By Julie Travers, Arts & Business Council of Miami

Recognizing the booming enthusiasm for the arts in Miami, it is wonderful to feature dance change makers like Gentry Isaiah George in our new blog forum. Born in Miami Gentry’s local roots run deep. He began his artistic studies with Linda Agyapong at the Community Book and Dance Academy followed by intensive study with Peter London of Peter London Global Dance and Vladimir Issaev from Arts Ballet Theatre Miami. He is a proud graduate of Miami’s New World School of the Arts. In addition he was a scholarship student at the Miami Conservatory’s Thomas Armour Youth Ballet, the Ailey School and the School at Jacob’s Pillow. He graduated from the Juilliard School and has danced with Ailey II. Accolades for this innovator abound. Gentry George is a recipient of a Level 1 Arts award given by Young Arts and is featured on HBO’s “Masterclass. He was heralded as one of “3 Men to watch in Ballet,” by the New York Post and named a “Promising Artist of the 21st Century”. As a dancer, choreographer and Artistic Director of his own Company, Zest, he is creating an uplifting and dynamic perspective. This impactful millennial artist shared his thoughts with us.

ABC: What do you love about Miami? GIG: I love the many rich and diverse cultures found throughout South Florida.  I love the heat and moisture of the city, its wonderful ethnic cuisines, and the sea-salt scented sky. I also enjoy the pace of the city and the evening’s lively atmosphere.

ABC: How has your dance background shaped the work you are currently producing for the Peter London Global Dance Company? GIG: I worked with Peter London from 2004 through 2008 while I was a student at New World School of the Arts.  He trained me to be the best that I could be and helped me expand my technical abilities and aspirations.  With his help, I received the Level 1 award, given by Young Arts and was accepted into the Juilliard School. I graduated in 2012.  He taught me the rich history of Martha Graham and her unique technique as well as the many traditions fostered by Afro Caribbean cultures through dance. I learned a deep sense of story telling through movement from him. He is an amazing teacher and his dancers are of the highest caliber this state has to offer. They are well equipped to tackle the challenge of learning and expanding my movement literature.

The piece I am working on ITOKAGA is loosely inspired by North American Folklore of the Meadowlark. Itokaga is a beautiful golden bird which is said to reflect the inward journey associated with joy and self-discovery.  Most of the material was originally devised through collaboration with my composition students at Hassan Blandford’s First to Fifth Summer Dance Intensive in New York City.  Using a thorough abstraction process with the dance artists in my company – ZEST COLLECTIVE, I began landscaping material with sequences arranged from my composition series. I presented the work in progress to Peter London for further interpretation.  The final product is an expansion of a digital collage, composed of snippets of “innocent” movement developed by students between the ages of 11 and 16.

I am creating another new work as part of the Victoria London “Emerging Choreographers Showcase,” for the Peter London Global Dance Company. The performance, “Jazz Love Night”, will include my new piece and feature choreography and performances by South Florida natives on December 12^th through the 14^th at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

ABC: Who do you think had the biggest influence on your journey as a dancer? GIG: My first teacher, Linda Agyapong is the woman who got me excited to share and explore.  She was a total cosmopolitan of the arts and took me all over the state. I was honored to perform including with her school – the Community Book and Dance Academy. One memorable evening we performed for Florida’s then Governor Jeb Bush.  We did a number of outreach lecture demonstrations at local schools and institutions and even performed in shelters for the homeless. Agyapong has a rich background in Classical Opera and exposed me to an extensive variety of music. Her school enlisted teachers from North America, Cuba and Africa.  She had a way of enriching the lives of all of her students and the lessons she taught me have stayed and certainly inspired my continued success.

ABC: How about as a choreographer? GIG: Peter London, Alvin Ailey, Robert Battle and Alonzo King are among some of my favorite choreographers.  I love the way they sculpt movement material and challenge the dancers to move beyond physical and exhaustive limitations.  London is unafraid to challenge viewers’ idea of what is real and what is fantasy and creates many dramatic landscapes with rich vibrant music, which is so engaging for me to experience on a creative level. Ailey captured the spirit of a people during a time of great oppression and adversity and created some of the world’s most celebrated ballets.  His movement is very natural and incredibly smooth.  His work challenges the dancer to dig deep within to tell a story beyond steps. Battle has a whimsical style and an extraordinary way of articulating movement. He brings music to life and is always charming and exciting in his delivery.

King is by far my greatest inspiration in regards to how he’s taken classical ballet and expanded the vocabulary to include contemporary forms and techniques.  His collaborative works were the first of their kind for he is an ever-evolving, living monument.  He not only choreographs but he speaks eloquently about life and the cosmos through metaphor and has a subtle way of transforming the lives of everyone he touches, making them smarter and considerably more open-minded than they were before.

ABC: Tell me about your New York-based company, ZEST COLLECTIVE Contemporary Performance Art. GIG: In a time when competition is heavy and jobs are relatively scarce, ZEST COLLECTIVE Contemporary Performance Art gives opportunities to very talented performing artists. I founded the company in 2013 as Artistic Director. Comprised of freelance dancers, visual and graphic artists, theater-makers and emerging choreographers, ZEST is fueled by the creative investigation of movement as experienced through exploring the body’s response to external and internal impulses.

