Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexa Lopez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m an immigrant dance artist here in San Diego. I was born in Tijuana, Mexico where I was raised until the age of 10. My family and I moved to Chula Vista in July of 2007, in hopes of a better quality of life. As the eldest of 3, I always strived to be the best and set an example for my younger siblings.
However, my lack of English and the culture shock I experienced the first year here in the States, impacted me mentally and academically. My mom saw that I was struggling with the change, and encouraged me to try a sport. I took this opportunity to rekindle my love for dance, as I had danced at an aunt’s studio ages 3-5 back in Tijuana. I joined an after-school Hip Hop dance program that same year, and never stopped dancing since.
The more I danced, the more I strived to learn more and be the best dancer I could. I enrolled in a local dance studio where I started my Ballet training. I worked tremendously towards perfecting my technique, that I earned my first pair of pointe shoes a year later. At the same time, I had joined a student-led Hip Hop group called Young Lives at Southwest Senior High. There were not many opportunities in our school to dance in besides PE Dance, but I always took what I could. By my senior year, I became one of the captains for Young Lives. My goal that year was to show the school that dance is an important activity for students and by the end of the year, we over 100 students showed up to audition for the group.
Not everything was sunshine and roses, however. During my senior year, I decided to pursue a career in dance. I applied to SDSU’s Dance Program, I auditioned, and got rejected. The lack of arts exposure in the Southbay limited my knowledge in Dance techniques. I enrolled at San Diego City College and focused on learning as many different techniques as I could, as well as mastering Modern Dance so I could transfer to SDSU. Indeed, I received an Associate’s Degree in Dance and another one in Business Administration and Management.
I re-auditioned to SDSU’s Dance Program and this time, I got in! I graduated in May 2020 with a BFA in Dance, and now I am working towards building my brand as a dancer, dance choreographer, teacher and director.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The culture shock from immigrating, lack of arts exposure in the Southbay, and getting rejected were the main struggles I encountered along my journey. I always experienced people telling me that dance is not a real career, or questioning what I would do with dance. Something else that is a continuous struggle for us overall, is the lack of dance job opportunities here in the city. It forces us to be creative, or look somewhere else, or take on other opportunities not in our field.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I think myself as a very different artist. I am not your typical dancer, teacher and choreographer that you see on T.V. such as “Dance Moms” where everyone is hyper flexible and does cool tricks in every piece.
Although I do commercial work for special events such as Quinceaneras, Sweet 16s and Weddings, my passion is mostly on the more abstract artistic side of dance. I think that it’s true that as a dancer, teacher and choreographer/director, I value individuality, and experimentation. As a teacher, I encourage my students to not only move in a way that is safe for their bodies, but also to continue to explore what their movement is like and to challenge their bodies into trying something new. As a choreographer and director, I constantly try to find unique movement that people have never seen before. I love to play around with the spectrum of improvisation and set material, as well as the art of decision-making on the spot as part of a dance.
Overall, I like to set work based on the abilities of the people in front of me. I like to push enough boundaries where they are challenged, but not too much where they get discouraged from learning more.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I’m going to self-plug my podcast, “The Dance Resource Podcast”, here because I do think that we touch on very important topics that other dancers might find helpful throughout their careers.
For my business side though, I am a big fan of Vanessa Lau’s podcast, “Turn your Followers into Clients”, her podcast is mainly focused on Instagram strategies that I have used myself for over a year.
I have a few apps I love that keeps my business flowing:
Asana, is an app that helps me plan everything. I plan projects here and social media posts as well. Their calendar and grid views are helpful to map out a strategy on how and when to deliver specific tasks.
Canva, is a pretty popular designing tool that I can’t live without. I am considering ditching Adobe Photoshop altogether and going with Canva for all my future marketing designs!
HoneyBook, is CRM system and it is great to keep track of clients, their payments and contracts.
Pricing:
- Special events choreography starts at $500
- Upcoming adult dance classes will range $10-$15
- Private lessons $50/hour
Contact Info:
- Email: alexaldancechoreo@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.alexadancechoreo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexadancechoreo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexadancechoreo
Image Credits:
Leslie Martinez
Noel Sundholm
Ken Jacques
