Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Archie.
Hi Tyler, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story has always lived in motion. Before I had language, I had rhythm — before I had a title, I had purpose. I grew up in Houston, a city that teaches you to dream in color, serve with intention, and carry your community wherever you go. As a preacher’s daughter, I learned early the sacred weight of service — how to listen, to lead, and to lift. That foundation became the heartbeat of everything I create.
I started as a dancer who loved the stage, but over time I realized my calling wasn’t just to perform — it was to build. To build programs, platforms, and pathways where art could heal, connect, and transform. Today, I serve as Assistant Artistic Director of Diversity in the Arts & Entertainment (DiTAE) and Assistant Company Director of Steppin’ Time Performing Arts Company (STPAC), where I help nurture the next generation of artists across Houston ISD, Aldine ISD, Fort Bend ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, and Humble ISD.
My work as a choreographer, mentor, and teaching artist is rooted in community — in showing young people that art isn’t a luxury, it’s a lifeline. Through DiTAE, I’ve helped design creative programs for students in transitional housing and underserved schools, ensuring that artistic expression becomes a form of belonging.
As a performer with the Black Angels Collective, I discovered the power of storytelling through movement — the ability to translate identity and joy into motion.
Alongside my stage work, I’ve built brands that carry my message forward — Unapologetically, She, Unapologetically, She Press, and my apparel line, For She — each rooted in legacy, femininity, and creative liberation. I also serve as Marketing Director for author Jean V. Lynn, bridging literature and lifestyle to make storytelling a lived experience.
Everything I’ve built — from the classroom to the dance studio, from community centers to performance stages — shares one throughline: art as service, and service as legacy. I am, at my core, a woman sustained by story, guided by faith, and committed to ensuring that every creative — especially those from overlooked communities — has a seat at the table… or better yet, a stage of their own.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road has definitely not been smooth — but it’s been sacred. In 2019, during my junior and senior year of college, I lost three maternal family members in just two weeks. Being away from home during that time took a heavy toll on me. It became harder to chase perfection in an art form that constantly demands it. I felt disconnected — from my family, my purpose, and the joy that first drew me to dance.
So I stopped performing for a while. I needed to find myself again. In that space of stillness, I fell back in love with creating — not just through movement, but through writing, designing, digital art, costuming, and teaching. I learned that my artistry didn’t have to look one way to be valid. It could evolve, just like I did.
When I was finally ready to open myself to vulnerability again, dance met me right where I was. I began performing with the Black Angels Collective, traveling the world and giving hope, representation, and elevation to little girls who looked like us — girls whose curls and stories mirrored our own. Around the same time, Diversity in the Arts & Entertainment (DiTAE) began to flourish, expanding into multiple districts with new contracts and creative programs. I returned to the studio and classroom, developing a full dance program of three teams at a Title I elementary school and rediscovering my rhythm as both an educator and artist.
Those years became my foundation — the rebuilding phase. I was balancing dreams, responsibilities, and the desire to make my family proud, finally understanding that my artistry could exist in many forms at once. Life felt full again, and I thought I had found my stride.
Then, in 2024, while preparing for a major solo performance, I learned the hard way that purpose can’t come at the expense of peace. I had been pushing through exhaustion, showing up for everyone else, and ignoring the quiet ways my body had been asking for rest. What started as a simple check-up became a life-altering wake-up call. My doctor looked at me and said, “If you don’t go to the ER right now, you’re going to die.”
In that moment, I realized how much I had been valuing my commitments over my own well-being. I was rushed to the hospital, underwent emergency surgery, and had to relearn everything — from daily routines to the art of rest. It was humbling and holy all at once.
That experience taught me that sustainability is a form of success — that you can’t pour from an empty vessel. Passion without boundaries can become self-destruction. Now, I move with structure and sustainability — the same things I try to teach my dancers. I’ve learned that artistry thrives not in chaos, but in care. Our impact doesn’t come from how much we give, but from how long we can keep giving.
Dance taught me discipline. Life taught me balance. And that combination has become my compass. I move differently now — protecting my energy with the same grace and intentionality I pour into my work. My artistry remains bold and purpose-driven, but it’s now rooted in peace, not pressure; in care, not chaos.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
At this stage in my career, I’ve realized my true work isn’t just about choreography, direction, or production — it’s heART work. The kind that asks you to lead with integrity, to protect your peace, and to pour from a place of purpose instead of performance.
I’m deeply passionate about the emotional and mental well-being of creatives because I’ve seen what happens when artistry is treated as output instead of offering. Too often, we celebrate the product and neglect the person. I want to change that narrative. I believe that progress will always matter more than perfection, intent more than image, and genuineness more than opportunity.
My mission is to create spaces — whether in studios, schools, or stages — where artists can feel safe enough to be human. Because the truth is, you can’t create honest art if you’re disconnected from yourself. I tell my students all the time: you have to be a good person for the art to mean something. The next generation doesn’t just inherit our talent — they inherit our values.
That’s why boundaries matter. Why principles matter. Why knowing who you are and what you stand for is essential. Because if you don’t define it, the world will do it for you — and often, it will get it wrong.
I don’t just want to be known for the work I’ve created; I want to be remembered for the way I made people feel while doing it — seen, safe, inspired, and reminded that their art is not a performance of worth, but a reflection of it.
A work I’m most proud of is actually in progress right now. It’s born from my experience with grief — how loss reshaped everything around me and how I continue to navigate healing, love, and creativity through it. It serves as both a personal reflection and a memorial — a living archive of my family’s legacy and the streets of Houston that raised us. This project celebrates the incredible people whose sacrifices and stories made my path brighter, and it allows me to evolve into a version of them that carries the legacy a little brighter, bolder, and artistically whole.
Because at the end of the day, art isn’t just about what we create — it’s about who we become while creating it.
What’s next?
The future for me is about building — not just programs or performances, but pathways. I’m in a season of expansion, both personally and professionally, where everything I’ve learned through service, art, and healing is beginning to align with the bigger picture of what I’m called to do.
I’m looking forward to deepening my work with Diversity in the Arts & Entertainment (DiTAE) as we continue creating sustainable, community-centered arts programs that merge education, entertainment, and empowerment. I want to keep building bridges between creativity and care — proving that artistry and wellness can coexist, and that both are essential for long-term success in this industry.
I’m also developing new choreographic works that honor lineage and legacy, continuing my exploration of grief, identity, and rebirth through the lens of storytelling. My goal is to expand those works into immersive experiences — art that feels alive, healing, and unapologetically human.
Beyond the stage, I’m focused on the next generation of creatives — mentoring young artists to understand that they are more than their skillset. I want to help them see that the most valuable thing they can bring to any space is their integrity.
In every season ahead, my hope is to stay aligned with purpose, to keep creating from a place of wholeness, and to never stop evolving into the kind of leader my younger self needed — one who turns art into access, passion into peace, and legacy into light.
Contact Info:
- Website: ForShe.US
- Instagram: DivineDancinTVA
- Youtube: DiTAE TV
- Other: Diversityinthearts.com
Image Credits
Steppin’ Time PAC Excusemyflicks Diversity in The Arts & Entertainment
