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

CeCe, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

When I was a young girl I had always dreamed of being an artist in the “Big City” but knew it was a huge risk that many people didn’t take. These risks never stopped me even though I knew I could fail. In 2018 right after I graduated High School I moved to New York City to continue my journey as a dancer. I attended The Joffrey Ballet School Jazz & Contemporary Program for 4 years. Even when I attended school always in the back of my mind I had questioned if I was making the right decision to be an artist in this industry based on how hard it could be at times. I’ve questioned if I’m good enough, knowing if I have the right work ethic, mindset, and many other things that could risk me from my potential. I think knowing of how much a challenge this all could be has made me work even harder and try to fight for my dreams. Not a lot of people have the opportunity to even take these risks in life. I believe going after any risk to satisfy what you’re craving, because you never know where it can lead you to.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Cecillia Gangemi, or mostly known as “CeCe” which I prefer. I was born and raised in Rochester, New York which is considered more of a smaller town Upstate. As a child I grew up dancing at a local dance studio where I trained everyday after school and would travel on most weekends. My love for dance has never stopped, I respected the discipline of it all, the hard work, the long hours of being trained, and most importantly how it made me feel. I grew up very shy, I still consider myself more on the shy side. But when I dance, I feel like I can be anyone I want and it brings a light out of me that I didn’t even know was there. At the age of 15 after visiting NYC for the first time, I knew I would be moving there to continue my journey as a dancer. I went to an amazing school where I grew tremendously as a dancer and person. At school I realized I can be even more of an artist rather than just a dancer, I could be anything I wanted to be. During that time I learned how to take pictures of myself and modeled in front of my iPhone camera to get comfortable enough and would post on social media. After I graduated is when I felt more free and confident in myself to be more than a dancer. During school, we took singing for a year and I loved it but was too afraid to speak my true voice. It wasn’t until about 8 months ago where I took a risk to get started in that journey to finding my voice and I have learned so many incredible things that I never knew was even possible. I am proud of myself for going after things that make me uncomfortable and taking the risk of potential failure, but what’s the worst you can lose I tell myself. I would love to help people and be a voice about how no matter where you come from, what you do in life, or how you feel about yourself you can always learn more and become the person you manifest. All dreams start with you and there is nothing in this life you can’t do. I still have so many things I am interested in and want to do, I don’t think there is anything wrong with being a jack of all trades as long as you have the love for it and determination. When people see me or if they know who I am I want them to see how much of a hard working and determined person I am, because it is all love. I don’t believe anyone should be working or doing anything that the heart doesn’t agree to, it’s not fair to your soul.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The biggest goal and mission I have in this art form is to share the love I have for the art itself. It is such a rewarding feeling to do something that people truly care about. I have always wanted to give to people in my community and if I can share what the feeling of being creative is to people, I believe that is such a gift. As a dancer my body is used as an instrument, it creates and does magical things that some are not capable of doing. My goal is to always give the audience what they want and to spark something inside, to give the feeling I have back.

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?

In my personal opinion, I think non-creatives don’t understand how much time and energy that goes into these art forms. We train our whole lives, miss out on family and friend events, sometimes no energy to do other activities. But to us it is worth all of that effort and time because of the love and passion we receive from doing this activity. Using your mind and body at 100% most days is tiring but we don’t think of it that way because it is our outlet. As an example, Ballet is the core foundation to the art form but on social media you see non-creatives using “ballet core” as an aesthetic. Ballet is not about wearing the cute leotards and leg warmers, which most of us don’t even love to wear. It’s about discipline and creating beautiful movement that is transcribed onstage. By just supporting us through the art is the biggest thing the audience can do and not just trying to fit into something where outsiders don’t belong or have any knowledge on.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: cecegangemi

Image Credits
Julian Peebles Javier Alvarez RoseMary Blake