We were lucky to catch up with Brittany Walker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brittany, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew I wanted to pursue a career in dance and choreography when I was 8 years old. I started dancing at 3 years old after seeing the Miami City Ballet’s “Nutcracker” and was instantly enamored from then. My parents had a c.d. set of classical composers and I would put them on and just immediately create. From a young age I’ve loved to move and build stories. I was addicted to the feeling. I enjoyed dance classes and learning, however I enjoyed creating more. Leaving dance one day, at 8 years old, I asked my mom if choreography was a profession and she said yes, and I said, “that’s what I’m going to do!” I have never looked in any other direction since. I went on to go to a performing arts high school and studied dance in college to receive my B.F.A in dance.

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 started dancing in Miami and fell in love with it when I watched “The Nutcracker” when I was 3 years old. My parents enrolled me in dance soon after and the rest is history! I have been so drawn to movement and art from 6 years old and remember always making up dances in my family room to classical composers. I focused on choreography in college at Belhaven University in Mississippi and honed in to the concepts I learned there and knew I was going to continue to create after school. I danced, performed, and choregraphed for numerous organizations, studios, and companies after college. I moved to Colorado in 2013 and in 2017 I started to develop ideas for having my own professional dance company. In 2020-2021 when COVID was happening I started to form Evolve Dance Project (EDP). With EDP It is connected to the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, a non-profit arts organization. It’s a blessing to have the support from the arts center and is going into it’s fifth season! In the last four years EDP has been part of the CODEO organization, outreach programs, the Pueblo Symphony, Presenting Denver Dance Festival, as well as successfully performed five full length performances at the SDC Arts Center. EDP is currently focusing on their 4th annual summer intensive series, offering 3 summer intensives in June/July/August with different focuses.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect for me being an artist is seeing my ideas come to fruition. The dancers I have the privilege of working with really do an excellent job of portraying my vision so well!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

So working with different choreographers/teachers growing up the emphasis was always on “the dance” and what was best for “the piece”. It was instilled in me that that’s what this profession is all about, the “dance” and nothing else mattered. I remembered feeling so insignificant and that I was just a unit in a big picture idea. After tearing my achilles tendon in 2012, my mindset started to shift. Dancers get injured, their mental health matters. I don’t want to be the choreographer that dancers work for that are scared to mention their injury, or that they aren’t feeling good or whatever the case may be. If i have a hurt dancer or something happened, then I will adjust what I need to for the sake of the dancer’s physical well being rather then risk more injury on that dancer for the sake of “the dance.”

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/evolvingdance
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/evolvingdance
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@evolvedanceproject5751

Image Credits

Robert Lutes