We recently connected with Princess Johnson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Princess thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I am currently preparing for the world premiere of my seventh, original dance production: The Hair Journey Ballet which is set to debut on Tuesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. in Greensboro, NC.

I wrote this as a children’s story first with the intent of it becoming a ballet. This story was birth from the pandemic. During the pandemic, I found myself with a lot more time and freedom to be creative than I have had in very long time. Most of my days were spent running my business and evenings were spent teaching dance classes and running rehearsals. I knew I wanted to create something inspiring as we stayed home.

I have been producing dance productions since 2009. Prior to the Hair Journey, I create a trilogy of three abstract ballets: Journey to Become, BLOOM, and Never Lose Your MOMENTUM. These ballets explored the thoughts and emotions surrounding our dreams, the highs and the lows, how we pursue them or lack thereof. I also created The Christmas Shoes in 2012, a story about a little girl and her mom as they face the hardest moment of their lives. The mom announces to her family and friends that she is ill and may not make it to the new year. Her friends and family surround her and the little girl with faith, hope, and love with this moving story that uses our favorite holiday music to navigate. I created 31 – a show to uplift, inspire, and empower women and also (MIS)CONCEPTION – a show that tells stories of infertility and miscarriages.

As you can see, meaningful projects is important to me. Dance is a great tool because it is so introspective. It provokes audiences to think and create their own narratives based on what they see and feel. It leaves room for interpretation and healing.

The Hair Journey is much aligned with my past projects, but it is also the first thing I’ve ever created out of sheet joy and expectation. That is because I wrote it while I was 8 months pregnant. The anticipation of a little girl on the way made me think about my time as a little girl and my relationship with my mom. Our best moments and memories have always included time between her thighs getting my hair done. She taught me so much about self care and self love through the way she took care of my hair. Taking care of our hair meant taking care of us from head to toe. I wrote this story to not just my little girl, but to all the moms and little girls out here in hopes that they will remember how special it is to bond over hair care.

The story is about a little girl named Zuri who has kinky coily hair, but begs her mom to get it straightened. Her mom reluctantly agrees and takes her to a salon. Zuri cannot wait to show her friends, but her mom insists she covers her hair with a bonnet. As soon as her mom is out of sight, Zuri snatches it off and skips off to her friends with her free-flowing straight hair. Her friends are amazed, but it is short lived as storm clouds gather and rain began to fall. Zuri rushes home, but she is too late, her hair goes back into an afro and devastated she runs to her room and falls asleep crying.

Zuri awakens in a magical place decorated with all types of hair colors and textures. Then she sees a beautiful woman, The Weave Queen who quickly springs into action to give Zuri a makeover. The team does such a fantastic job that Zuri doesn’t even look like a little girl anymore. She hears a drum beating in a distance and follows it into the forest where she she’s a community of beautiful people dancing and singing. Nywele introduces herself as the Queen of the Land of Locs and Fros and beckons her to come over. Zuri is given an “un-makeover” and looks her age again. They also show her how to properly care for her hair and sing and dance with her. As Zuri starts to fall asleep, Nywele promises to take her home. Zuri wakes up to find her mom braiding her hair. She turned and looked up at her and said “thank you Mom” then falls back asleep.

I am so excited for the world to see this come to life on the stage through dance and live music written by Sharneisha Joyner and played by a live orchestra. Meaninful projects make the world go round and make a difference in our community.

Princess, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Dance has always been a part of my life somehow some way. I did not have a traditional route of growing up taking dance classes. Much of my dance experience was through church, outreach, or school programs. When I was a senior in high school I felt called to continue with dance, so I took a risk and pursued a Dance Degree at UNC-Greensboro. This did not come easy though. I had to audition 3 times and I stayed in college an extra year to complete the degree. After college I interned with the North Carolina Arts Council and was introduced to the nonprofit arts world. After that, I was a business intern at Richmond Ballet and learned a lot about fundraising.

I started Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet in 2009 – a nonprofit dance production company. We also have a school – Royal Expressions School of Dance and offer outreach programs through Royal Expressions Outreach Programs and Education Network (RE-OPEN). We produce original dance performances that employ paid artists, teach ages 2 – adult in Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Contemporary, and Ballet, as well as offer accessible dance programs that target mainly children 9 and up, but we do also offer programming for younger children as well as adults through our outreach efforts.

I am proud of the community we have built at Royal Expressions, we call ourselves the “Royal Family”. We treat everyone that enters our space with dignity and respect no matter their background. We lead with love and truly believe in the power of dance to make you happy and healthy due to its healing nature. When you take care of your body, you take care of your mind and soul.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience is why I am here. I got married in 2011 not too long after I started Royal Expressions. My husband always jokes and calls it his step-daughter because he met me right when we first got started. About a year after our wedding, my husband had a grand mal seizure and this shook up our lives for almost 5 years as he continue to have them periodically. This really made things hard for us financially as my husband was out of work during some of this time or only working part time. There were many times I offered to close the company and go get “a big girl job”, but he insisted I stay persistent because he could never let me quit my dream due to his health. During that time, I worked some odd jobs here and there, but keep the dance company going. I never took on any full time work, only part time, so I could keep building at a pace that worked for me. Around this time, thankfully, the government healthcare plans passed and we were able to have insurance that way, but I’ll admit for a small window, we did not have it! So it was definitely risky.

As if that was not enough of a burden, we also were trying to have a child and found at that we were 1 in 8 couples dealing with infertility. For 7.5 years we were unable to conceive. Between this, my husband’s health, and struggling with my business it took a toll on my mental health. I unknowingly had slipped into a depression. I finally told my husband I thought something was wrong and the only way I could think to let it out was to produce a show to tell my story, but I was very afraid. So I asked two friends to tell theirs with me and that is how (MIS)CONCEPTION was birth. It is movement that happens alongside music and recorded storytelling. Following the performance, we had a panel of people to talk about infertility and on the panel was a mental health expert. After the show, I felt so raw and exposed and I did not know what to do with the energy, so I went to see a therapist. I was immediately diagnosed with depression and found out I had an anxiety disorder that stemmed back all the way to my childhood. I went to unpack the grief from infertility, but unpacked so much more.

Therapy helped me recover from depression and gave me tools to manage my anxiety disorder. I felt like I could breathe again, have faith again, and be happy. It took me 2 years to get there, but I did and still am. Three years after (MIS)CONCEPTION I gave birth to my baby girl. I am so grateful for all the life lessons that resilience has given me, but she is definitely the biggest one.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I wish society would stop holding celebrities as the standard of true artistry and start looking in their own backyards. Every city has an artist community that needs them. Tap into the local arts scene and get to know your hidden gems. We are out here creating and giving to our community everyday. Purchase tickets for the local concert or show. Go to the art gallery featuring local artists and purchase their art work. Give away tickets and art work from local artists as gifts.

Be aware also, that sometimes your local arts community heavily highlights and supports larger organizations and artists. Keep up with what Black artists and artists of color are doing too! There is a great disparity between white-led arts institutions and Black-led or Institutions led by people of color. So make sure you are being intentional and helping make the arts funding in the community equitable as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://royalexpressions.org/about/
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/princessjlovesballet
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/princesshjohnson
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/royalexpressions

Image Credits
Katrena Wize Artography Kendra Knight Photo