Today we’d like to introduce you to Kira Rai Daniel.
Hi Kira, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
My story begins at the age of 3 when I was first introduced to dance. I have studied dance pretty much all my life. Growing up on the Southwest side of Houston, I wasn’t able to afford studio dance training, so since the beginning, I’ve relied on praise dance, mentors, and dance education programs in public schools to receive training. I studied dance in an educational setting throughout middle and high school. I attended what is now called Meyerland Middle School for the Performing and Visual Arts and then the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. After, I went on to get my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance from Texas Christian University and graduated this past May. In my junior year of college, I had an epiphany that would later change the trajectory of my career. As I have mentioned, I have been studying dance all my life, and up until then, my goal had always been to dance professionally in a contemporary dance company. However, my junior year was a time of self-love, care, and community, and I asked myself, “Do I really want to dance?” Being in the dance world for so long, you can sometimes begin to feel like a robot. You are on a routine of waking up, going to class, going to rehearsal, eating, and repeating. That’s what my life has been like for the past 19 years. So now that I actually had time to step away, sit, and reflect, I realized how burnt out I was and that I still wanted to be involved in the dance world but maybe not dancing in it. As time went on, I kept praying about it and asking God to lead me to what was next, and eventually, he showed me that grad school was the answer. I am currently in my first semester at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City, studying Arts Administration. New York had been calling my name for a while, but I knew that my placement there had to be at the right time. It turns out that after graduating undergrad, instead of going into undergrad, was that time. I couldn’t be more excited to be where I am today. The moment I begin to let God lead me, I feel my discernment has grown, and I’ve received more confirmation over the things that I want in my life and the things that are going to happen in my life.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s had its ups and downs. I think the moment anyone realizes they no longer want to do the thing they’ve been training for all their life, it results in a big transition season. I thought I was going to dance forever. When I first began dancing, whenever someone asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, the answer was always a professional dancer. Because I was a dancer and because I was good at it, I thought that it would and, key word, should make me happy. However, the moment when I realized it didn’t, I didn’t know what to do. Dance was my life, and I didn’t know who I was without it. The reason why I say my junior year was a time of self-love, care, and community is because I had to do a lot of deep digging into myself and figure out my identity outside of this art form. Dance is beautiful, but the industry can also be quite toxic. I wasn’t eating and sleeping as much, and it was so hard getting out of bed in the mornings for class because I was so sad. In fact, I remember in my first semester of junior year, we had only been a couple of weeks in, and class was starting in 3 minutes; I pulled my best friend to the side and started bawling and telling her how sad I was. I had a lot of things going on in my personal life at this time, and dance was only making me feel worse. I was tired, and I needed a break. So, I pulled back from rehearsals and limited my time in the studio because I knew that if I was going to be okay, I had to separate myself until I could get back on my feet.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
So, I’ve come to realize that you can be a professional dancer even if you’re not dancing with a company. Therefore, I am a professional dancer, choreographer, educator, and soon-to-be arts administrator. I used to identify myself as only a modern/contemporary dancer, but I’ve come to fall in love with ballet as well and consider myself now a contemporary ballet dancer. I am currently taking a break from wanting to dance professionally and pursuing my master’s in arts administration at Teachers College, Columbia University. I’m actually not sure what I am known for. I think that everyone has their own interpretation of me. Now, I hope that I’m known for being God-fearing, loving, caring, giving, and selfless; however, I think my friends could best answer that question. When I look back on my life, I think what I’m most proud of is how my relationship with God has grown and how I’ve become okay with letting him and trusting him to guide me to wherever I need to be in this life. I think what sets me apart is my heart. I am very caring and a very good friend. Now that may sound a little heady, but I know my worth, and I know the love that I give to other people is rare.
What’s next?
I have no idea what the future holds, but someday, I would love to start a dance company and studio that provides quality dance training to people of color and low-income communities. In simple terms, dance is expensive, and if I can make it less expensive, then I want to do that. I also am hoping to grow as an influencer and mentor. I started a YouTube channel documenting my college experience and journey in my faith about 2 years ago, so I’m looking forward to that growing and seeing what doors open up from there. Lastly, I’m also at the point where I would like to start sharing my life with someone, so hopefully, God works things out in that area. All in all, for right now, because I am so young and just getting started, I don’t have set-in-stone plans for the future. I recognize that anything can happen that could change my life, so I’m simply going with the flow and seeing what happens.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: kiraraiofficial
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPBL_SJfAtEob5z0xtUvK9A
Image Credits
Josh Brewster
James A. Martinez
The Marchives
