We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brianna Chanel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brianna, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The dance film I created called “Energy is Everywhere” was the most meaningful project that I have worked on so far.

During my senior year at college, I had to complete a capstone project for my Communications: Film & Media major. I was tasked with finding a communications theory that could relate to the project that I chose to do, and I instantly knew I wanted to expand on the idea that energy is everywhere, therefore learn more about energy theory.
When I say the word energy, I’m not talking about physics, I’m talking about the energy felt through people, colors, sounds (vibrations), relationships, and emotions. I wanted to start exploring this concept further after I started to listen to vibrational electronic music, especially by the artist, Savej. Every time I heard one of his songs, choreography would appear in my brain and I would start to fantasize about the intricate, colorful, and fluid movement that I could create in a dance film.
The process that came with this idea, had many ups and downs from the beginning though. This dance means a lot to me because it truly showed me to never give up on my creative ideas.
The semester before I needed to do this project, I applied to be in my college’s spring dance concert with this exact idea. After spending hours on the application, and an interview with the dance chair that instilled confidence in me, I was denied from the concert. After that happened, I hit a new low in my creative journey because I had poured so much of myself into that dance concept, and I thought that would be my last opportunity to choreograph for a staged production during my time at college.
But after regaining my confidence and learning that I could take creative liberty with my final project, I knew what I needed to do.
The new and improved concept that I came up with for my dance felt more authentic and true to the type of art I want to produce. This concept of energy is from a lens of spirituality that I have been exploring in the past couple of years. I wanted this dance to show how this concept of energy can move through the body and influence movements with fluidity, sharpness, and stamina. I also wanted to display the general idea that we all share visible and non-visible waves of energy that can sometimes be calming, and soothing, but other times can evoke a sense of power and strength.
Similar to the meaning behind yin and yang, we need all of our forms of energy to thrive as human beings, and that is the main feeling I wanted to create with this dance.

Once I had my concept narrowed down and my choreography created, I gathered my friends that were skilled in certain areas like camera work, lighting design, and dancing in many styles. I created a schedule and held rehearsals for about 2 months with two of the best dancers at my college, that I was luckily already close with, and created a dance that explored hip-hop, jazz, and free-form fusion movements. I also added elements of ribbon twirling into a small section of my dance to further portray waves of energy. After everything was filmed, I spent about 6-7 hours editing my film so that it would be ready for a small premiere in front of my peers at college the next day.
Once everything was said and done, and I was able to post the film on youtube, I felt such a sense of accomplishment. I was finally able to choreograph a piece that conveyed such a powerful message, and complete a project that was once denied, turned out to be even better than I had imagined.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Brianna Chanel (she/they/theirs) a performer, dancer, vocalist, model, and choreographer, from Washington state. I make art that is impactful, eye-catching, and versatile among many styles. My main focuses are hip-hop choreography/performance, film-making/video editing, musical theater, vocal performance, and modeling.
I recently graduated from college in spring 2024 with a double major in Theatre and Communications Film & Media studies. During my time at college I performed in many musical theater and acting shows, got cast in two acapella groups, as well as multiple dance concerts in many different styles including hip-hop, jazz, and musical theater. I also hosted my own radio shows for two years (“Brianna Chanel’s Bass Hour”, “Time To Vibe w/ Dj Brianna Chanel”) where I had one show dedicated to exploring different styles of bass music, and another dedicated to playing multiple music genres. Music production is definitely something I want to explore in the future.
I’m currently based in the Seattle area and looking for work in social media, modeling, performing, and dance. I’m excited to take this culmination of skills and apply it to my future work, and the youtube channel that I’m starting up so that I can continue to share my creative talents with the world!
Email [email protected] for inquiries or to collaborate!

What sets you apart from others?

What sets me apart from others is the way I chose to continue to be authentically myself in everything I do, especially in my creativity. I bring a type of energy/vibe that is magnetic and inviting because I choose to live in my truth and I believe that living authentically allows others to do the same.
It has taken a long time to learn how to do that for myself, and I’ve been through very rough patches in my life that have tried to snuff out my light, when it comes to being myself. But I haven’t let that type of negative energy win. I’ve become so much happier living day-to-day, ever since I chose to live for myself and not to live for the expectations, confined boxes, or stereotypes that others have wanted to put me in. Radiating that type of energy into the world constantly through the way I dress, how I wear my hair, how I treat others and how I produce my art, is what I think sets me apart from everyone else.

I’m most proud of how far I’ve come as a performer and artist in my journey.

