“We want to bring what we do for each other – which is motivate each other – to the rest of the dance community,” Alicia Graf Mack said of working with her sister Daisha Graf. “What we are doing is creating a family of artists, and we want people to come join our family.”
Graf Mack – who took her final bow as a principal dancer for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater two weeks ago in New York – made a name for herself as a principal dancer with Ailey and the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Her younger sister Daisha Graf has built a reputation on the commercial side through hip-hop. She has toured with Rihanna and performed with Beyoncé, Diddy, Rihanna, Pitbull, TLC and Jill Scott.
They have operated on different spectrums of the dance world, while being a constant support system to each other over the years. But in 2013, they decided to expand their sister circle, so they created the D (n) A Arts Collective. It has presented in major cities across the U.S., including New York and Los Angeles.
Because St. Louis has the fortune of having Graf Mack as a transplant, our city will be a host for their D (n) A Xperience next Sunday, July 12 at Webster University’s Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts.
“We think that there is no point in being an artist if you can’t inspire lives,” Graf Mack said. “That’s what being an artist is all about – sharing your experience in the world with the world.”
The D (n) A Xperience offers a full day of dance, plus meditation and a “visualize your victory” segment with vision boards. They teach discipline and purpose for what they call a “whole-person approach to dance and life.”
“It’s an intense day, but it’s about stretching your mind, stretching your body – pushing yourself to the limits and seeing how far you can go and be actively looking towards your future,” Graf said. “We want to make great dancers, but more importantly we want to inspire them to become a great person, not just a good dancer.”
In addition to the sessions – which are available in groups for ages 11-15 and 16 to adult – there will also be a lunch panel where participants will engage with acclaimed members of the dance community.
“Our first panel, we had Misty Copeland and everybody was so star-struck, but she was like, ‘Ten years ago I was exactly where you are,’” Graf Mack said of their 2013 presentation in New York City.
In St. Louis, the panel will include Homer Hans Bryant, founder and artistic director for the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, and Darrell Grand Moultrie, a choreographer and master teacher who most recently worked with Beyoncé as a choreographer for The Mrs. Carter World Tour.
One major professional takeaway for dancers is versatility.
“You have to have an understanding and proficiency in the other genres, because nowadays they are melting together,” Graf Mack said. “Had I been hired at Ailey and never taken jazz, hip-hop and modern before, I would have been floundering.”
Graf hopes to recreate what happened to her when as a youngster she caught the eye of former Philadanco dancer Kevin Malone when he visited her studio to teach a class. He encouraged her to have confidence and not dance in the shadows of her sister.
“I can tell when a student has a certain spark about them. I just want to help them reach their goals – whatever that is,” Graf said. “I was the kid who nobody ever thought would do anything with dance. If I had never met Mr. Malone, that little spark may not have been lit for me.”
D (n) A Arts will present the D (n) A Xperience on Sunday, July 12, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Jean and Wells Hobler Center for Dance in the Loretto-Hilton Center at Webster University. For more information or to register, visit http://www.dnaartscollective.com. For more information, e-mail dnaartscollective@gmail.com.
