We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Allan Skeene a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Allan, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
First things first, I LOVE music. Im also a vocal performer so I was in choirs in church and school. I would beatbox from time to time which gave me a keen sense of rhythm and would also enjoy messing with the craft of making music as well as living music through movement. My love for music guides all of my dance ability. Growing up I joined many dance groups and I started dancing in my mother’s best friend’s studio “Kims Danceland” at around 6. I participated there on and off until I graduated high school. I continued my study of dance alongside my collegiate studies in Atlanta. My studies made me much more well rounded as I found more professional dancers and instructors to learn from. I was a slow learner at first but one big thing I learned growing up was to always believe in my abilities. I knew I needed to learn faster and become more agile. Many people mistake the craft of dance as just a “gift” but I believe it can truly be learned if you combine the right balance of skills. First is rhythm and a love for any kind of music, so if you pair that with athleticism and dedication to learning coordination with your body, it can come together to create amazing art. Practice and perseverance are essential, but more than that is patience. You need to have patience with yourself because there are so many things you have to focus on. Dancers are big problem solvers so being a critical thinker is very important. I believe the best way to learn faster is to practice this patience and break choreography down into simpler sets of movement, then piecing it together as you go. This was once my biggest obstacle but I managed to make it one of my key strengths.
Allan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Growing up, I always watch performers on stage, tv, and movies and dreamt of doin that one day. I wanted to go one tour with my favorite artists and make a living entertaining and inspiring others. I got into professional dancing and instructing while studying in Atlanta, Georgia and haven’t looked back since! I have over 18 years of experience dancing, choreographing and instructing and currently will be returning to teaching at Millennium Dance Complex at the end of July. I recently have been performing touring with Chris Brown but was unable to participate this year due to a foot injury, but I am looking forward to returning to the stage very soon! Im also currently taking on new students and clients for 1 on 1 training and artist developement. If interested I can be contacted at ajayeskeeneofficial@gmail.com
If you would like to see material I have produced you can visit my website at ajayeskeeneofficial.com or go to my instagram/ tiktok handles at @ajayeskeeneofficial
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Resilience is a big key to my success. Ive had many ups and downs in my journey as a professional in entertainment, and what ive learned is that when one door closes another door is always open. One more recent moment that sticks out for me was an incident back in 2018. I had been having a really terrible year. There wasnt much opportunity being given to me to perform so I resorted to driving lyft, which also was going terribly. I danced my way through but was financially crumbling and right when i was getting a little steam I was faced with a breakup from my then girlfriend whom I had moved in with recently. We were 1 month into the lease and I had no where to go, I was just hitting my early 30’s which in dance would be considered “older”, and no performance based work outside of teaching 1 class a week. I thought about going back home to Springfield, Ma and starting over. But had already been dancing for so long I didn’t want my then 12 years of experience to gi to waste. I gathered myself and moved to a friends place, sleeping on a couch of a three bedroom apartment then having 3 roommates. One of the lowest moments of my life I was depressed but not hopeless. I refocused my craft back to myself, exiting teaching and performing for the time to get my finances in order. I couldn’t move forward without taking that step back. I found a job at a Marketing firm and focused on getting my finances in order and within a few months I saved up to rent a room and moved. I focused on my social media and out of no where I was contacted by a choreographer I knew to do a job with Meghan Trainor! To this day I couldn’t be more grateful for that opportunity. I almost gave up but that job brought my career back to life. After that job I learned a valuable lesson I thought I already mastered. Never give up! Refocus and move forward!
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think one of the most misunderstood things that is misunderstood about creatives is the value of the craft. Many people dont understand that being a professional commercial dancer takes training like a professional athlete so we expect our pay reflect that. The amount of care that goes into our bodies as well as our minds goes overlooked and dancers get taken advantage of constantly. I want people to know that experience and talent are worth much more. Sometimes what we create can change lives and the value of that needs to be reflected in much more gratitude
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Ajayeskeeneofficial.com
- Instagram: Ajayeskeeneofficial
- Youtube: https://Youtube.com/ajayeskeeneofficial
Image Credits
Travis Colbert, Maho Udo