The first time I ever performed on stage was when I was eight years old in Princess and the Pea in a children’s touring theater camp that showed up to my elementary school for a week. I didn’t perform again until high school when I only auditioned for dancing roles in the winter musical. The reason why I took such a long time off of performing was because I had horrible stage fright. The thought of anyone hearing me sing and someone thinking I was good or bad, left me in a state of anxiety and fear for a very long time. Mainly because I felt very different from everyone else around me for most of my life growing up in a small town, so “how could I ever truly sound good or look like I belonged on the stage?” is what I thought to myself.
But after my first show, I kept coming back to the theater, and started to receive more praise for my performances. Being on stage just felt right. This helped me slowly become more comfortable performing, and in my junior year I was able to get cast in my first supporting role as Brooke Wyndham in Legally Blonde the Musical. The next year, my senior year of high school, I suggested a huge musical that I thought would never get picked (Shrek the Musical), that also included one of my dream roles of all time (Princess Fiona). My drama teacher ended up choosing that musical and I already knew I was going to help out as much as I could for my senior project, since this show meant so much to me. I later became the assistant choreographer, production assistant, and student producer. I also aimed to get the lead role and my dream role.
This would be my first lead role in a musical, first stage kiss, and I would have to learn how to tap dance, so I was very nervous. On top of nerves, some of my peers tried to spread a rumor around that I wouldn’t get the role for the sole purpose that I wasn’t white (since I was at a predominantly white high school) but I didn’t let their words influence my ability to succeed at my audition. I got the role, and ended up getting nominated for state and local theater awards for my performance.
The amount of adversity that I had to go through, the effort I put into the work I did for the show and my senior project, and the fears I faced after completing those shows, is what I’m most proud of so far in my creative journey. That entire experience has helped shape who I am as an individual and performer, because it showed me how to deflect projected hate and jealousy from a creative endeavor I truly deserve.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

A huge part of my story is resilience.

Being a black femme-presenting creator in a world where society has been taught that I am supposedly the opposite of what “beauty” is, has thrown many situations at me that have forced me to become resilient.

Growing up in a small town in the middle of Washington didn’t give me a ton of opportunities to be surrounded by other people that looked like me. I was shown first hand what people who didn’t fit society’s white beauty standards get treated like…especially when they don’t assimilate to the culture around them. I was always the “weird mixed kid” that wore colorful clothes, did my hair in different types of ways, and owned the knee-high converse that I wore whenever I could. Because of this, I was bullied pretty badly for years, called names countless times, and made to feel like I didn’t belong in the town that I had grown up in my whole life. This put me in a dark place until I found theater and performing again.

On stage I found myself feeling whole. It didn’t matter what I looked like when I knew I was going to deliver an amazing performance, and it didn’t matter what anyone would say because my confidence started to come back every time I remembered that. It takes so much resilience to pursue a creative lifestyle and to live as your true self. In the world of creatives it can be isolating and lonely, and during the time after I graduated high school, it was hard for me to want to rise to my full potential because I hadn’t been out in the world for so long. Finding any resilience felt impossible during and after the pandemic. But as I started to create a community with other like-minded creatives at my college, and the world started to open up again, things started falling into place and I learned to never abandon my creative goals.

No matter how many no’s I receive, no matter how much I want to hide my art from the world, I know to never give up, and to give myself the time it takes to create art that I care about. Because someone out there will connect with my art, be inspired by what I create and appreciate my authenticity. One of the most important things I’ve learned in my creative journey so far is that seeing someone else express themselves completely, and sharing something they’re proud of, sparks other individuals who have been scared to do so, have the courage to share their own art. Creativity ignites a beautiful chain reaction that I want to continue to contribute to. The moment I decided to erase the self-doubt and truly let go was one of the best moments of my life, and I want to echo that message to fellow creators as much as I can.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Getting to live my truth and sparking that in others with my confidence and vibrant, energetic content. I believe I’m living my truth when I dance, sing, perform, model, and do cosplay, because all of these creative endeavors truly feed my soul. Creativity opens our minds to so much that is still yet to be explored. I want to make art that encapsulates all of my talents to create something the world hasn’t seen or felt before. It is so rewarding for me to hear from people that love what I create and how they have interpreted my art in their minds. Every person on this planet has their own niche, what makes them unique and I believe that one of the best ways we show that is through our creativity that we allow others to see or experience. The more I show my creativity, the more rewarding it is to see others inspired by what I do, and to see them living their truth.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sites.google.com/view/briannachanel/home
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/briannachanel777
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BriannaChanel777
• Other: Email for inquiries: [email protected]

Image Credits

“TradGoth Clown Photoshoot”, “PNW Photo”, “Brianna Chanel – Personal Photo”, – Sydnee Bowling

“Brianna Chanel Grad Pic”, “Brianna Chanel – Outdoor Photoshoot” – Caleb Uhl

“Brianna Chanel – Flame Princess Cosplay” – Asa Uhl