We recently connected with Miriam Gallardo and have shared our conversation below.

Miriam, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

There was always a knowing that my life would be impacted in a major way by pursuing a creative and artistic life. Since I was a little girl, I was always dancing, singing, drawing, and creating. It always felt like home doing all those things. I grew up in a Puerto Rican and Dominican household, and that came with constantly being exposed to different Latin music, dances, and food. My curiosity about different music and culture genres grew stronger as I got older. Because I was so curious, I had a lot of questions and my go-to person was my mother. I asked why women would dance in certain costumes, and why I heard so many drums within the music, which made me not stop moving. It was a true calling.

At the age of 7, my mom decided to take me to a company called “Las Ramitas de Borinquen” which translates to “Little Branches of Puerto Rico.” That is where I got exposed to traditional folklore dances and music from the island of Puerto Rico. My very first dance class was learning about the island my mother was born and from there I was exposed to Bomba and Plena, two distinct genres of music that contributed so much to the community and its culture. I am truly grateful to my mother for doing so because she understood that my curiosity was truly part of knowing what I was waiting to discover. It exposed me to culture, community, and traditions. As I get older, moments like this made me appreciate my mother a little more for finding ways to answer my questions, by exposing me to such classes at an early age in my life.

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?

For those who do not know me, my name is Miriam Michelle Gallardo a native New Yorker who was raised in The Bronx. I’ve been dancing from a very early and heavily involved in the performing arts for as long as I can remember. Music and dance are part of who I am. It has allowed me to feel more connected and grounded not only in my cultural roots but also in my community. As I got older, my mentors and my late mother encouraged me to teach more. At first, I never saw myself as a dance teacher, but little did I know it was a blessing in disguise.

My main focus is teaching Latin dance classes for the youth and seniors, where I currently teach at Dancers Dreamzzz in the Bronx and Jackie Robinson Senior Center in Harlem. It is so important to give the younger generation exposure just like I had, which opens a vast opportunity in careers as well as an interactive way of learning. I had the opportunity through my mentor to create Latin dance classes for seniors through a teaching artist program with Steps on Broadway Beyond Foundation 6 years ago. Now teaching Latin Dance to seniors in Harlem is a big reminder for me of how healing dance and music are for people from all walks of life. It brings people from different cultural backgrounds together in a community while moving and grooving. I’ve had seniors who never took dance classes during their youth that they now enjoy in their “older adult” years. To see how much they have grown with the increase in mobility and the joy on their faces is beyond priceless. I hope to continue to build a community with the youth and seniors collectively through Latin dance.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

For me, it’s really about exposing much-needed inner-city communities to the arts. Music and dance really saved me during my youth. I’ve developed such discipline, critical thinking, and a creative outlook in life that it helped me academically. Thinking now post-pandemic, now more than ever we need more exposure to the arts, dance, and music for the youth and community as a whole. I am big on creating a community where people can get to know one another and learn from, heal, and enjoy life.

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?

Being creative comes with work. Our time, energy, and work (research, hours of training, and investing in classes) seem to get overlooked. The results that are shown come with great feedback for the experience, but never considered to be valued as if it were a 9-5 or a high-titled position like a CEO of a corporation. We all have choices, but we deserve to enjoy the work we do and it should not come with the price of being undervalued and underpaid.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.miriammichelle.com
• Instagram: @_miriammichelle
• Facebook: Miriam M Gallardo
• Twitter: @_miriammichelle
• Other: https://linktr.ee/MiriamMichelle

Image Credits
Personal photo is Theik Smith