We were lucky to catch up with Alina Bannavong recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

The kindest thing someone has ever done for me was refuse to hire me for a job.

I was a backup dancer for drag queens and male entertainers in the LGBTQIA pageant circuit for 11 years.

I loved what I did.

I choreographed shows. I gave creative direction for productions.

Then, one day, as a new show was being announced, all of the drag queens that I had been performing with and dancing behind refused to let me back on stage with them.

“Alina, you are meant for more than just this. Go. We always have your back.”

They pushed me to drean bigger to aim higher.

I will never be able to thank them enough for believing me and pushing me to be more.

Alina, 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?

I bring together the pieces needed to breathe life into special moments, ideas, and visions through either choreographing pieces for shows and events, or casting talents and leading them towards one unified vision for the client.

Whether it be stage production, film, commercial, or entertainment for special occassions, I love working with a client to get them excited about their ideas as I work alongside them to give them what they want to or MORE.

More so, I have found fulfillment in finding jobs for talented artists who are hungry to share their skills.

I got my first experience creating and directing by working as a stage tech for theater productions, then onto creating individualized and unique numbers for drag queen stage productions around
Texas.

As a trained actor and dancer, I believe I bring a sense of passion and compassion to the final production for my clients. I love to hear people’s stories, and people love to share their stories. Whether it be moments in life, or a story written from our imaginations, bringing those special elements into something we can all see and feel with others is such a wonderful moment when it all comes together.
I love being a part of that.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

There are and have been several seasons in life when I could not find work in dance, directing, or acting.

During those times, I tend to fall back onto my pastry business called Buttercream Bento.

I create custom cakes and desserts for various celebrations.

My sister and I team up quite often to cater events.

People are always celebrating something, whether it be new life or retirements. It’s always nice to be a part of those moments.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I got my start with the LGBTQIA community’s pagaent circuit and entertainers when I was 19.

Up until then, I had been working towards anything dance and entertainment related by taking dance and theatre classes.

By the time I was 14, I was teaching dance classes and choreographing for shows and highschool stage productions. So, I always knew where it was that my heart felt the most exhilerated and fulfilled.

I started sharing my passion and love for the arts with the youth when I received the chance to be a primary instructor at my local dance academy. I had stopped traveling as a backup dancer during that time and began contracting work for events and shows in my hometown,

Teaching young artists unexpectedly brought together my purpose with my passion. I traveled to surrounding cities to teach and to bring that same joy I feel on stage to other performers who were hungry and learning.

It was a new path in my life of dance and performance.

One night, driving home from teaching out of town, I got into a wreck on the highway.

My sternum, my ribs, and my spine were injured.

As they loaded me into the ambulance to get to the nearest ER 30 minutes away, all I could think about was calling the main studio to let them know I wasn’t going to be able to teach the next day.

I knew I wouldn’t be back for awhile, so I immediately started trying to find a way fill my position with someone who could still teach the students even though I should have been worrying about my own condition.

Once at the hospital, doctors were concerned my spinal injury would affect the use of my lower body.

They kept me ready for surgery my entire stay. The uncertainty on the medical providers’ parts regarding the severity of my injuries forced me to consider the possibility of never teaching or performing again.

Being asked every 30 minutes if I could feel my feet and legs on top of being wheeled out of my room, in my bed, 3 times a day for x-rays (because I was not allowed to stand or walk for fear of the fragile state of my spine becoming worse) really started to weigh down on me.

What am I going to do if the doctors tell me the prognosis wasn’t good?

How could I still have purpose if I leave here without being able to walk?

What can I do to still live my life with passion if I can’t physically do what I was doing prior to this?

My entire livelihood could be swept out from under me all due to some carelessness on the road.

What then?

On the day I was discharged, I was told I did not need surgery. They were going to take the chance on my body recovering the way it needed to because I was still young and active prior to the accident.

I did, however, need a lot of time to heal before I could dance again, meaning I HAD to slow down for my own sake.

I was relieved to know I still had the chance to get back to my life, but I also knew my life, as I knew it, was about to come to a dead stop for awhile.

My dance kids would not see me for quite some time, and when they did it was in a brace that I had to wear as my bones healed. I visited them in their classes that were taken over by another instructor, who has now become my assistant.

It was bittersweet.
I was happy, but angry. Frustrated with circumstances.

I refused to give up, however.

I did rehabilitation once the neurosurgeon overseeing my care allowed me out of my brace to reintroduce movements back into my body.

The process came with a lot of frustrated tears.
Things I used to do were not an option without assistance or extreme caution.

I couldn’t move with ease like I used to.

NOT YET.

I researched and asked questions about what I needed to do to get back to moving as a dancer again.

The likelihood of my spinal injury resurfacing to cause problems or becoming worse would be in 3 to 5 years, unless I strengthened everything around it to protect it.

So, I did what I needed to and have not looked back.

I now have a dance assistant, for the time being, to help me with the physical/athletic parts of teaching dance. I am grateful for him, as it allows me to still be in the studios with the arts.

I am still strengthening my body with full intention of becoming an even stronger version of myself prior to the accident.

October 30th, 2024 marked 1 full year of the accident taking place and changing my life.

In this past year alone, the time I was forced to take for myself to heal reminded me of my “why”, my “what”, and my “for who” I do what I do in life.

I always knew I loved what I do for a living, but I didn’t quite grasp just how much until I almost couldn’t again.

I was reminded to SLOW DOWN. It’s cliche to hear it, but now I get why they say to stop and smell the roses. My first day walking my dog out of my brace had the sweetest air and the clearest skies. I made sure to remember it.

In life, we tend to race against time, not realizing we are supposed to be working WITH it.

It isn’t against us.
We are always against it.

I’ve been a workaholic for as long as I can remember, always feeling like I didn’t have enough time because I needed to work to survive financially, to feel purpose in my day, and to feel fulfilled in my life.

I zoomed on by never realizing that time is there FOR US.
How we choose to spend it is completely in our control, no matter the circumstance.
So, if we constantly race against it, everything TIME has set out for us to experience is missed in the blur of us running past it.

I was reminded, during the times I couldn’t tie my own shoes or shower without assistance due to my injuries, that it was OKAY to be tired, to rest, and most of all to ask for help.

Needing help to perform daily tasks humbled me to the core, as I was always a very independent person. It gave me a new appreciation for life, for what I have, for who I have, while I have them by my side.

I spent so much time in survival mode and racing against the clock all my life that when everything came to a sudden stop, I started noticing things with more intention; like how much my parents have truly aged (I spend more time with them now), how much I really cherish time with my friends who have all grown apart and gone separate ways (I make sure to check in on them more often), and even how much I just love walks during the autumn season.

….OR HOW MUCH I LOVE WALKING. PERIOD.

I’ve been able to add that new appreciation of life and love into my work. I remind my dancers to love their craft, but to love themselves more.

That same love you give to and have for yourself will become apparent in an artist’s work.

Passion for art and life cannot be taught. I can’t teach that, but I can remind up and coming performers, from my own experiences, of how their hearts need to be in the right places and balanced in all aspects of life to be their absolute best at what they do.

If it isn’t, then the universe will remind you over and over again until you listen.

I finally listened. It took a forceful stop to get me to hear it, but I finally listened.

That wreck may have felt like the worst thing at that moment,…
….but it was truly one of the best things to have happened to me.

It woke me up to try to be better than I was before, and in turn, I can be better for everyone around me.

Image Credits

Lauren Corea Photography
Dawn Lindsey Photography