Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesus Acosta.
Hi Jesus, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m a retired professional dancer that danced for 18 years in the Houston area. I now teach dance and am a director of the competition team at Dance Du Coeur in Sugar Land. After retiring I wanted to continue to make a difference in other people’s life and decided that the best way was through touching the lives of young aspiring dancers.
I didn’t grow up dancing. I always wanted to but because of my family’s financial means, it was never a possibility. It was in high school that I made my way into the performing arts. I always loved dancing at family gatherings but never knew how far I could go. The young me would be so proud of the dancer and teacher that I’ve become.
Once I started I knew that I wanted to keep doing it as long as I could. I was lucky that my family showed so much love towards me even though they didn’t understand or agree with the path that I was carving for myself. I now know that my family was just worried about how the outside world would treat a young gay boy that chose to dance. Lucky for me I always surrounded myself with loving and very accepting people. To this day the same truth remains. All of my coworkers and students, and students’ families love me and trust me to pass on my knowledge. That’s all I wish for other kids growing up in the same situation as I did. I always hope to pass on my love of dance to everyone that I come in contact with but mainly that kindness is better than hatred and judgement. I obviously teach dance but I hope that my students gain so much more than that. To never take yourself too seriously while working towards the goal of becoming the best dancer you can.
My mother always taught me to be humble and thankful. Every job is an opportunity to prove my worth to people. I’ll always carry that with me.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Life is never easy, it has a way of reminding you that you must earn your place in your world and that no one gets a free pass.
My family very rarely attended any of my performances. At first, I was disappointed and sad but realized that it wasn’t because of lack of support or love but it was mainly because of their lack of understanding the world of dance.
Growing up as an immigrant from Mexico there was always so much judgement that I placed o myself mainly because I heard all the horrible things the outside world would say about immigrants. Those things were never true but it made me feel bad about who I was. Luckily, I’ve grown to love myself and my culture. Our culture is what makes us as humans whole. Without culture then we aren’t very interesting at all.
I suffered from performance anxiety towards the end of my performance career. That’s partially why I decided to retire. That with the demand and toll that it takes on an aging body. I was lucky that I never had a major injury but definitely aches and pains aren’t easy to work through. Dancing professionally doesn’t make much money so having to work all day long to make a living was also a factor. My hope for the future is to be able to help in whatever way to help change that for other organizations.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I danced for Hope Stone Dance Company for 4 years, founding member of NobleMotion Dance and danced for 9 years while also rehearsal director, Houston METdance for 4 years, and a founding member of Houston Contemporary Dance Company where I danced for 3 years before retiring. I now serve on the Board of Directors for HCDC and want to make a difference to the dancers and artistic director.
I have been teaching, choreographing, and judging high school dance competitions for MA Dance for 21 years. It has helped me build connections with many educators from all over the United States.
Making those connections I have also been honored to have judged for The Dance Worlds for 5 years and most recently UDA College Nationals. Both of these competitions are so prestigious and demand so much from dancers. I am so humbled to sit on these panels. The organizations that lead these events are amongst the nation’s best and most in demand.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Risk taking is a must! It’s never good to feel too comfortable. Thats the way to continue to push yourself and grow in your own life. Never would I have dreamt that I would be where I am today. The world is about making connections with people. Allowing people to meet you for your true/authentic self is so important. Some people will take a chance on you but if you never take any risks then you’ll never know what could’ve been.
As a teacher I always lead my classes the same way. I push my students past their limits and at the end of the dance year most of them have surpassed their goals or limitations.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: justjesusdancin
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dancinjesus
Image Credits
1st Photo – Lauren Berthelot
All other photos are personal photos
