Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Sarao.
Anna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My family is Filipino and dance has always been important culturally as a way to remember our history and to be together. My dad was not much of a talker but he would often dance with me when I was a kid. He loved all kinds of music. Although it was rough growing up in a different culture and we wouldn’t see eye to eye; I like to remember him as being the first person who taught me to dance. Growing up in America – I remember being drawn to Hip Hop dance because that’s what all the kids were listening to and doing at school. We learned party dances and made up routines for fun. And even though I barely spoke, dance became a way for me to make friends. I never thought it would be more than that or that I would continue dancing in college. Until randomly I walked by the dance room at Mesa College and saw an actual hip hop dance class ?!! I was shocked! I remember feeling something like offended and also curious…I felt compelled to stand at the door and watch. I still don’t have the words for it but whatever I saw; I immediately got sucked into this other world!
I ended up adding the class and quickly learned how to choreograph, perform, and stage dance pieces. I loved dancing so it all came naturally to me. Back then Angie Bunch, my teacher, began mentoring me and letting me assist her as well. Eventually she asked me to audition for her professional dance team in 1994. I had never auditioned before and it took me three attempts but I finally became a member of Culture Shock San Diego in 1996.
Culture Shock not only taught me my dance choreography skills – it gave me the education I needed for life. I learned to be a team member and how to contribute to a common goal. I learned how to work with people from all different backgrounds and cultures. I learned how to conceptualize and execute a vision I had in my head into a complete staged production. I learned how to communicate, what to do in conflicts, how to charge rates for my work and how to get back up after failure. But most of all, the lesson I needed when I was a young adult was simply that I was capable of achieving my dreams …even if they were not my parents’ dreams.
Before things went viral or got reposted, people would tell you the impact your dance had on them and tell you what they loved about your piece. When I became Artistic Director for CSSD in 2000, we masterfully created a staged piece called “The 4 Elements” aka “The Asian Medley”. We had a team full of talent (half of the Jabbawockeez before they were the Jabbawockeez, people that would go on to dance for Britney and Missy, people that now dress artists for tours etc). But back then we got our start making dances and performing them together. Bboys and choreo dancers. Friends. We created this set that showcased a fan piece, bboys who lived the culture (did not learn breaking in a studio), used musicality and intricate formation changes all the while conveying the story of a theme that was inspired by a martial arts movie. It was absolutely amazing !!! And the love and appreciation we received from other dancers and our audience fueled our desire to keep creating. Culture Shock SD became the blueprint of how teams would stage, incorporate breaking, and use solo freestyles as transitions. Had YouTube or TikTok been around back then – we all would have been rich on views alone!!!
This team and the work I produced while I was Artistic Director would also become the foundation for another important start in my life – an event called Body Rock – which I am the Executive Producer and Founder of.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No never a smooth road. First of all, I don’t have a strong family support system. So I dedicated my early years of dancing and happily danced for free and sacrificed jobs and money because I did not have boundaries and had to learn to speak up for myself. Second when I left Culture Shock, I did not have a business background and knew nothing about handling finances or contracts. I quickly received an education on that due to partners stealing from me or having different ideas about who was running our company. Third I am a female and an Asian American in hip hop. I had to be authoritative and aggressive to be taken seriously. I get underestimated usually. In addition, I have survived several personal traumas including the collective one that happened to all of us in 2020 due to Covid. I have lost money, friendships, confidence, parts of my spirit and went toe to toe with people who meant to harm me – but by the grace of God, I’m still here and I’m still (not just producing my event) but will be celebrating Body Rock’s 25th year in production this June 2025.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
This is a hard question to answer but I’ll try. Maybe what I’m good at, if you break it down, is making friendships. Dance was always that for me, and my skills came second. And when it comes to what sets me apart from others …maybe it’s that I learned that one’s success, longevity, and legacy are rooted in relationships and communities and the strong bonds created when we have a shared love for dance. I’m not a Business Major. I don’t even have a Business Plan and stuff like that. But somehow my event has survived for 25 years…because of my community and my dance family. As for what I do now…Besides producing an International Dance Competition – I am also a Registered Associate Therapist (AMFT). I failed to become a dance choreographer in LA in the early 2000’s. After reluctantly deciding to direct and produce events, I had a lot of personal traumas that caused me to study Psychology. Like many people, it helped me to understand the chaos in my family and what I needed to do to heal. Just like dancing, I got sucked into the world of mental health in 2015. Fast forward to 2020 and I graduated with a Master’s in Family Therapy and started my work as a mental health therapist.
I have worked in high schools, provided crisis intervention, and now work with adult individuals.
I currently work for a private practice called – Healthy Minds Counseling in Mission Valley. I provide both in person and virtual sessions.
In addition I still work with the dance community and provide consulting and coaching through my program – GUIDE•DANCE.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I’m unsure of risk taking personally. I think I’d rather say I am open to my intuition – which is not a logical process. I guess that can be interpreted as risk taking? But I’m also realizing I have a stigma that being a risk taker means one is impulsive and irresponsible. I think that’s why my family never supported my journey in dance and why I have a part of me that still feels like an imposter when I think of how far I have come in my dance career. All of the artistic decisions and transitions which led to expansion for me all involved an aspect of risk. Because it is never guaranteed that one will succeed in a path that has not already been laid out. In order to be where I am today, I had to quiet the part of me that is calculating and needs to know all outcomes. I had to align with the part of me that is more like a gut feeling or sense of knowing that things will work out – without having all the evidence up front. There’s a saying that goes: it’s only delusional until it actually happens … so maybe I do believe in taking risks. I just labeled it “intuition”. Some might also call it “faith”. Whatever it is, I basically do everything in my power to move in the direction that most aligns with a resolve within me that things are working out for my good.
Contact Info:
- Website: annasarao@gmail.com
- Instagram: Www.Instagram.com/officialbodyrocksd
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-s-605a871b4?trk=contact-info
- Youtube: Www.YouTube.com/officialbodyrocksd
Image Credits
Seagge Abella @insageproduction / Instagram
