We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jonnika Parker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jonnika, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Running a business is taking a risk. You take a risk to be your brand, the face, the professionalism, and marketer. There are many more hats I could speak but that’s just to name a few. In the performing arts industry we take huge risk because our companies fluctuate by season, modernism, costs, popularity, etc. I love what I do and I have taken risk since April 2016, just jumping completely out there and going for it. I don’t regret not one bit of it. Being a boss especially female can have its pros and cons. More pros though!!! I look at it as growing pains. You can’t learn something from being perfect you have to learn from making the mistake. A risk is taken every day whether we know it or not. The risk to just live so why not live life doing what you want to do!

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

“Dancing to me is a connection between your heart and the music or the beat of your feet making rhythms on the floor. For over 30 years dance is still an oulet for me whether I am performing or teaching. It’s my God-given gift and I want to share it with the world.” -Coach JoJo

Since 3 years old her dream has always been to open her own dance studio. Her dance career started at Cindy King Dance Studio at age 3 and as time passed the studio changed their name to Artistic Dance Academy, she then auditioined for the competitive dance team at age 6 and that was the start of her competitive dance career. There she performed Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Production and was also certified in Cechetti which is a form of Ballet. Jonnika has won many competitions as a soloist and with her dance group under the instruction of Cindy King, Jedon Russ, Ms. Sharmaine, and Ms. Vicki.

Later on she moved her focus to an urban studio, Joyce LaVerne School of Dance, owned by the late Joyce LaVerne, where she took classes under master instructors. Just to name a few, Dr. Amanda Standard, Linda Darr, Mya Harrison, Toni Lombre, Karen Mendez, Adrian V. James, Peter Romero, and many more. There she picked up classes in Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Liturgical, Hoofing Tap, African, and Hip-Hop. She has travelled the East Coast learning, training, performing, and auditioning for huge names such as Savion Glover, Adrian Bolton, Jason Samuel Smith, Chloe & Maud, and Debbie Allen.

By the age of 14 she was teaching at Joyce LaVerne as a Junior Instructor and was later on promoted to a Senior Instructor. She continued her studies at Largo High School on the Dance Team and as an Auxiliary dancer for the Ladies of Sapphire, Largo Marching Lions. She was also a member of Taps & Co., ran by the late Toni Lombre. Chloe & Maud were her tap sisters as members of Taps & Co. They all performed in many arenas and for the DC Tap Fest together.

Throughout her career she taught at Marcellus Dance Studio, Alexander Company & Dance Group, ZD Dance Academy, Northeast Performing Arts, and many other studios as a Master Instructor. Now her focus is strictly on taking care of her son and family, remaining an Educator for public schools, and the growth of Main Attraction Performing Arts Center. Main Attraction’s foundation is built on love, compassion, and professionalism.

Main Attraction Performing Arts Center formally known as Main Attraction Divaz Dance Team was founded in April 2016. Jonnika Parker and her sister Tiffany Nolen originally thought of the idea of her starting her own dance team based off the TV show, Bring It!, her extensive background, and love for dance.

They later presented the idea to their grandmother, who was the excited and the most supportive person during Jonnika’s dance career. Since then Jonnika’s grandmother, Rosalind Parker who is now the Chief Financial Officer for MAPAC, they continue to run the program together as family. Her sister is still supportive of her dreams and continues to assist.

The name changed in July 2021 to Main Attraction Performing Arts Center because she had a bigger goal and that was to place her students in larger arenas. She has incorported other categories of the performing arts for expansion. She knew that she could offer more styles of dance based off her background and decided to take a turn to achieve a goal and vision that was God-given! That’s to bless the youth with the same expereinces or better in the performing arts!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist and creative is being able to give back! You learn so much from your history in the arts, the exposure, and continuously modernizing yourself, who would be able to keep all of that to themselves! Watching a child or adult come in and not knowing how to perform, months later you watch them grow, super rewarding because that moment becomes a product of you.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My journey is my life. My life has been mildly resilient. I couldn’t have been who I am today without me facing difficulties in my life. My story is pretty deep but just to scratch the surface my grandmother was my everything! I am so blessed to still have her here supporting me through everything! From childhood-adulthood I struggled with building relationships with immediate family due to the past and it’s extremely tough. You’re talking about two adults who never really spent detrimental and sentimental moments with each other and then one day deciding let’s make this work. So much hurt and resentment is built up from both parties that it may become slightly difficult to move forward. I still respect and love all. But what I learned in all is that once I focused on ny vision I never gave up! When you are faced with resilient times the best advice I can give is to use it as motivation and not a crutch! Keep going, don’t stop, and live for YOU!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maperformingarts.com
• Instagram: @ma_performingartscenter