We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aubrey “siga” Mamaid. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aubrey “Siga” below.

Aubrey “Siga”, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

If I knew what I know now about living off a dancer’s wage in Los Angeles, I would tell my younger self…you sure?

I am the first in my family to make a full-time earning from dance. I come from a culture where white-collar jobs have always been paralleled to success. I come from a background where all my relatives are professionals in the medical field or proficient with numbers and accounting. Then there’s me. A work from home gal whose understanding of numbers is limited to 5,6,7,8. I come from a family who had expectations of me to pursue a career in law, but here I am, a Street Dance performer, practitioner, and preserver, earning a full-time living wage from my creative work.

My first dance job in LA was a Hip Hop teacher for middle school students. I was a second year in college and was hired by Versa-Style Street Dance Company to teach at one of their partnered LAUSD sites. When teaching street styles, there is an unspoken rule of “earning your stripes” by putting in the time and knowing to start from the ground up. This is where I learned how to teach Street Dance technique to students obsessed with Tiktok and how to make these styles more relatable than renegade.

My time at UCLA, I did all that I could to avoid taking out student loans. Aside from being a teacher, I also worked as an administrative assistant in one of the UCLA offices. From an energetic middle school classroom to a prim and proper front desk position, learning how to code switch was crucial for me to thrive in these spaces. I was juggling it all. But as I continued to fulfill these roles, I realized that they go hand in hand.

As a full-time student, Hip Hop teacher, and administrative assistant, my time was limited and I had to think of other ways to support myself financially. With luck, I found money lying around! It was for me to grab, I only had to provide my name, age, address, and explain why I’m deserving of it in 500 words. I was applying to scholarships left and right, making sure that I submit at least one every week (I was an overachiever so that really means 2) This type of hustle not only refined my word counting skills, but it also developed vital life skills such as creative writing, researching, and time management. These skills are what allowed me to intern with Versa-Style as a grant writer, supporting the organization seeking funding, sort of like scholarships!

Being a hip hop teacher and grant writer led me to earning a full-time living through my creative work. The challenge was finding creative avenues in dance that were not only constrained to performing on stage, but also expecting the uncertainty that not every month’s paycheck would look the same. Some months were better than others depending on the number of classes I got to teach or how many grants were due at the end of the month. There were some months, especially over the summer where everything was at a halt. No school, no grants, nothing. Thankfully, this is where being a creative comes in clutch. While school was not in session, I got to teach dance classes by subbing for friends who were teaching in small studios. I was a camp counselor for a dance program. Heck, I was even entering battles with eye-catching prize money – I wasn’t even making prelims but you gotta respect the hustle.

I am earning a full-time living from my creative work by creatively looking to monetize my work. If I knew then what I know now, I would tell myself to integrate dance in everything I do. In my classrooms, office job, and on paper. While dance performances and teaching residencies are a source of income, there are more streams than most people think of. Dance was not and should not be limited to just performance. Learning how to capitalize on my skills sets and tasks that I genuinely enjoy doing allows me to support a full-time living as a dancer. It’s all connected. The dance is my WHY and the administrative work is my HOW. They go hand in hand and I’ve learned that I cannot have one without the other.

Living off a dancer’s wage in Los Angeles may be a different income bracket than what my family envisioned for me, but the experiences on and off the floor are priceless.

Aubrey “Siga”, 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?

I am a Street Dance artist, teacher, facilitator and grant writer. I wear multiple hats, all through my work with Versa-Style Street Dance Company. Aside from receiving my first teacher post at a middle school, I had the opportunity to intern and learn the work that goes behind running a nonprofit. I saw how every staff member had more than one title in the organization and how all of them were still practitioners by dancing full-length theater pieces on stage.

From this work, I am proudest of seeing the company’s vision come to life. One of my highlights working with the company is producing the Versa-Style Anniversary Festival Theater Showcase in 2023. What started as an idea of providing street dancers the opportunity to create repertory work shown on a theater stage became a space for celebrating Street Dance excellence and rigor. Preparations began months ahead, with zoom meetings to discuss logistics and budget details. The work behind the scenes include emailing the artists and coordinating their pieces for the show, setting up the space and renting necessary equipment ahead of time, and leading tech rehearsal for all artists. Producing AND performing in the showcase, while witnessing the success and glory for the other artists is the reason why the work is so purposeful.

In the multiple hats I am grateful to wear, I value the ability to see a need, fill a need. I truly enjoy being flexible in what the work will require from me and learning on the job. In the ability to come in confidently prepared with a lesson plan to a classroom, only to be scrapped up a few minutes in because the class does not want to participate. To write a Nobel prize worthy grant proposal only to be turned down and rejected. To come in with a detailed tech rehearsal schedule only for artists to come in late without telling you (yes, looking at you). In earning a full-time living with my creative work, I love being consistently surprised and humbled that I can always learn more.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I thought that I had to study dance in college to be able to make a living off of it. If anything this amped up my insecurities that I did not have the same background as my peers who attended a performing arts high school.

I was fortunate enough to pursue a dance degree in college, but reflecting back and seeing what my work now entails, my learning was not in the classroom. Instead, it was at rehearsals–watching my directors break down a groove and verbalizing its history is a valuable skill I use now as a teaching artist. I learned in organization zoom meetings, how a nonprofit team collaborates and delegates in order to host a community event. I learned in my Pilipinx campus clubs the team-building exercises and icebreaker activities that I utilize now as a youth programs facilitator. I learned how to perform, battle, freestyle all at community jams amongst other creatives and street dance artists.

This is not to say do not pursue dance in college, by all means it is an honorable degree to have. However, a diploma should not limit a dancer’s talent and creativity. My experience studying dance in college narrowed my opportunities to pursue dance because the tools I learned in the classroom only set me up to be a future choreographer or a dance company member. I knew I wanted more than that, and as the overachiever and ambitious person that I am, I knew I can do so much more. Education may not be the path for everyone as there are different other avenues of learning in the field. However, if you are in these institutions representing Street Dance, challenge everything. Take up space and make a cypher of your own.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

We don’t dance for free! Dance is an artform, a discipline, and our line of work. Hours on end are put behind the curtain to look effortless on stage. Dancers should be compensated for pre-planning work including creating lesson plans, driving to the gig, and materials purchased for the class taught! Dancers should be paid livable hourly wages for the quality of work provided (ideally, including rehearsal time) . While I would like to be Instagram-famous, exposure is not tax-deductible. Dance can be a passion or a talent, and it is a service we provide. Not everyone can get down like us.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/__sigaaa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aubreymamaid/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aubreymamaid/

Image Credits

Ernesto Galarza
Taso Papadakis
cy.ny.matic
George Simian