We recently connected with Regine Bellinger and have shared our conversation below.

Regine , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I created Conkrete Jungle Productions Inc. and created the choreographers showcase that ran 4 seasons, and one online international season. I gave the opportunity to emerging artist from the NYC tri-state area to showcase their work and gain stage confidence. Many people who performed or showcased their work had never performed before, this was their opportunity. I created Conkrete Jungle because I felt there was a need for all emerging artist in the New York tri- state area to grow and show their work. As someone who was constantly typecasted and overlooked I felt it was necessary to have that outlet. In 2021 I began doing toy drives and canned good drives for children and low income families. I began giving free dance classes and helping children open their eyes to many possibilities in their life. What does a toy drive or food drive have to do with Conkrete Jungle you may ask? Plenty. It involves a lot, a lot of our best artists in the New York tri-state area struggle to make ends meet or have grown up in impoverished environments, similar to how I did. I want Conkrete Jungle Productions to give back to the community not only through the opportunity to showcase art work on stage but through food, nourishment and home goods.

With my background in African Studies from Queens College, I decided to explore my educational path further. I decided I wanted to travel to the Caribbean, Latin America and the continent of Africa to learn more about dances, culture and food. I also wanted to showcase this to an audience online and through film. I then started the channel Régine Bridges The Gap. I started this when I moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brasil in 2018. I started with Daily Vlogs on YouTube about my dance training in the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro and the fun things I did on a daily basis. I started to show how similar Brazilians are to US Americans, especially black people. I want to show diasporas how similar we are through all aspects of life.

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

I began training dance at the age of 4 years old in Queens, NY and joint dance teams through out my middle school years. I later moved to NJ for a portion of my teen years and then returned to NYC to pursue my Bachelors in Africana studies and performing arts. In 2015 I graduated and I began to take my dance career seriously. I joined various dance troops and then I realized I needed to be on my own. I decided I also wanted to travel and dance. Prior to me traveling on my own, I found it difficult to join travel agencies and traveling dance companies. So I created my own opportunities, traveling to Brazil to learn Samba and to be a Samba Dancer (Passista) in one of the biggest Samba schools in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

With my background in African Studies from Queens College, I decided to explore my educational path further. I decided I wanted to travel to the Caribbean, Latin America and the continent of Africa to learn more about dances, culture and food. I also wanted to showcase this to an audience online and through film. I then started the channel Régine Bridges The Gap. I started this when I moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2018. I started with Daily Vlogs on YouTube about my dance training in the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro and the fun things I did on a daily basis. I started to show how similar Brazilians are to US Americans, especially black people. I want to show diasporas how similar we are through all aspects of life.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In May 2020 I realized that I had to pivot Conkrete Jungle Productions Inc. The pandemic had changed the world and it had changed the way we enjoy entertainment and even the way we learn. I realize that I needed to keep the momentum of Conkrete Jungle going. With that being said, I took the choreographer showcase online. However, I found this method to be a bit stressful therefore I decided to not continue the showcases anymore. It was a very hurtful decision, but it was a better option for me. I then began to pivot to education. That’s when I made the CJ online dance school for children. I began teaching over 1000 children internationally. I taught Afro dance, Samba and fun challenges from TikTok. This was one of the most successful moments of my life and in my career.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

My side hustle did turn into my main/full-time business/career. This began during the pandemic as mentioned before. Through Conkrete Jungle Productions I started teaching online, educating over 1000 children worldwide. But I must admit it was not always easy. I grew tired of constantly having to be the leader and at some point, I kind of missed the regular 9 to 5 or having someone telling me what to do. When you are your own boss or self-employed, you don’t get the luxury of just clocking out. Sometimes you’re on the clock all day long, on Sundays, in the middle of the night, you name it. But I realized I needed to value my mental health so I began to finish my work at a hard stop everyday. With this career of mine, I made it very clear that I would not work on Sundays. Sundays were for family. I found myself more happier with this type of schedule and with this type of discipline. I would not answer emails, texts or anything related to me teaching online after 8:00 PM every single day. This has helped me so much. Currently I am not teaching online through Conkrete Jungle productions and it is not my full-time career/business at the moment, but I still hold these values to my everyday life.

Contact Info:

• Website: Https;//www.conkretejungleproductions.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/reginebridgesthegap?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@RegineBridgesTheGap?si=rLGX_no_tsOEx4h9

Image Credits

Estrella Visuals (https://www.instagram.com/estrella.visuals?igsh=MXZtaWppZnBtZW5sMg==) for white background photo.