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

Alright, Aryeal thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

As a creative with more than one medium, the development of each of my skills has its’ own story. From early childhood to present day, I have explored singing, writing, spoken word, costume design, and my personal favorite, dance. I was fortunate to grow up attending performing arts schools where I had teachers who fostered spaces for me to learn these skills. I took creative electives to understand the techniques behind these forms and I seized any opportunity that I could to participate in extra curricular activities that related to one or more of my artistic interests. When it comes to dance specifically, I found companies that offered the type of training I was looking for. In elementary school, I would study at Debbie Allen Dance Academy after school and in high school I trained in the Versa-Style Next Generation training program. I took classes, applied what I learned in my own training, and did my best to identify my areas of growth to keep pushing myself to be better. What I’m saying is that I learned to do what I do because I surrounded myself with people who I could trust to guide me. I sought environments that nurtured my creativity, challenged me, stretched my knowledge, and taught me the value of the work I produce.

While I believe my journey happened the way it did for a reason, there are a few things I would’ve done differently to support myself. For one, I would’ve started training in street dance styles as a child. While there were Hip Hop classes offered at studios, I was not exposed to the true foundation of the dance nor was I exposed to any of the other forms I get to train in through Versa-Style. I would go back in time and expose myself to the street dance community so that I could start building my technique early on and become even more of a beast in the battle scene (haha). Second, I would’ve spent less energy comparing myself to others and poured that energy back into my craft instead. I spent many years insecure about my abilities that I had to come to the realization that no one was holding me back more than myself. I would’ve done more and done it scared. I also would’ve started documenting my progress earlier. It can be uncomfortable to record yourself performing or exploring, but it is really beneficial to observe oneself. I found that watching footage of myself has taught me a lot about my approach, my struggles, and my victories. It is essential to shape your own opinions about yourself before placing value in what others have to say. Through documentation, I could’ve seen myself from the outside looking in and embraced myself in ways that could’ve propelled my personal goals.

To end, there are a few skills I have found to be most important to my creative lifestyle. In no particular order, it has been essential for me to know how to train. As a freestyle dancer, it is easy to get caught up in the fun of improvisation without training the techniques to help your dance progress. My directors have taught me the difference between sessioning and training and that has greatly improved both my discipline and my performance. For my other mediums, it has been essential for me to learn to value the process over the product. Every idea, project, performance, etc has a process and learning to be present and intentional during that process, instead of focusing solely on the product, transformed my relationship to my creations as well as with myself. The process is a teacher in itself and there are so many gems to gain when you allow yourself to embrace the process and trust that the end result will be what it was meant to be.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Aryeal Lands aka “AryLove” is a Black female street dancer and educator born in Riverside and raised in Los Angeles, CA. In her early days, she trained in various styles including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, and West African under the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. She attended performing arts schools throughout her academic career where she also trained musically with an emphasis on singing and developed her love for spoken word. With a more focused goal of preserving Black culture and the livelihood of the styles created by the African diaspora, she now solely trains in Street dances with Versa-Style Street Dance Company in their secondary company, VS Legacy. Aryeal attended the University of California, Los Angeles where she graduated Cum Laude with her B.A. in Dance and her B.A. in Sociology. Through her artistic passions, she has created a career which allows her to perform all over the city of Los Angeles exposing the youth to the possibilities of Hip-Hop/street dance as a profession. As someone passionate about education, she is also a teaching artist allowing her to give back to the community in the ways her mentors poured into her. Aryeal teaches dance and works as a paraprofessional to support students with special needs as they work to gain their own education. She values how the arts can create social change so she uses her creativity to uplift the voices of those in need whenever she cans. Aryeal desires to continue to expand internationally as a performer and competitor in the dance scene while pursuing further steps into her academic career. She believes God gave her the ability to dance for a reason and hopes to use it to spread love and build community all over the world.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think about the differences between creatives and non-creatives often. To some degree, I believe we’re all creative in our own ways, but there is a difference in the way we as overt creatives navigate life. My life and my art are married to each other. While to some it may appear that dancing and singing are simply things that make me happy, they are actually tools that help me understand who I am. My art forms aren’t activities that I chose “just because”, but they are ways of life that called onto me for a reason. As a creative, these interests can run so deep in our veins that many of us can’t identify ourselves outside of the creative realm. It is as if we’re designed to be there and our purpose lies within every note, footstep, brushstroke etc. We don’t just choose the art. The art chooses us too and this is a connection that cannot be identified by the naked eye. Being a creative is a lifestyle and even for those who don’t pursue it professionally, it is an experience that can not be turned on/off. Our art forms become a part of who we are in both beautiful and confusing ways, so I hope the non-creatives reading this think about how personal this experience is the next time they come across the fruit of a creative’s labor.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

As someone still growing my reputation in the dance world, I have had a fascinating time building connections to support my journey. One of the best ways that I’ve been able to build my reputation is through battling. In the street dance community, we host professional competitions where dancers get to travel and showcase their skills to other dancers from all over the world. I committed myself to battling more intentionally in 2024 and have gained so many new relationships in the community because of it. From entering maybe one or two battles a year in Los Angeles, I have now battled in New York, Las Vegas, Florida, Vancouver, Tijuana, and more! Each place that I’ve traveled to has had a community of their own that I got to be exposed to and who got to be introduced to me in return. Battles have allowed me to push my craft to the next level and gain more members of my personal social network. They are one of the most beautiful ways that our communities come together and I am grateful for the opportunities that have come my way because of my commitment to battling more openly.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Aryeallands

Image Credits

George Simian
@bymarina_ on IG
@versastylela on IG