Using the body as the primary medium of storytelling, ZEST COLLECTIVE examines issues of perception and identity in contemporary society. Our three main goals are artistic, spiritual, and movement freedom. We rehearse and perform in unconventional venues because we believe that by introducing our Artists to new and varied spaces we bring about instinctually organic movement qualities. We enter new territories to explore our creative infinities in “No Rule” environments.

Artistic Associate Tyler Brown and I host movement workshops at varied businesses, dance and cultural institutions where we find significant inspiration. The COLLECTIVE teaches an array of people, including professional athletes, teachers, students, and elders through guided improvisations, facilitating their therapeutic, physical, spiritual and imaginative investigations.

Each work in our repertoire is a Moving Art Instillation as we bring people to non-dance environments to experience the same thing they would if inside a theater. ZEST COLLECTIVE Contemporary Performance Art archives every performance and rehearsal procedure in the form of video, painting renderings, and literature and therefore opens channels for collaborations with Artists of various disciplines and training. To learn more about the company visit: www.zestcollective.com

ABC: What driving force propelled you to create your own vision? GIG: Art production has always been instinctual for me. I have a natural affinity for design, poetry and architecture. Choreography is dance and movement literature that allows me to express myself creatively. I enjoy the challenges of choreography and truly appreciate the joy of sharing my work with others. I am a relatively shy and introverted person. Running a company and working with other dance artists gives me the opportunity to connect with positive people and engage in a dialogue of creative interpretation with the aim of developing ideas to further transform the community and the world. While I was a member for Ailey II, the name ZEST COLLECTIVE Contemporary Performance Art came to me one day. It was during that time that I was editing a film I created with ZEST’s Artistic Associate Tyler Brown and our photographer Cody Perkins. I named the film ZEST. Instead of quieting the dream, I decided to embrace the idea.  Needless to say less than one week later I fell during a performance and suffered both a fracture and a high ankle sprain, leaving me immobile for three months. I began reaching out to my friends and loved ones to make ZEST COLLECTIVE more than just a dream but a living, breathing organism breeding life, beauty, and an abundance of joyful creativity.

ABC: What obstacles have you encountered in your creative process and how did you overcome them? GIG: I have been lucky to assemble a team of dedicated individuals. I recently started applying for grants and new sources of funding so we can start paying our dancers, artists and collaborators. They have been dedicated to helping us develop new material and generously donated their time and skills to us for this first year. As anyone who runs a dance company knows, funding is the biggest obstacle. Our plan to increase our income so we can pay our dancers a salary so that they may sustain positive and healthy lifestyles and earn their living as artists.

During the summer, the company prepared for our performance at the third annual Harlem Arts Festival. Continuing our vision to use nontraditional venues, we rehearsed at a convent. We used the underground cafeteria at the Centro Maria Residence and also rehearsed outside on the great lawn at the piers alongside New York’s Westside Highway. We created a three ballets in my Washington Heights apartment.  The amount of generous and genuine support for a beautiful and enthusiastic dream has been overwhelming. It is early success of the company is due to the the support of my dance artists. ABC: What personal satisfaction does your art bring you? GIG: All that I share is the measure of life and the experiences I embrace with those around me.  Each creation begins like a seed and I have the wonderful opportunity to work as gardener – filling my dance artists and collaborators with loads of inspiration, remarking on their divine intelligence and weeding away superfluous steps to sculpt ballets that are meaningful, imaginative, innovative and unique to the body of the performer. Although it is an extensive process – almost without end – I see one idea flourish and I, myself, am changed and inspired to do more, try harder and welcome new and exciting challenges.

ABC: From your perspective, how can we leverage the arts to build a more connected community? GIG: Without art and sublime beauty there is no way of creating and sustaining hope. George Bernard Shaw once said:  “Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.” Music, dance, and visual art are universal languages.  A community well engaged with artistic production is safer, warmer and more beautiful.  Young students engaged in artistic studies do better in school and are no threat to their communities.  Rather they uplift all citizens, inspiring everyone to do more, be more and dream more. I think the arts should be heavily integrated into all educational, recreational, and religious institutions.

ABC: What would surprise our readers about the realities of life as an artist? GIG: Truly, this life is not easy.  Each day, the mind, heart and body are stretched beyond their capabilities.  Yet, my life as an artist has been my passport to the world.  I’ve travelled to several different countries and have been rewarded with the opportunities to engage with so many positive people. Each day is a contemporary meditation and each day reaffirms that nothing worth having comes without hard work and supreme dedication.

ABC: Using what you know now, what would you tell the dancer you were five years ago? GIG: Explore your creative infinities without limitation for you are never ill equipped to share.  There is no reason to be frightened or intimidated. If you have an idea, dream about it endlessly and find ways to manifest those dreams into your daily life, enabling you to live a life of rich experiences. Document your experience and always give back with the peaceful intention to make the world a better and more joyful place, filled with love and animation.  Be bold and never give up because you never know who you are inspiring. Reach out because you never know who is looking!

About Miami Dances Blog Miami is home to exceptional dance companies, dance performances and dance events. Miami Dances is an Arts & Business Council initiative that helps build new audiences and create visibility for dance in our community. Blog author, Julie Travers is a former dancer with a passion for dance and Miami. The blog will feature local dance legends, up and comers and dance insiders. Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/MiamiDances to get all the inside scoop on dance in Miami. Visit our blog salon www.ArtsBizMiami.org