “Testing Phase” where you’re gathering data.

4. As much as your audience is engaging with you, it’s important to engage back. Respond in a timely manner, and create conversations within the comments. Get to know your community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.melissaadao.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bgirlmel
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaadao
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theconfidentdancers

Image Credits
Photo Credits: Jeremy Gonzalo Adrian Jones Jae Calanog Andrew Loando Stephanie Persu