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

Annosha , appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Hmm- such a great (and loaded) question! My short answer…

The most meaningful “project” I’ve worked on has been The Black Artists Dance Collective (TBADC), an Atlanta-based nonprofit, community arts organization that serves and mentors Atlanta’s black youth dancers.

Now for my long answer!

My work with The Black Artists Dance Collective is on-going, and my experience is richly layered and multi-faceted. When I began my relationship with the organization, I couldn’t have imagined that I’d become a valued member. In fact, I never expected that I would still be here past my first experience as an ambassador -I can’t say that was my intention. But from ambassador to (more recently) being promoted TBADC’s first Program Coordinator, I am fulfilled in many ways. Servitude, advocacy, and integrity especially.

Service is so essential to my life. It remains one of my core values, and there is no commitment of mine -private nor public- where this is untrue. What can I say, I’m a Pisces! Service is also a core value of The Black Artists Dance Collective (call it mentorship, philanthropy, etc.) I believe that a person has to have an exceptional degree of humility to serve others once “making it”. But our co-founding directors Shonica Gooden and Jamal White are all about creating an environment for full-circle moments. And so are our other founding members. They have all “made it” in their professional careers and could be do so many other things than pouring into our youth. But they- we- choose to do this. I admire this; I’m inspired by this. It’s simply beautiful to experience.

By nature, I am a warrior. I will always advocate for doing the right thing! TBADC has been *gradually* restoring my faith that there are others like me- others who (still) value integrity and sound character within their communities. It’s been a real process. In my past, I had committed to groups that eventually revealed [to me] their preference for quantity over quality. And, time and time again, I’d found myself devastated by this. Actually, I still struggle to understand this perspective, and I’d honestly rather be alone than to ever relive those experiences. But my TBADC team has consistently demonstrated integrity. I witness it in the faculty that we bring in for our annual, two-week, tuition-free, Summer Intensive. I pay close attention to our partnerships and the opportunities we seek for our students. The WHY is just as important as the WHAT for us.

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 am Annosha K. Biggins a professional dance and visual artists. I am currently obtaining my Bachelor of Arts in Dance at Kennesaw State University, with a concentration in Modern dance. And I WILL be graduating soon!

I have been dancing all my life and (the spirit of) dance is one of my best friends. However, I only began my training in Fall 2021, (I know, such a gap!) By this point, I had already been enrolled in college, but not until 2020 did I know that there were university programs in dance. I mean, I was almost completely oblivious to the professional dance world and the pathways that could be taken to it. So my decision to pursue dance professionally -having virtually no training at all- that’s what I am most proud of. I took a risk on myself and when my stars aligned… when I discovered one of my deepest passions… And I’m now marrying my passions and purposes. Let my journey be a an example of “what’s for you is for you.” Because on paper, there’s no reason that I should be as successful in my career as I am. But, I am, and if nothing else, I hope that I inspire you all to believe in yourselves!

My brand is all about showing up authentically. Much of my work honors my experiences of being an outlier- from being a professional artists, to starting my dance career “late”, to being a Black woman, from Savannah, GA, who is not religious and is neurodivergent. My brand is about championing truth, and my truth is that most of my life I’ve related to other but have been the anomaly, never quite fitting in.

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

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is having agency. Agency lends itself to authenticity, and these are both critical for artists.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Team management is all about understanding group dynamics and utilizing that information for developing healthy relationships. When everyone is heard, and there is a genuine effort to validate everyone’s experiences, only then can there be any hope for teamwork. And so, team leaders must understand this principle to achieve successful team management.

To establish high morale, build a team whose members have pure motives and share the same goals and values (even when expressed diversely). Team leaders and members can maintain high morale by establishing structures and exercises that reiterate collective goals and values. Even more, high morale can be maintained by through effective team management as mentioned above. By doing so, members can feel reassured in both their personal and collective contributions.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: _annoshakbiggins

Image Credits
Photo by KSU School of the Arts (purple leotard + earth tone) Lauren Liz Photography in collaboration with KSU Department of Dance (red and black series) Photo by Becca Oviatt; courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow